Returning, Once Again, to China

It has been six days since my wife and I returned to China. It has taken me six days to get a VPN which would allow me to get on to blogger.com and post for the first time. After spending four years in China (2005-2009), followed by four years back home in the US (2009-2013), returning to China again to live is an unusual experience. Though I have only been back for less that a week, I anticipate this to be an experience unlike my first few years in China. I am not only a different person, with a few more years and a few more experiences, but I am returning to a different China.

A lot has changed in the past few years. For example, I am now living on Hainan island, in the south of China. 4 years ago, when I was also living on Hainan island, it took three times longer to go from the capital city, Haikou, in the north to the tourist hub, Sanya, in the south. The reason is that there is now a high speed train which rockets across the island at 200 km/hr (125 mph). It cuts a straight path through the island. Another example is illustrated by the number of electric bikes here. Four years ago, traditional bicycles outnumbered the electric kind. Now, it took me three days before I saw anyone on a traditional bicycle. The e-bikes rule the roads now. Another example is Taobao.com. Previously, you had to go to a large city such as Beijing or Shanghai to get delights such as western-style bread, decent cheese or salty sunflower seeds (they are sweet in China). Now, anything can be bought on China's version of Ebay: Taobao. You can even, in Chinese fashion, bargain with sellers on Taobao.

Though much is different, in some ways, it is as if I never left. Walking the streets of China is just as crazy and dangerous as ever, the English ability of your average Chinese has not improved and fruits and veggies are just as plentiful as ever. More than anything else, I am conscious of a different vibe the air between my home, the U.S., and China. I first felt this going back and forth between the two countries years ago, but now it is more palpable than ever. When you step out onto the streets of China you feel a vibrancy, an energy that is no longer there in the U.S. You feel as if you are part of something historic, a moving forward. You can taste the progress in the air. Everyone is aware that they are going towards something. Back home...it feels like a funeral. Life is comfortable and everyone has settled in. People are groping for something with meaning and purpose. Here in China, you can't help but get caught up in the drive towards whatever it is the country is moving towards. It is quite a feeling.

 The second day after our arrival on the island, my wife and I had to go to the local hospital for a health check. We had gotten one done in the U.S. prior to leaving, at the request of the local bureaucracy. We used their form, but, in the end, they decided we had to do another one. They said it was because the form we gave them was in English. I am not sure if that is the real reason. Fortunately for us, the Chinese woman who accompanied us was able to convince them to just draw our blood.

 While waiting to get our blood drawn, we suddenly heard firecrackers, a very common sound in China. These, however, were set off by a small group of people dressed in white holding a banner which read, "compensation for our dead daughter and baby demanded". The firecrackers were to get attention. Their crying while crouching down kept the attention of onlookers. Our Chinese friend told us that she had heard about this on the news. Apparently, the woman and child died during childbirth and instead of going through the "normal" procedure of negotiating compensation with the hospital, they had gone straight to this method of protest. They were throwing pieces of yellow paper into the air, something which is done after the death of a loved-one, and screaming and wailing.

We were led into some sort of waiting room. All of a sudden, every single staff member, nurses included, ran outside to see what was going on. My wife and I were left alone. After a minute or so, we got up and went out to see what was happening. The local police were involved in a tug-of-war with the protester's banner. Our Chinese friend told us it was the first time she had seen such a thing. She was clearly embarrassed that foreigners had seen such a sight in China.

 I overheard a young Chinese nurse say, "These people should go through the normal channels to get their compensation." An older man nearby chimed in, "I wonder how much money they will get." The man who was looking through our paperwork a few minutes ago said, "The police aren't doing a good job. They should be more forceful in taking away the banner." I wondered how the family must have felt; and the doctors and nurses who were unable to keep the woman and child alive. I found it unusual that nobody seemed to be talking about that.