Check out this bizarre story from the book, China Wakes*:

“While seismic rumbling and a rise in superstition were sometimes indicators of decline in past dynasties, the latest rumors would have startled the Duke of Zhou. A few of the superstitions underscore the peculiar public mood, which in a few places borders on psychosis. Perhaps the strangest panic occurred in 1993 in Chongqing, a huge riverside metropolis in central China.

A tale spread that an American-made robotic zombie had gone out of control and escaped from the United States to Chongqing. ‘The zombie specialized in eating children wearing red clothes, and it was said to have devoured several kids already,’ reported the Chongqing Legal News, an official newspaper. In the resulting frenzy, many children refused to go to school. Parents protected their ‘little emperors’ by fashioning crosses out of chopsticks and putting cloves of garlic in their book bags. The result was a sudden garlic shortage in Chongqing. The mayor’s office was forced to address the issue and order a new round of ‘ideological work on teachers and students to calm them down and make them at ease about going to school.’

This is the kind of panic that is expected when a dynasty is coming apart. For the last four millenia, the dynastic cycle has been the dominant pattern of Chinese history. Almost every dynasty is founded by a vigorous leader with strong support: a fellow like Mao. The new emperor consolidates his hold on the country and establishes order, and the new administration hums along reasonably efficiently. But then the emperor’s descendants become effete and corrupt, surrounded by a growing bureaucracy of officials and eunuchs. The later emperors, always cosseted in the palaces, become increasingly unpopular, remote, and unaware of what is going on.

In a Western country, the leaders at this point would be voted out of office. But in China, the rascals remain in the Forbidden City. They raise taxes and neglect public works–such as flood control projects–so that they can pay for new extravagances at court. The peasants seethe [...] eventually the dynasty loses its Mandate of Heaven. Then the dynasty topples and the process is started anew.”

My German colleague, Peter, shared this book with me and we chatted about this story.  We’ve asked a few Chongqing natives, but haven’t encountered anyone who remembers this tale.  It was a long time ago and China was very different then too.

A large part of the book is devoted to a rise in superstition that hearkens the end of a dynasty and uses this story as an illustration.  Maybe this helps explain some of the nature of the country. Most people now do not believe in Mao, or in Communism, but nothing has emerged to take their place.  Religion is on the rise however.

* Kristof, Nicholas D. and Wudunn, Sheryl China Wakes: The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power, Vintage Books, p 131.

Chongqing from the Yangzi at night:

China is a country that destroys the minimums and maximums that we in the West are accustomed to. Whenever anyone asks what it’s like here, that’s usually what I say. Imagine our norms for rich and poor, then take those boundaries on either extreme, and push them out much further. That’s China. In many cases, these extremes contradict each other. That’s one reason why I still feel like I don’t know China very well. Every time I think I have a description or a generalization, I find numerous examples that contradict it. China is easily the most mysterious, the weirdest place I’ve ever been. South America now feels like just part of the neighborhood.

I compiled a short list of extremes in China that I see every day along with some commentary:

• Cleanliness vs. Filth – One of the first thing that struck me about Chinese people is that they are fastidious with their hands when eating.  I can relate to this; I’m very finicky about my hands and will use a fork and knife for foods such as pizza.  I almost never see Chinese people touch their food, though modern fast food is the exception.  I once garnered attention because of the way I ate French Fries in China.  Apparently, my fingers were humorously close to my mouth.  On the other hand, Chinese men have no problem with clearing their throats in the most foul way imaginable and spitting what comes out onto the ground.
• Cheap vs. Expensive – Every work day, some colleagues and I go out for “street food”.  There’s a row of dinky cheap and tasty restaurants just across the street from our office.  I often eat for less than a dollar a meal.  On the other hand, I’ve seen an large decorative bottle of Chinese “white wine” (more like moonshine) with a price tag equivalent of a brand new BMW.
• Lazy vs. Hard-working – It’s a rare day when I see a Chinese person walking up or down an escalator. No matter how slow or long an escalator is, I hardly ever see anyone try to make up time.  Chinese can also be very lazy in their language; parts of words are liberally omitted if the context can reveal what’s being discussed.  This makes it very hard for me to understand sometimes.  On the other hand, these folks generally work way harder than 99% of people in the US.  I’m certainly one of the “slackers” in my office.  Though, very few people know the difference between productivity and being busy.
• Humble vs. Ostenatious – Kowtowing has long been a part of Chinese culture.  I always assumed that China was a humble country.  This seems to be true, with different folks.  But then you can see frequent flagrant displays of wealth, often much worse than what we see in the US -  a bright yellow Lamborghini with the a license plate containing only the letter “8″, which resembles closely the pronunciation for “making money”.
• Private vs. Revealing – People on my team are loath to share the results of teamwork preferences and personality tests, even when the whole purpose is to learn more about each other.  But, go to the hospital and expect details about your so-called private medical records to be shouted across the waiting room in front of a hundred people.  And, one can even get details of his medical history over Hotmail.  Gossip flourishes in China.
• Skill vs. Incompetence – Once I witnessed a Chinese man cutting silhouettes of couples with unbelievable skill.  What’s more, he would do it in under a minute.  If I had not seen him do this, I would have sworn that this was impossible, that the resulting artwork had to have taken hours to complete.  No lie, this guy would produce an uncanny resemblance and detail (even thin individual hairs in places) in one minute or less.  On the other hand, you frequently come across products with such bad workmanship that they will literally fall to pieces after a few hours of use.  This past weekend, my apartment’s drainage system failed spectacularly, due to bad workmanship.

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Darly (aka “??”, or Da4 Li4) and I met up at the Crowne Plaza and took a taxi to one of the basketball courts in Ke Ji Yuan for some pickup basketball with fellas at the office. There’s not much to say about it, other than it was extremely hot and humid and we were totally soaked when done. It’s been a long time I’ve played an intense sport like basketball in that kind of heat. I thought, “Why not just share some quick pics and a movie with the folks back home…” Enjoy.

Some pictures:

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And a little video:

Friday after work, the weekend before the Mid-Autumn Festival when folks eat these not-so-tasty “moon cakes”, Daryl and I went to Hua Qiang Bei for dinner. I’ve made up my mind – Shenzhen’s best restaurants are in Hua Qiang Bei and range from little hole-in-the-wall places to more upscale ones (though there are no really fancy ones that I know of). So, if I’m looking for good food, this is where I usually go. Most of my colleagues dislike Hua Qiang Bei because it’s so crowded and is known for petty thievery. I find it pretty interesting to visit and just watch (I’ve decided I need to make a few trips down here with a video camera…carefully).

Some big construction just finished in Hua Qiang Bei – some outwardly nice looking apartments, a large electronics store, and an office tower. It makes the place feel a little more approachable by your average foreigner like me, but it’s still pushing the edge for what we’re used to. I am halfway tempted to move down here, but I think the crowds and the noise would eventually drive me crazy.

En route to our restaurant, we came across this impressive display for women’s cosmetics. These sorts of publicity stunts are common in Shenzhen, though this was one of the coolest I’ve seen. We had to stop and take pictures.

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They were shredding on Vivaldi’s “Autumn” concerto.