Markets and Media in 21st Century China

In our five weeks in China, we have seen the most beggars in Beijing. It seems as if they are flocking to touristy areas. In Tiananmen Square, they all seemed to be children or teenagers. But they looked very different from all the beggars I have seen in other parts of China.

Imagine seeing a child that is deformed. Not just any deformity, but one you have never seen before. He has all of his extremities and they are proportional to his body, but his legs don’t have any bones. His arms work just fine and help him to push himself around on a scooter. You watch him bend his legs into contortions to serve as arm rests or just as play toys while he begs for money. There is another scooter. This time, it looks like a teenage boy. He is using his hands to get around. You notice that his legs are mangled too. They have bones but they have grown together as if they were stuffed into something.

I asked our guide, Pen Pen, why I was seeing so many children with these types of deformities begging in the same place. She told me a very sad story. Begging is part of organized crime in China. People kidnap babies and young children in order to put them to work as their beggars. These children are sometimes stuffed into vats in order to make them grow with birth defects so that they can collect more money.

-Cami Morrison

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I've posted a handful of pictures on the blog from our most recent experiences in China, including the Great Wall hike/sleepover and the Forbidden City. Enjoy!

Caroline Davis

Great Wall Group 3!

Awesome scenic view on the Great Wall

Great Wall again

Looking down on the Wall from one of the numerous treacherous staircases we climbed.

Katie and I posing on the hike up to the Wall

Bryce and I before our hardcore hike on the Great Wall!

We saw this sign before we camped out on the Great Wall that night. Oops haha.

Getting a glimpse of the sun coming up after our sleepover on the wall

Random picture but I saw this little baby in the Forbidden City and couldn't resist snapping the shot.

The Forbidden City definitely has a Starbucks inside its gates. Here are a bunch of us enjoying our frappachinos!

Danner, Bryce, Katie and I in Tiananmen Square together.

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One of the last days in Beijing we were taken to one of the famous shopping places. Because Caroline and I had no money and were actually in debt, we had to hit up the Bank of China to get some yuan. This took about 45 minutes and then we were off.

Most of the vendors are aggressive, to say the least. They have no problem grabbing your arm and pulling you into the store. The first thing I looked at was a shirt. Of course, the girl started her price ridiculously high and I claimed that I would only pay for a very small price. Then the bargaining began. Her price was still too high for what I was willing to buy. Therefore, I told her I didn't want it and walked away. This was when she started accusing me of being ugly and stupid. She also said Caroline was too good for me and should be with someone more handsome. I replied back that she wasn't a good salesperson.

One of the more memorable shopping experiences happened when I was looking at a coat. About four girls worked at this place. I had tried it on and decided on a price. I pulled out 100 yuan from my pocket and paid. One girl, seeing where my money came from, decided to try to go into my pocket to go after more money. I grabbed her arms and we started to sort of wrestle. She wouldn't stop so I decided to pick her up from her legs. I lifted her about six inches off the ground until I knew that I had scared her. I put her down and she proceeded to sit on the ground, happy to be grounded. Need I say she didn't try to go after my money again.

Hair is rare in China. My arms have been rubbed at least six times in China, by people in awe of how hairy my arms are. Yesterday, my beard was rubbed by one of the vendors. (So was Caroline's.) We tried to rub the vendor's face back, but she wouldn't let us. One time, one of the men who rode me around in a cart, wanted to compare arms, legs, and chest. It was very entertaining for both of us.

-Bryce Foster

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When we were served lunch on the domestic flight from Chongqing to Beijing, I didn't realize my rice was dining for two.

On the initial flight from Chicago to Shanghai, the American man next to me warned me about domestic flights. Landings, he said, were a bit like skipping a rock across a pond. Great, I thought. So I was prepared for a bumpy ride, but not much else.

It was early afternoon, and our domestic flight company Sichuan Airlines (which we nervously joked that we never heard of before) served us lunch. Luckily, our faithful guide Pen-Pen made sure that we had lunch earlier. (At a "registered tourist site," no less. That's become a bit of a running joke among our group since then.)

In retrospect, I'm glad I had some good food before the flight. The airline lunch consisted of pork and rice heated in an aluminum tray, plus a bento-like box of breads, fruits, and some other unidentifiable pouches.

I rarely turn down free food, so I went ahead and pecked at the rice. It wasn't particularly good. As I got down to the last few mounds of rice, I noticed a little black "special extra" in the rounded corner of the dish. I ignored it at first, thinking it was some kind of seasoning. It's not unusual for us to get all kinds of inedible seasonings stuck into broths and noodles.

But the second time I noticed the long black oval was not a seasoning, but rather a long-dead roach, I let out a long string of "Oh my God"s that killed whatever conversation Alex Weber and I were having at the time. Alex inspected it also. It made him laugh. It made me a little green.

If this had been the United States, I would have made such a stink with the flight attendants that I would have free flights for a lifetime. But... "This is China," as we like to say as our all-encompassing, legitimizing, grin-and-bear-it motto, and so I put the lid back on what was left of my rice and roach and tried my best to enjoy the rest of the flight.

Wishing he could forget,
Alex Kraus

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China is changing literally before our eyes.

Since we have arrived in Beijing, entire streets have been ripped away, an entire pedestrian street has been refurbished, and an entire building has disappeared within six days. Workers work around the clock to finish the job.

The first night in Beijing, Christina and I ventured down to the Pedestrian Walkway for a snack on one of the side streets. There were about four men on the corner cutting away the sidewalk. They were using jackhammers. The sound was annoying and there was a little dust flying in the air. That sight would change by the next morning.

On the way to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square our group walked pass the exact corner that we were on the night before. The entire sidewalk on the corner had been ripped up and the workforce had doubled. This larger group of men worked with jackhammers, regular hammers, and metal wedges to tear up the street adjacent to the corner. The sound of jackhammers and metal clinging together was combined with the sound of honking horns, bicycle bells, and morning traffic. Dust and car exhaust mixed in the air to make breathing difficult.

We noticed that a building was standing half torn down behind a construction fence on the corner. It made for an interesting picture because its neighbor remained untouched. Today, the half torn down building has completely disappeared and the other building is half gone. I suspect that by the end of next week they will have begun to pour the foundation for a new structure in place of the two buildings.

Within six days, workers have ripped up the entire side of Wangfujing Street that leads onto the Pedestrian Walkway, refurbished most of the stone paving on the Pedestrian Walkway, and torn down a building. The lessons learned here…don’t close your eyes for too long in China because you might wake up not knowing where you are!

-Cami Morrison

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How is it that our illustrious president put it? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on . . . shame on . . . fool me can't be fooled again. I don't know if that's right, but you get the idea.

I have been fooled by the art student scam before. So, when I was walking down the streets of Beijing and a young Chinese girl wanted me to come visit her art exhibition, I politely declined. However, my running into her was like putting a gin and tonic into the hand of a recovering alcoholic. As I walked away I started to think that maybe I should have gone with her, perhaps I could have picked up a couple new pieces of a higher quality than the typical street merchant's goods.

So, when the next "art student" approached me, I gladly obliged her. However, I didn't find anything I liked, and I managed to leave without purchasing a single piece. But now my thirst for art needed to be quenched, so I began strollilng slowly waiting for more "students" to approach me.

I was elated when another Chinese girl stopped me to ask where I was from--the typical lead-in to him or her informing you he or she is an art student with an exhibition nearby. We started talking, engaging in the usual initial conversation, and I found myself walking with her down the street. After about ten minutes, though, she still had not mentioned her art exhibition. Becoming confused I decided to ask her what she was studying in school. She responded that she was majoring in English, and asked if I wanted to get some coffee with her so she could practice her English with me. I didn't immediately see anything wrong with this, so we set off down the road.

Then she turned down an unsightly looking alley, which continued to get worse and worse as it progressed. Suddenly I remembered how a good friend of mine on the language and culture trip had been lured in by a similar story in Shanghai and wound up being charged 750 yuan for a few cups of tea and some fruit. Thanks to his misfortune I was able to avoid a similar experience.

In the end, though, I felt that you really have to respect a country where you can go out trying to get scammed in one way, and unwittingly walk right into another scam instead. As our group is so fond of saying, this is China.

-Alex Weber

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As we prepare to leave China on Wednesday we can't help but be a bit nostalgic about our five weeks here. After all, This Is China. Here are a few of my favorite moments from each city we visited during our journey:

Shanghai: To commemorate our last night in Shanghai, our group ventured to a club called Bon Bon. At first a bit apprehensive to follow Taylor's directions once again, we wound up at a great spot with a million-mile tall doorman. We all enjoyed a fun night with an enthusiastic DJ and vivacious atmosphere. The most memorable moments of the night included a crazy bathroom where the water in the faucet came from the ceiling, a dance contest featuring Caroline and Cami, a VIP table complete with addictive dice games and music from America. It was a night when all of us were together and justly represents the fun of Shanghai.

Henglu: Henglu was all about the people. The village was such a culture shock and the best part for all of us I think was getting to interact with all of the kids that lived there. My favorite part of the weekend was Saturday night: dumplings and the talent show. Competing with 10 other people for a bowl of dumplings, chopstick against vicious chopstick in the bowl, was both hillarious and exhausting, and ultimately very satisfying. The talent show, where Caroline, Cami and I performed My Girl, was really fun and the juxtaposition of American culture, like the theme song from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Chinese culture was depictive of the cultural differences in a fun way.

Hangzhou: After hearing about it from everyone we talked to, we finally got to see West Lake. It was absolutely beautiful, with lush gardens and beautiful architecture. Matt, Cami, Caroline and I enjoyed overpriced tea and delicious noodles and fried rice (two helpings) overlooking the lake. While we never found the peony garden we had been searching for, we encountered several photo shoots and even some peacocks.

Wuhan: Wuhan was a fun city with great shopping. A personal highlight was the tshirt I bought that reads Big Mac and then Attack underneath it five times in different colors. As a group, we all really enjoyed the Wuhan Institute of Physical Education. Getting to see the gymnasts train was an awe-inspiring sight. Also, talking with the students was exciting because they were all so enthusiastic about talking with American students. It was yet another opportunity to exchange emails and further the America-China network we've seen growing since we've been here.

The Splendid China: The cruise was fantastic. Actually going through the Three Gorges Dam was something I'll always remember. I think my favorite part of the cruise was the talent show. Our dance to the Jock Jams Mega Mix was so much fun to prepare and even more fun to perform. While part of me didn't want to satisfy the boat director Linda by entering the talent show, it was definitely worth it for our great costumes and creative dance moves. Yet, I'm still a little bitter that they started our music too softly at first and we had to skip a couple of the best moves, but Bryce still had his solo at the end which was a vital part of the routine. Also, as posted earlier, gua sha was awesome.

Beijing: I slept on the only man-made structure visible from space. Camping on the Great Wall of China is quite possibly the highlight of our entire China trip. We actually got to see stars in China and instead of being woken up early by Linda's voice, we were woken up early by the sun. Using my cell phone on the Great Wall of China was also an interesting mix of old and new aspects of China's culture. One thing I don't love about the Great Wall is that there's nowhere to go to the bathroom and drinking water requires the decision between being thirsty, having to hike down to use the bathroom, or having to hold it all night. Being slightly uncomfortable was definitely worth sleeping there, and it was somewhat alleviated by delicious Oreos, which from now on will always make me think of Cami. Also in Beijing I bought a sword, and I'm really excited about that.

Coming home soon and back here eventually!
Katie Simpson

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