Toronto

5 years after last being in Canada, I've returned to Toronto to meet with Plan in Canada to discuss various work-related co-operation possibilities. Despite arriving at 6am, and leaving 2 days later at the same time (when it is dark!), I have had a successful trip, learning a huge amount from my Canadian colleagues.

Possibly it is because I am coming here from China, and not from the UK as last time, but it has been a delight coming here. The traffic is so considerate, the diversity of people so great as well as the diversity of small restaurants, bars and shops that I almost feel like I am back in down-town London. My perspective must have changed a lot: I see old buildings everywhere and think they are beautiful. Cleveland is similar, though with less (i.e. zero) people on the streets since no-one lives down-town and of course, drives everywhere.

Halloween here is massive. 1 of the ladies in Plan Canada is having a party saturday night and has a full-size coffin as well as cut-up parts of mannequins all over her house (plus all the usual cobwebs etc) -I wish I could go. Instead maybe I can find something in Cleveland. None-the-less there are people all over the streets wearing costumes and everyone is talking about it -even about trick-a-treating with their kids. Meanwhile I'm still tasting the delights of great Indian, Italian and Middle Eastern Food (plus canadian pancakes in the morning and sandwiches at lunch!) -something definitely lacking in Xi'an!

white

Not the most PC of titles, but it introduces my thoughts of today; since I went to the Greyhound bus station (aka. the dirty dog) to buy my ticket to Toronot, while wearing a suit (on way to conference) of all things, and whilst queueing (aka. waiting in line) heard a short afro-american woman screaming behind me into her mobile (aka. Cell phone) about how long the line is every sunday and how she is always waiting in line, and always missing buses (though, she was presumably exaggerating -if its like this way every week, surely she knows to get here earlier?). Then when an employee asked down the line who was waiting for a bus to New York or somewhere else because they were leaving soon, and those people who skip to the the head of the line, she would always ask about the Acron bus, or if she ould get the New York bus, and whether it would get her to Acron quicker. So funny. To top it off she then commented that in the future she might start buying return tickets to save her teh trouble of queuing to get her ticket home (you think?)

Of course most of the people waiting for tickets or their buses were all ethnic minorities; and since my conference is full of smart academic people (mostly from north america) and some business people, they are also predominantly white (though the hotel staff aren't of course) -I had a quick 2 minute chat to the bar tender who didn't think the Mayor of Cleveland (a speaker at the conference) was doing jack sh*t to help the city.

This all brought back memories of my visit to see Ricki Lake being filmed 5 years ago in New York City (hilarious -the topic was afro-american women complaining about their brothers dating white women and asking why afro-american women were not good enough for them) as well as many other experiences from talking to Katy's (my former grilfriend who i was staying with at the time) extended family and friends as well as my work colleagues (I worked for 5 weeks in a small carpenttu/building firm) and others. At the end of my 3 months in the USA I returned to University and was asked to give a short presentation of my trip to Council Exchanges (who I had gone through for the visa etc.) next recruitment of people for their educational exchange programme. I explained how great America is, how much I love the people who are so friendly and how hard-working most people are, how immense the country is it is hard to grasp that some people there just don't need to leave it.. etc etc. I also mentioned in reply to a question that what surprised me the most was how racially segregated USA is (I was living in the mid-west remember, not in a place like New York City).

I wasn't saying it in a negative way specifically, but when some of the 'white' people said that many of the afro-americans were just happy living off benefit, for example, it is not just an opinion but also often a matter of fact -in that area that a large % of afro-americans do live off (unemployment) benefit. There were some riots a while back where a white cop shot an afro-american because the cop thought he was pulling out a gun. He wasn't -the cop was criticised for prejudice, and some riots began. From a British point of view at least, many people in the UK probably feel the same.. to some extent it is natural: a fear of people or things that are different to ourselves. To some extent it is based on stereotypes, which our brains have to use as shortcuts in life to help us make decisions (i studied it in psychology), whether we like to stereoptype people or not. This is of course a long, and unanswered discussion that could go on. Anyway, my point is that USA is still like that.. and the UK is also similar (but our minorities are still more minor).

I find it interesting reading about the possible theories for solving the UK and Europe's racial and immigration issues, with discussions around integration, cultural identity, assimilation etc. I don't know what the solution is.. some sort of compromise I suppose. But I think that some people go to America, see opportunities and take them; some go there and don't. Others, unfortunately, are unable to grasp those opportunities because they are already at a disadvantage (hence positive selection and quotas etc).

All of this comes to my mind as I am now coming from China, where almost nothing is the same as USA. Even the ethnic minorities within China are only 4% of the population, let alone the few foreigners. Everywhere there are chinese people. In America there is sometimes everywhere black people, sometimes everywhere white people, sometimes everywhere mixed people... but those 'times' can easily be labelled. Dealing with ethnicity, diversity, immigration etc. is really not an issue in China (apart from small attempts to support the current 55 ethnic minorities within China); though it is such a huge issue in Europe especially. Such a contrast.

Today ended with the best speech I have ever heard from Ray Anderson, Chairman of Interface Inc, explaining how he has created the largest carpet tiliing company (which depends on nylon and oil as raw materials apparently) in America and the most sustainable -explaining how he did it, how it has all been based on 'new thinking' and innovation and how by 2020 his company will have absolutely ZERO impact on the environment, and then after that it will start to have a purely positive impact on the environment. It was almost an hour long but was captivating. Then I went to the local bar with my cousin (who I am staying with) and met Sarah (attractive bar tender, he he) and Tom (local 50+ drunk artist). Such contrasts to China!

Back in the USA

Back in the USA (Cleveland) for a conference about how business can benefit society, I've realised how much of American life had slipped my mind. Ever since my previous American experiences, including working in Southern Ohio, I have long championed USA as a great place, full of friendly, hard-working people -and tried to convince people that USA is not what you think it is. I believe most other Westerners THINK they know what USA is, and that is the problem. Plus of course the USA is a continent rather than a country -and so diverse in itself it is incredible.

So what did I forget?
-How fat the really fat people are
-How many restaurants are EVERYWHERE (and how 90% of them are chain restaurants, and how 75% of the food they serve is the same -burgers, steaks and maybe some salad or pasta)
-How much space there is everywhere
-How everyone's houses have lawns, garages and just 1 or 2 storeys
-How great the service is (and how credit cards are accepted everywhere)
-How big all the stupid cars are.. sorry, not cars -there are no cars anymore in this country, just trucks and Mini-vans!
-How nice it is to have desserts, salads and tap water

And what has changed?
-People seem to be more aware of food issues (organic, healthy) and exercise; though not enough people evidently get involved in both
-Shops have already started to put up Xmas decorations.. instead of waiting until after Thanksgiving (or indeed, after Halloween)
-The food has got even weirder and more man-made "the better it tastes, the more un-natural it is"
-More terrorism threats every week (successfully removed by fantastic government) "intended to keep us scared, and 'confident' of the government"
-My accent apparently, according to people here who last spoke to me 2-3 years ago ("less English")

It was a little weird back in January going to Belgium.. and being a foreigner yet looking somewhat like a local. So although I feel like a foreigner, no-one treats me like one. It is the same in the USA of course, which is just not what I am used to in China. What is weirder is hearing so many American accents everywhere (on street, in malls etc); normally I would turn around to see who the American is (in China, or maybe even in Europe) since they are kinda rare.. and normally Americans overseas are interesting to talk to (apart from the tourist groups) -but of course here, everyone has american accents. It was pretty cool seeing some cultural diversity at Chicago airport (none really in China, compared to number of Chinese people!), and then weirder still seeing absolutely no cultural diversity in suburban Cleveland.

I just read some of the local paper (the 'plain dealer') and discovered that more fast food chains (e.g. dunkin' donuts) are expanding even more (is there even a market for more?) in the USA, meanwhile I have to spend another 8 days in the country where Cider does not have alocohol, biscuits are hard scones, cookies are biscuits, chips are crisps and of course soccer is football. What the?

trying to understand china

It is very very hard to understand any (and every) country. Although many developing countries like China or Russia seem to be harder to understand, they might not be harder to understand -however they are definitely changing faster, so you have to keep re-understanding everything as things change. As a foreigner of course, it often means learning something about China and then having to re-assess this soon after once another piece of new information changes the context.

One of the things that frustrates me most is not that most foreigners know so little about China (I knew almost nothing before I came and there are so many other countries to read about int he news, as well as one's own) and hence this weblog is an attempt to let people learn more in a personal way.. not like a book, but not like a weblog just about what i have been doing. When I read all the western news on China it often falls into 2 categories: problems or successes -fair enough you might say. However read a 'success' story and there will always be a 'put-down' saying the cost to which the success has come. Read a 'problem' story and there is less rarely a comparison to the other successes the government has had (often it is a case of 'there has been some minor changes, but not enough...').

What I have learned about China is (well, like most things in life really) that context is crucially important. Context, though, is not something that can be conveyed easily -but that is no excuse. I am a great fan of 'From our own Correspondent', a twice weekly half an hour show from the BBC that i download as a podcast, but a recent report angered me. It was from the BBC Beijing correspondent who is moving to the Moscow desk and in his last piece spoke about how normally the government dislikes him for his negative reports, but recently applauded him after his trip to India resulted in him compariing India unfavourably to Chin. He continued on about how even his borther had visited and then asked why so many of his pieces were so negative... and then the correspondent carried on for 10 minutes about all the problems China has -for example, the son who was executed for a crime he didn't commit (without a trial, and later the real criminal was found).

Yes, China has tremendous problems -in its legal system, in its environmental enforcement, in its health care sytem, education system... almost everything has problems -but then most newspapers in the UK will also find (smaller) problems in all the same in the UK. China needs a break. People need to understand that until 25 years ago, there was 0 freedom of speech, almost 0 legal system, almost 0 trade, very high malnutrition, poverty, illiteracy etc etc. It has come a long way in 25 years -although obviously not far enough (yet) for most people (me included). But When you are here you need to understand how big the country is, how diverse it is and how recent histroy influences it.

It is not easy to stamp out corruption or create new policies when the people in power in business or in government gew up in that same society that existed 25-45 years ago.. during the cultural revoultion when students were abusing/killing teachers (remarkable for a society that places SO much respect on teachers and education), when the country was at war with the USA (Vietnam, Korea), when travel was tightly restricted, when Mao;s government was more concerned on spending money on a nuclear programme than helping the hundreds of millions who were in poverty. Most of what the government did for 30 years just made matters worse (in an economic or development sense)! Anyway, so when a local official missed a few years of school because he was busy condemning his teacher (if he was lucky enough to go to shcool anyway) and when that school system would have taught him absolutely nothing that is useful or relevant for today's China, people need to understand this.

The government has built tens of thousands of new schools in the last 10 years, but that is still barely enough. The new policy of centralisation has meant closing some schools (of 30 puils) and condensing 5 villages into 1 school... to save on hours of walking every day, the pupils live at school during the week. This creates numerous other problems too (e.g. so many people living in 1 room that once 1 gets ill, the entire room does; or that most toilets are still pits dug in the ground with flies everywhere and no way of cleaning hands). China is still 60% rural... though of course many other towns and cities are in better situations.

So when someone complains about how much pollution China creates, ignore the fact that we made (and still make) the same (or more) pollution ourselves (China's is just more notable because there are more people) and remember that at the same time as trying to enforce its (honestly, fantastic standards of) environmental protection laws, China has to train hundreds of thousands of lawyers in a legal system that is still brand new, stamp out corruption that is mainstreamed into being a ''way of life' (according to chinese public opinion), create an entire healthcare system covering a country the size of USA (but in China 2/3rds is mountains and desert), prepare to look after the World's largest number of old people (especially worse given the 1 child policy, but then China would not be where it is today if it had had to deal with 200m more children!), create an educational system fit for a country moving into the high-tech, value-added knowledge economy and so on. i really could go on about china's many isues for a long time.

The point is not to say how many things are bad and need changing, the point is to recognise the trememendous challenges the government faces and how, actually, it has done an incredible job so far. The UK cannot even create a database for 60m people for the NHS, build a stadium in less than 5 years or buidl a road or airport in less than 10. Yes, China does not listen to everyone's opinions (and i am certainly not happy that up to 10,000 people die each year -most are criminals though) and there is a lack of human rights, but it has built an incredible infrastructure system, puts 96% of children into school for min. 9 years, taken a couple hunded million people out of extreme poverty, tried to provide jobs for hundreds of millions who live in cities (imagine the challenge of managing with the World's largest human migration EVER and wonder how fast buildings, sewers, public transport etc has to be built, before it becomes out-of-date from new migration!).... its successes are also a long list.

My point is, not just to look at the successes or the failures in isolation but to realise all of this together is a massive challange given China's recent history. And now for a quick personal opinion: After witnessing change around the World (3rd hand) I totally believe that a stable society is needed to make any progress at all. And unfortunately if the Government believes it must sacrifice some things in order to maintain a stable society, then so be it. The great majority of these people are much better off than they have been -ever. Let alone compared to the awful situation they have been in since the late 19th C until the late 20th C when the country was generally either at war internationally, in civil war or ruled by a dictator. I'm hoping the government will success with its monumental tasks (and my job is specifically to get businessed more engaged with these development issues) and I'm waiting for the these natural changes to inevitably happen. As students who have studied abroad raise up the ranks of the government nationally and locally (along with those who have got a better education domestically), then I expect the government to continue to make the best decisions, and hopefully, that will include political reform -when the time is right (andI personally beliieve it is not, right now).

I'm an Alien

I now hold an Alien Employment Permit. Sine it required a contract, an endorsement letter from our local partner (Shaanxi Women's Federation) and an endorsement letter from the Foreign Affiars or Foreign Corproation's bureau (?) , me leaving the country, changing my visa, returning to the country, getting a health check and then extending my visa.. it was not so easy to get.

Of course by leaving the country, I only had to go to Hong Kong; since China follows the 1 country -2 systems principle. What this means, who knows? From my point of view both Hong Kong and Macau have totally different laws and systems to China (and to each other of course) and Taiwan is another system: so that makes 1 country, 4 systems doesn't it?

Aaah, Taiwan, the place where the previous government ran away to (with all the country's cultural and financial treasures) before Mao and the Communists took over. China claims it is theirs, though the Taiwanese government don't claim to be a part of China (some people want to return to China, some want to make their 'serperation' more permanant and some are happy as they are) -its likely it will just stay in a weird state of flux for a while yet. For those interested, Taiwan used to be the China recognised by the UN (and the government in Tai pei sat in the UN) and rest of the World until 1971 when Beijing moved into the UN instead (and most countries recognised Beijing instead of Tai pei). Nowadays only a few small countries still think Taipai represents China.

[According to Wikipedia, the Dutch formed the first government in the 17th C, but in 1683 it was taken over by China, in 1895 the Japanese were rewarded with Taiwan as compensation for beating the Chinese in a war. When they lost WWII the Americans 'temporarily looked after it' and in 1951 the Kuomintang took over leadership, which the 'West' recognised as the real China during the Cold War]

Some see Taiwan as a flashpoint that will flare up into a big crisis (since the Americans have declared they will protect Taiwan against any 'forced reclamation' by China); others think maybe Taiwan will happily return to China (only if China sometime becomes democratic -since Taiwan has been a democracy for the last 6 years or so); others think it will just stay as it is. One thing is for sure China will not let it try to declare full independence (and blocks any attempt Taiwan makes to join the UN seperately), and since many Taiwanese fled from China previously, and the rest are still culturally chinese (in fact more traditional than those in China), then there is a lot in common with relationships everywhere.

In the meantime, expect continued political spats (for domestic political gain) and more fanfares over the occasional 'direct flight' (flights must still go through Hong Kong airspace doubling journey time, but usually they have to actually stop there) . For the Taiwanese in China they continue to have 2 passports (1 Taiwanese and 1 Chinese, though of course neither is recognised by the other as a passport), continue to learn how to read simplified Chinese (rather than complex Chinese), continue to make lots of money here and continue to be discriminmated against just like other foreigners (higher university fees, joining the 'international' line in airports) and so on.

The Taiwanese in China are also Aliens in a weird way despite looking the same, speaking the same language and sharing the same culture and a great deal of history. Yet another weird contradiction in this country... how can Beijing claim Taiwan as a province when it cannot controlwhether or not its own people can travel there (it is really hard for any Mainland Chinese to go to Taiwan yet a million or more Taiwanese are over here making so much money!). Well, maybe the Chinese are just sitting sumgly knowing how dependent the Taiwanese are on Mainland China economically.

The big questions... will China ever try and pull the economic plug for some measly domestic political gain/nationalistic pride? Does China now have such an effect on the World economy that the World/USA would continue to let it do whatever it wants, would the USA continue to defend democracy, will China itself slowly become democratic enough so the Taiwanese would be willing to become a full part of China? Or will Taiwan ever try to declare independence, and why?

tibetan tour guide

Life in China is like this for the average person in rural china (remember that the average income per person in China is a little over 1,000 USD ~8,000 Y a year) :

Income: about 30 Y a day for being a tour guide. Not working every day, therefore annual income is about 5-6,000 Y a year.

Education (supposedly free) for 2 kids =1,000 Y a year
Water = 120 Y a year
Electricity =300 Y a year
Tax =500 Y a year
no rent

leaving about 3-4,000 Y a year for food and clothing (and some basic transport, though horses are enough it seems!). which is 500 USD for a family of 4 people -who are not farmers (and do not grow their own food). And this is a good enough life.. the family is ok. This is the China that most people forget about.. just thinking of the rich businessmen, the polluting factories and all the upper class owning cars.

fresh air

coming back to Xi'an was the natural end to a great holiday -and it was supposed to be a great opportunity to show my mum around (including a karaoke party with some colleagues) -unfortunately we landed without even seeing the ground, so bad was the pollution.

It was made even worse since we were contrasting Xi'an smog with the pure fresh air of mountains 2-4,000m up where we had spent the previous week horse-riding (sore bum!) and in the most stunning natural park in China (and possibly the world). Its hard to describe what it is like trekking amongst lush green hills and mountains with waterfalls and streams separating various local tibetan villages; the snow capped peaks in the distance coming closer and closer until we were standing in half a meter of snow under a 5,500m high mountain.

The vistas were incredible (and so was the cold in the evening, in our tents), however not even this could rival JiuZhaiGou. An area of several stunning waterfalls and tens of incredible lakes that were all colours of the rainbow reflecting the algae, the minerals, the leaves, the sky and all other things in their fresh, clear water. The varying depths of the lakes (generally quite shallow it only 1-5m deep) led to such a diverse collection of colours, it could not be painted. It is quite clear why the millions of chinese (and others) flock their every year, and with a night in a local tibetan guest-house and some fantastic examples of environmentally sustainable tourism (by chinese standards and also with signs, maps, walkways etc) it was a great couple of days.

Previously me and mum had tried sichuanese cooking, seen the pandas (cute; though I wonder what future they have), climbed a typical chinese mountain and sampled the local teas and spicy food. Despite forcing my mum to spend most of the time hanging around with 20 year olds and backpacking she loved it -though may welcome the comforable beds at home.

In the meantime I'm leaving later this weekend for the USA and Canada with a stop-off in Shanghai on the way there and a few days in Beijing on the way back; time to turn my attention away from how tibetan kids should be educated (traditionally in monasteries or in real schools) and how beautiful nature is (and cold) -and back to working with companies to develop Plan's programmes. The conference in USA should be fun too... wonder what Cleveland is like 5 years after I was last there?