Blue China - A blog about Peter Schindler’s on and off the road encounters with people in China

January 1st, 2010

A small New Year’s wish…

Posted by peter

If I were a cloud,
I would stop flying high in the sky,
Instead, I would choose to change into rain drops that alight on the world of men.
If you ask me why,
Please look upon the verdant lands of life,
And that would be my answer.

If I were a river,
I would stop rushing toward the ocean,
Instead, I would choose to irrigate the dry wheat fields of Shaan’Xi [province].
If you ask me why,
Please listen to the joyous laughter of my uncles, the farmers,
And that would be my answer.
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8 Responses :

lindawm Says:
January 2nd, 2010 at 9:25 am
I’ve always wondered about these slogans and if 1) it may make more sense in chinese…. 2) if anyone actually reads and follows them.
Paul Noll Says:
January 3rd, 2010 at 2:10 am
Peter: Ass usual you hit the right theme. See:
http://www.paulnoll.com/China/Eclipse/Humor-sign-scenes-01.html
and
http://www.paulnoll.com/China/Eclipse/Transportation/Road-signs-scenes-01.html
Peter Schindler Says:
January 4th, 2010 at 10:26 am
Hello Linda,

while I’m obviously not a native speaker, they don’t seem to make any more sense in Chinese. As to whether anyone reads them, I get the impression not.

Hello Paul,

good to hear from you! Glad you like the theme…how can we possibly imagine what it is like to live in the Chinese countryside?

Peter
Andreas Says:
January 4th, 2010 at 9:03 pm
Slogans, poems, sayings, stories, quotes, you name it. Who are we to judge. Is the so-called West really better? May be a bit more sofisticated, we call them “Mission Statements”, “Policies”, etc. but the essence is the same. Cheers.
Peter Schindler Says:
January 5th, 2010 at 9:02 am
Hello Andreas, well, I was thinking about that when I wrote the essay: perhaps it is really just a matter of degree and sophistication? I suppose the main difference is one of respect: the tone of many slogans (标语 biaoyu) in China suggests no respect for those the intended to read and follow them.

By the way, I do not mean to judge what is better and what is worse. In fact, I always read the Chinese slogans with a shrug until one Chinese mentioned that she’s sick of them. Of course, 1 person hardly makes a trend, but it’s what started me thinking…
Phyllis Says:
January 5th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
To my brother of 8 years younger, I still wonder if I should encourage these unbeaten optimism and faith in the goodness of people, or expose him earlier to the harsh facts of life, thus directing him towards an irreversible loss of innocence. Maybe innocence is an exclusive luxury to those leading or opting for a sheltered life… much to one’s regrets
Peter Schindler Says:
January 6th, 2010 at 8:16 am
Helly Phyllis,

or is it a bit like rain and sun shine? I’m always amazed how my friends in Perth (where the sun so often shines) crave cold weather and rain. And how I, when I used to live in Austria, craved sunshine and heat because it rains and is cold so much of the year. In other words, how can one appreciate innocence if you haven’t experienced the harshness of life?
王皓 Says:
January 25th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
Peter您最近好吗？又是新的一年来到了，我们还没有找到合适的机会再见面，很想念您，希望您一切都好，还有嘉敏。

November 29th, 2009

The mountains are steep and forbidding…

Posted by peter

Shan Qiong Shui Jin Yi Wu Lu, Liu An Hua Ming You Yi Cun (山穷水尽已无路，柳暗花明又一村). Thus goes a Chinese saying: “The mountains are steep and forbidding, the rivers deep and ferocious, will I ever get out of here? Suddenly, there are calm willows swaying in the breeze and myriad flowers blooming in fine fields. And look!, there is after all another village.”

And so I felt when I arrived, late on Tuesday afternoon in Kongdang, a hamlet by the Dulong River. Driving for nine hours west in the direction of Burma on a ninety six kilometre long dirt road from Gongshan, a small town in the upper reaches of the Nu River valley, I was wondering all along whether and what kind of dwellings I would find at the other end. Kongdang, the seat of the Dulong River Township government, proved to be not as enchanting as the Chinese poem suggests: there are no forests of peaceful willows and no fields of blooming flowers, only a few sleepy houses, one dilapidated hotel, a police barrack and a handful of ruggedly clad farmers milling about in the village’s only street. But seeing the crystal clear, rapidly flowing waters of the Dulong River that are a kaleidoscope of blue, green and frothy white, and recalling as well the day’s memories of utter remoteness and untouched nature, I was not only delighted to have arrived, but enchanted by the loveliness of this remote corner of China.
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5 Responses :

Blue China - A blog about Peter Schindler's on and off the road … Says:
November 29th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
[...] here: Blue China - A blog about Peter Schindler's on and off the road … [...]
Frances Says:
November 29th, 2009 at 11:55 pm
Thanks for sharing this Peter. I agree that driving is a great way to experience life, esp in such beautiful terrains! (I will start my driving lessons in the coming month here in Chengdu, finally!)
Peter Schindler Says:
November 30th, 2009 at 6:59 am
Hello Frances, good to hear from you. A driving license at last…so you can begin to explore the beautiful Sichuan countryside…hope all is well!
Peter
Phyllis Says:
December 1st, 2009 at 3:46 am
Another beautifully written blog, and the opening few paragraphs are very incidentally timely … wanna say thanks for the article

a bumpy journey is a great learning process, the condensation of one’s appreciation however has to wait till the end of the test hopefully without much residual effect from any damage

look forward to sharing my story in future. Merry Christmas and best wishes from your homeland =)
Peter Schindler Says:
December 1st, 2009 at 7:05 am
Hello Phyllis, thanks for the wonderful comment! Will you be going home for Christmas or stay in Europe?

October 1st, 2009

Culture crash…

Posted by peter

A recent driving trip of mine to Tibet ended in Yunnan’s Shangri-la. From there I returned to Hong Kong by plane. My flight from Shangri-La to Kunming was scheduled to depart at 8:55am. The driver of the taxi that took me to the airport was a burly Tibetan fellow with a comfortable smile and an infectious laugh. The ride from my hotel to the airport was to take all but 10 minutes.

At the south-end of Shangri-La town there sits a large stupa at the centre of an expansive round-about. As we approached it, I expected the driver to turn right and whirl around it counter-clockwise (as is the custom in right-hand-side driving countries). Instead, he turned left and swung around it clockwise. Even though there was no traffic coming at us, I cried out in alarm, “What are you doing? Aren’t you supposed to go the other way round?

“No, in the mornings we’ve got to go around it this way,” he assured me with his warm smile.

As he said it, I recalled that Tibetans circle all holy things, including stupas, clockwise. “From when to when is this rule in effect?” I asked him incredulously.

“No ‘from’. Just before 10am,” he explained.

“And what if an infidel should come the other way round?” I couldn’t resist pursuing the argument to its inevitable conclusion.

“There might be a crash,” he said with a dead-pan face.

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6 Responses :

Alan Morgan Says:
October 1st, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Hi Peter
The standard of driving and rules continue to defeat me here in China if it were me driving I am sure I would have had many accidents but as I use a local driver who I trust emplisitly I feel very safe.
Alan
Ben Says:
October 1st, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Peter Schindler Says:
October 2nd, 2009 at 7:46 am
Actually, I’ve driven a good 80,000km in China, and I’ve never had a genuinely worrying moment. All that’s required is to think for oneself rather than rely on rules and all is fine…a bit like when driving in Rome. In fact, in many ways I enjoy driving more in countries that don’t blindly rely on rules Perhaps that’s because to me driving is like breathing…the most natural thing ever… breathe…
Phyllis Says:
October 4th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
the challenge is to discover the un-written and invisible ‘rules’ in cross-cultural exchanges … ;p
hope all is good for you and your loved ones.

greetings from Zurich, Phyllis
Peter Schindler Says:
October 7th, 2009 at 1:40 am
Hello Phyllis, indeed, that’s true…and, in fact, driving in a country is usually a very good way of discovering “the personality” of the people of a country. Swiss traffic feels Swiss because the drivers are (mostly) Swiss; Italian traffice feels Italian for the same reason; and this is true of China as well…
nilbeste leyla didar bekiroglu usta Says:
October 12th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Prof. dr. nazmiye nazan bekiroglu karanis

satış pazarlama teşhir ve afişe sitesi

http://forum.globaltimes.cn/forum/blog.php?b=343

August 30th, 2009

A day lost in Gang Tuo…

Posted by peter

“Alright, let’s go and find a place for lunch. But let’s make it a quick one. We don’t wanna end up way behind in the queue,” I conclude after having considered for thirty minutes or more Jo’s suggestion that a meal would be a good thing by now.

*****************************

We had arrived in Gang Tuo at 9:15 in the morning. (Where is Gang Tuo?). Now it is 12:30. And no one has as yet any idea as to when we will be able to get going again. We had set out from Dege in northwest Sichuan. (Where is Dege?) at 7am on our way to Changdu, our first overnight stop in Tibet. (Where is Changdu?). We had reached the border between Sichuan and Tibet at 8:15 after crossing the Yangtze, already wide and deep here in its upper reaches.

Leading to the border, the valley was wide and the road excellently paved. A few hundred meters after crossing into Tibet, the situation changed dramatically, however.
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August 2nd, 2009

Found in translation…

Posted by peter

My friend couldn’t contain his giggles as he sat down to have dinner with me in a Hong Kong restaurant. “I just bought the funniest of books,” he declared and proceeded to pull it out of his bag. The book is called “More Chinglish: Speaking in Tongues” and is a collection of poor English translations of Chinese words and sentences. Even though my friend was born and raised in Hong Kong and therefore must have seen countless such examples, he couldn’t help guffawing over the gems in the book he had just acquired. Here is a particularly funny one:

(You must know that traditionally Chinese was and still is, as in this example, written right to left.)
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One Responses :

Beijinger Says:
August 5th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
I think you have got the conflicting point of Chinese mentality; in one hand they are trying very hard to maintain/promote Chinese tradition or things purely Chinese, in other hand they are crediting the belief “that everything foreign with high quality”.
The practice of “fake it until you make it” is very popular in China.

July 1st, 2009

Customer service of a different kind…

Posted by peter

Yesterday, when I was on my way to a China Mobile shop in Chengdu, I saw an Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) branch that was emblazoned with the lovely green logo that identifies this countryside bank. As the taxi drove by, my head swivelled around because I have fond memories of ABC.

It was a good two-and-a-half years ago that I spent many months in Beijing preparing for my epic driving journey through China in Miss Daisy (see www.ontheroadinchina.com/nokiadiscoverchina). One of the myriad preparatory tasks was to open a bank account since it would not have been wise to carry tens and tens of thousands of Yuan in cash with me. If it had been overseas, an international credit card would have been the obvious choice, but in China that would not have gotten me very far, certainly not in the country side. The question then was: which bank? China has many banks, some small, some medium sized and a few large ones such as Bank of China and China Construction Bank. The mother of them all is Agricultural Bank of China. It had, when I checked last, 400,000 employees (that’s after having been trimmed down substantially in the past ten years) and branches nearly everywhere, even in the remotest corners of the country. ABC’s smart green logo brightens up even the dimmest of places. ABC was to be my bank.
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June 13th, 2009

My wife is three years young today…

Posted by peter

We – Olimpia, Luo Sang, Gary, Anne, Lei and I – prepare to leave the Yading Nature Reserve [Where is the Yading Nature Reserve?]. A man approaches Gary’s car. Gary rolls down the window. They talk. I see Gary shaking his head. I wonder what the man wants. Does he want to collect a parking fee? He comes over to my car. I roll down my window. When he sees me he says “But you’re not the driver…” I reply, “Yes, I am. What’s up?” He says he’s to tell me that “you have a severe case of altitude sickness”. In less than a heart-beat, my body floods with adrenaline and I know who he’s talking about: Angie is mortally ill. My eyes fill with mist. I jump out of the car and run as fast as my legs will carry me over to Gary’s car. I yell, “Angie is suffering severely from altitude sickness, I must go ahead first. Don’t try to follow. Please drive safely. The drops are steep.” I dash back to my car, apologise to Olimpia and Luo Sang that this will be a rough ride, but that they needn’t worry. My lungs heave. I breathe in fear and breathe out urgency. I talk to myself, “I must get to Angie. I must get there now.” And then “Don’t drive too fast, you have other lives in your hands.”
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7 Responses :

Cindy Says:
June 13th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Wow! has it been 3 years already? Angie looks great in the photo! Thank you for the reminder to celebrate life!
peter Says:
June 14th, 2009 at 7:47 am
Hello Cindy,
how lovely to hear from you…I forgot that you’re subscribed to my blog! Well, well, wasn’t that a scare then? And I still recall vividly all your support…you went to collect all our things at the hotel, right? Thank you!!!
Yes, Angie’s totally fine, in fact, she’s been fine ever since she took off in the plane from Zhongdian…
Take care, Peter
Linda Says:
June 14th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Well writtened piece - I felt I was right there with you. You’ve captured the intensity of the moment. Yes, we should all celebrate everyday that we have with the ones that we love.
Keith Says:
June 19th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
That is a very moving story Peter, I didn’t know about it.

Give our love to Angie.

(And it is heartening to know that you have a, well, heart, after all!)
Peter Schindler Says:
June 19th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Linda, thanks for your comment….!

Keith, how does the saying go? Who needs enemies with friends like you?
Nino Natividad Says:
June 26th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Wow! THis is very nice. Good luck!

Nino Natividad
Pixi Says:
September 1st, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Hi,

I am a human rights advocate in my country but I contact you regarding a different matter, the rights of animals and cruel practises in China. I ask that you visit the follwoing web site and spread the message about what is happening in your country:

http://www.peta.org/feat/ChineseFurFarms/index.asp

These cruel practises are barbaric and must stop.

I sincerely hope that you will look at what is happening play your small role and bring shame to those people who perpetrate such obscene cruelity onto animals.

Regards, Pixi

May 10th, 2009

Between a rock and a hard place…

Posted by peter

In April 2008, Mr. and Mrs. Li’s daughter Xiaojing gave birth to a baby girl, prematurely but without major complications. Xiaojing’s family is from a rural corner of eastern Sichuan, but in 2007 her parents moved to Dongguan, less than two hours’ drive from glittery Hong Kong. Dongguan is a large city in Canton province which, with some justification, can be called the world’s manufactory. It is here that all (or nearly all) the stuff we buy cheaply gets made. For many in China, this is where dreams are born and made. Often it is also where they die.

Mr. and Mrs. Li had come to Dongguan in search of good luck and more income. They had decided to go there because in the rural neighborhood of their native Sichuan they found it nearly impossible to feed a family of four – themselves and their two daughters – and to save enough for the good schooling they hoped to give to their children. It was not an easy decision to leave Xiaojing and her sister behind but thought it would be best for them in the long run. And so Mr. and Mrs. Li went on their long journey to Dongguan where they found work in one of the countless factories there.
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10 Responses :

Terry Says:
May 11th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
a very touching story Peter, thank you.
Peter Schindler Says:
May 11th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Hello Terry, glad you’re still an avid reader…yes, a very sad story…one I really wanted to share…
linda Says:
May 11th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
It is unfortunate that the news story spoke of a girl forced into motherhood too soon. When both parents work, it makes it difficult to teach and supervise the kids. The news story left many questions in my mind (what happened with the rapist/teacher? Adoption an option?).
Peter Schindler Says:
May 11th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Hello Linda,

the story said that the police took DNA samples from both father and baby and that the rapist was arrested pending the results of the test. The story happened over a year ago and aliases were used so I don’t know more than this.

There are over 2 million Liushou Ertong in China…
A-gu Says:
May 12th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
I agree, very sad story. New to the blog but happy to read.
CindyK Says:
May 16th, 2009 at 2:36 am
My heart goes out to the girl in the story and her family, and to all the 留守儿童.

I am glad you took the time to post this story. The world needs to know about the conditions of life in China. The world needs to band together to help the people living there.
Peter Schindler Says:
May 22nd, 2009 at 9:23 am
Thanks Cindy for leaving a note!
Peter
justinjiang Says:
June 30th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
It’s really tough for a 14 year school girl and her parents! irreparable damage has been done to the whole family. Thanks for posting this article for us to share bitterness.
justinjiang Says:
June 30th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
It’s really tough for a 14 year school girl and her parents! irreparable damage has been done to the whole family. Thanks for posting this article for us to share the bitterness.
Peter Schindler Says:
June 30th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Hello Justin, I happen to be online. Yes, it’s a life so difficult that I cannot even imagine…Peter

April 25th, 2009

Wouldn’t that be something? (Part II)

Posted by peter

(Last week I wrote about the first part of journey from northwest Yunnan to Thailand. Now the story continues.)

After Dali, we make a brief stopover in Kunming on our way further south to the fabled rice terraces of Yuan Yang. These rice terraces, when in winter and early spring the rice has not yet grown so tall and strong as to hide the water in which it is planted, offer some of the world’s most spectacular sun rise views.

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2 Responses :

John Says:
April 30th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Beautiful pictures of Yunnan. Although I’m from Kunming, I’m sorry to say I haven’t been to the places you’ve mentioned above.
Tina Says:
May 2nd, 2009 at 3:33 am
I really like some of the pictures that you shared. Also your articles make for a great reading.

Keep ‘em coming.

Tina
http://www.ekhichdi.com/fashion-and-styles/ballon-fashion-dress-show

April 18th, 2009

Wouldn’t that be something?!

Posted by peter

I’m at Kunming airport [Kunming is the capital of Yunnan, one of China’s most diverse provinces in the country’s South West] waiting to board my flight back to Hong Kong. It is Friday afternoon. I hope there are no end-of-week air traffic delays because I’m longing to be home, to sit on our balcony with a glass of chilled white in one hand, a cigar with a good draw in the other, and to tell Angie the details of the last few days since we went our separate ways in Chiang Mai, she on a flight via Bangkok back to Hong Kong, I by car back to Kunming. I’m longing to be home because I’ve been on the road non-stop for almost five weeks. The first two-and-a-half weeks I spent in Germany, Austria and Switzerland meeting with companies in the travel trade. Europe was good, but it is the second half of my time away from Hong Kong that I want to tell you about.

Six months ago Angie and I spent the Chinese National Holiday week (centred around October 1) travelling from Northern Thailand – the Thai side of the Golden Triangle, to be precise – via a leisurely river cruise on the Mekong to Luang Prabang in Lao. At the start of the journey, our tour guide took us to a small hill in the Golden Triangle from which we enjoyed a good view of the point where the borders of the three countries – Thailand, Myanmar and Lao – come together. Near the top of the hill we found, mounted in a metal frame, a map of the Golden Triangle and its neighbouring regions.
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7 Responses :

Phyllis Says:
April 18th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
How about ?
执子之手，与子携老。
- to hold your (the partner)’s hands, to grow old together.

more valuable than the rarest precious gem, and most fortunate if one could find
peter Says:
April 19th, 2009 at 6:53 am
Hello Phyllis, hadn’t seen this one before…very nice, thanks for sharing!
Vivienne Says:
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:33 pm
那是“身无彩凤双飞翼，心有灵犀一点通”
Vivienne Says:
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:39 pm
出自唐朝诗人李商隐的诗作
Peter Schindler Says:
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Vivi,你好，没听说过这个；还是要多跟你学普通话！
Peter
Eulalie Says:
April 23rd, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Keep up the good work.
Blue China - A blog about Peter Schindler’s on and off the road encounters with people in China » Blog Archive » Wouldn’t that be something? (Part II) Says:
April 25th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
[...] « Wouldn’t that be something?! [...]

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