Xi'an

It is the middle of July. Wow. Almost 1 year of being at Plan and in Xi'an. My contract has been renewed for another year, though I may soon move back to Beijing, rather than just traveling there every other week. As with most things it is only when you contemplate change that you realise just what things are like now -i say this in regard to Xi'an. A city that at first sight is polluted and grey, boring and dangerous (never try to cross at a pedestrian crossing in xi'an; keep going to a road junction where the traffic lights afford slightly more protection) is in many aspects wonderfully chinese where the middle class is taking over and where on saturdays shopping streets are crowded, buses are packed and personal cars clog streets.

A city that is cheap enough for it's millions of inhabitants living of a few pounds a day (average taxi driver's take home salary here is 100 pounds a month) to drive consumerism; yet one that is trying price itself out of these people's range. The accommodation that these people live in is disappearing (though not as rapidly as East China), the number of places where farmers can drive up in their 3 wheeled carts piled high with vegetables to sell is declining, and the number of bars on the (only) bar street that actually have people in them is increasing (though not as fast as the number of clubs opening). I may be exaggerating a little -but observing this is what makes Xi'an an interesting place to live. It might not change as much as Beijing, it might not have anything actually happening (politically, culturally, business etc) in comparison but it does have an atmosphere, hidden in the old villages that have been absorbed into the massive city.

These villages are surviving and they are just like any other village that could be in the middle of nowhere: market streets, evil dogs, hundreds of kids, litter and all. It means that the culture these people that grew up there have lives on, though in different forms. Going to the South gate is a bizarre example of how old people are forced to socialise, play instruments and dance in modern times where land is at such a premium. Of course, just like British culture (and one could even say, values) have changed so much in the last century China's are too. Whether it will actually be quicker or not, I am not sure. It might still be dependent on older generations dying, middle generations forgetting their past and younger generations only knowing consumerism -which all takes time.

A friend of mine is running a soup-kitchen in town, which operates 3 days a week and has over 50 people coming each time -mostly regulars. Going there reminds me what real charity is like (Plan is a multi-million dollar development organisations and though in no means ineffective, is operating on a totally different level) -and that though it is not sustainable, it is still required. Several of the regulars there are now volunteers themselves and it is clear how much they get out of being offered a chance to help themselves and others, even if that is just by cleaning tables and handing out soup and baozi. This weekend I will running a couple of workshops at the AIESEC conference and one is going to focus a great deal on the linkage between entrepreneurship and empowerment (along with micro-finance, an incredibly hot topic nowadays). This is a topic i am increasingly getting interested in.

In other news, camping/hiking is still my favourite past-time (apart from when i get my hands on a new series of 24!), the sun has actually come out recently and there has also been a few showers, i am off to thailand/cambodia next weekend and i am feeling more chinese after downgrading my living situation :) I can highly recommend Little Children movie-wise and facebook for a place to upload embarrassing photos of people!

p.s. not the most exciting last 3 weeks, but pretty busy. The main highlight was watching the torture my colleagues went through listening to my presentation (in chinese) about my 'resource mobilisation' plan for the next 12 months!