No Child Left Behind

May 10, 2011

We’ve been in a technology black hole for a few days. We’re in Kyrgyzstgan, but here’s some catch-up.

There seems to be a lot of confusion, at least on my part, to explain the “family planning policy” or the one child policy as it is known in the west. Apparently, only about 35% of the people are actually under the restriction of having only one child. People in the country, ethnic minorities, and Han (Chinese) people living in areas where they government is trying to out-populate the local population (Tibet) are not restricted to having one only child. Ben says that if you have a daughter first, then you can have another child. If you have a second daughter, you’re toast. If you have a boy the first time, you’re done. The big winners, of course, are those who have twin boys. No matter what the policy is and how it works, there has been a significant change in the entire family structure of a culture that has long cherished many children. 

 

On our day in the park, we were astounded to see a single child with four adults in tow. Mom, dad, and grandparents,  probably. But certainly they seemed to feel that they were the center of the universe with all the adults doting on their every action. Carol noted that these kids being the children of single children  would have no cousins, no aunt or uncles, only parents and grandparents. The policy was instituted in 1978, and  Ben says they estimate that there are 135 million people less than what there would be without the policy. Don’t know the permutations of the whole deal, but it does seem really different to usually see just one child with parents.  

While abortions are readily available to people, apparently it is illegal for doctors to tell prospective parents the sex of their unborn child. Still from what John says, there is a lot of infanticide in the country (rural) areas and he seems to feel that there is a disproportionate number of boys in the total population of children. If you violate the policy you are fined 100,000 Yuan ($16,000) in the city and 20,000 in the rural areas. Still allows the fat cats to do what they want while the poor people suffer the harshness of policy. Gee, how different from the west is that?

Urumqi is supposed to be the capital of the Uighur semi, yada yada yada, but it doesn’t feel like a Uighur town. It feels like a down-sized Xi’an. 70 % Han and only 30% Uighur and 3 mill of them total. Turpan felt Uighur, it just felt Chinese and big. We saw little Muslim influence – no mosques dotted the skyline from our 13^th floor window. It was a typical city. Polluted, busy, noisy.

Our day, however, was in full contrast to that. We went up into the mountains for our only true scenic, rural, and nature outing. We headed up into the Tian Shan foothills to a beautiful lake where we spent the day just wandering up and down steps to find a waterfall, across the walkway built as an outcropping of the shoreline, and simply enjoying ourselves. It was lovely and much needed. Even the Chinese seemed properly instilled with the natural beauty of the place and were unusually subdued. It rained on us all the way out and the higher we got the colder it became. We were forewarned and so were prepared, but when we started walking from our shuttle bus area we could see that there was still snow on the ground. I gave Saci one of my gloves so we could each have one with the other hand in our pocket. The group laughed at us saying we looked like bookends. I said we could always change hands if the one needed more attention. However, the rain/snow stopped and while it never became warm, it was not uncomfortable. Walking helped keep the body temp up and we were not uncomfortable.

We headed to the airport for our flight to Kashgar (Kashi, as the Chinese call it) and I allowed myself to get really pissed for the one and only time of the trip. Some of us decided that since we had three hours to wait, we’d get a cup of coffee and just pass the time. Carol had forgotten to take her Swiss Army knife out of her backpack, and had lost one for the third time of traveling. Minh did the same, and they then decided that Ben could go back through security and check Carol’s backpack and salvage the knives When we all finally arrived at the gate, I walked to the coffee shop and ordered coffee. Saci and Allen came up and asked me if I had seen the price of the coffee. I hadn’t and they told me it was the equivalent of $9. I was startled, but had already ordered it, and was stuck. Naturally, they passed on the coffee. When I finished my cup and went to pay, they charged me $15. I was so pissed!! It’s my own fault. I let my guard down for a moment. I violated the cardinal rule of not checking first, but it had been a long day and I was tired and slipped up. Every time I passed the coffee shop when I went to the bathroom, they’d all turn the other way to avoid eye contact, and I’d just tell them they were all thieves. Childish, petulant, and certainly non-productive, I agreed, but I had no other vent. I couldn’t really let them know how wrong it was. Okay, in the total scheme of world events, it was minor. I just don’t like to be made a fool of, and I get as angry at myself as I do at those who do it to me. Seems we’re all accomplices in the general humbling of Jim’s spirit.

And so we’ve made it all the way across China to this – the portal of china to the west. Sitting at the western extremity of the Taklimakan Desert and between the Pamirs and the Tian Shan Mountains, it is a city of great vibrancy and it just doesn’t feel like China.

We may still be on official Beijing time, but the locals know what time it is. They operate on their own schedule. I went out this morning at 9 a.m. to try and find a pharmacy and hitting the lobby it looked like a scene out of some bad crime flick where all the people have been shot and the bodies are left in the position where they died. People were head down into the counter, stretched all the way back in their chairs, or sprawled  with their bodies contorted in the stools with their heads back against the wall. Not a soul moved. Government offices may open and close at the official time, but nobody else is buying it. 

I hit the streets and the traffic was just beginning to awaken. The sounds of horns only faintly cracked the morning air, and the shops were all shut tighter than a tick. People walking on the streets were far fewer than at midnight last night when I went out for water after our late night arrival. Only 1/10 the size of Urumqi, the capital of the Uighur area, it is such a different feel. THIS is a Uighur city. 400,000 people of whom 90%  are Uighur. When walking this morning, I actually did see a Han woman. Thought maybe I should take a picture as the last Han I saw in China, since tomorrow it’s off to Krygyzstan. Coming in from the airport last night, I was immediately struck by how much livelier the city was than other places we’ve been. The joint was jumping. It was Saturday night to be sure, but still we’ve seen other Saturday nights and they weren’t anything like this.  The city is like a big colorful neon sign. Kind of reminded me of Korea. Not as garish, maybe, but still very colorful. Korean neons are in-your-face garish. Here it’s all subdued purples and reds and greens. Really pretty ride into town and sort of set everything up for a good day today.

One interesting aspect for me has been the presentation of the culture through advertising. Ever since
Beijing, TV spots, bill boards, magazines, you name it the image has been the same. We’ve traveled through Inner Mongolia, Tibetan areas and now Uighur country and not once have I seen anything portrayed  other than the classical Han beauty - Long limbed, peach colored skin, perfect complexion, thin face and body structure. American advertisers were averse to using  anybody with a dark skin and always chose the white, stereotypical image. Everybody advertising something that used a female image to represent that product chose someone who looks like the classical Ivory Snow girl. At least that was the picture until Marilyn Chambers gave that look a whole new image. And so it is here still, except that they have almond shaped eyes. No Uighur clothing in the photo ops, no Muslim head scarves, no Mongolian dells. Just the Han. No matter what they say, this does not appear to be a well-mixed society. I’ve had little indication that things are other than totally separated in almost all aspects of society, and advertising simply reflects that. 

Carol’s caught the bug. That makes 8 of the 14.