Middle Kingdom is a literal translation of the country’s name "Zhongguo" (中国/中國), and I arrived with preconceived notions: runaway economic growth at the expense of environmental destruction, government control trampling individual rights, Mordor in the midst of Middle Earth. In the end, some biases proved true, yet the epiphany was despite these downsides the country remained wondrous. How did this nation defy expectations?
Symbolism is a part of Chinese philosophy, which is apparent even in the written sinography that are character representations. Borrowing from the Daoist ba gua framework which denotes fundamental principles of reality and is related to the wu xing or five elements, I’ll try to describe the four cities we visited. It is hubris to characterize a nation of 1 billion people, by visiting only four cities, but the impressions are striking and worth describing at least some parts of this great dragon.
The eight concepts of ba gua are inter-related and make up the structure of the universe. Lost fans will recognize the picture as the entrance marker to the eight island stations.
Beijing (Earth), our first stop, is a city of conflicts in surprising harmony. The Chinese uphold balance as a pre-eminent virtue which is witnessed in its seeming contradictions – soldiers marching in formation across Tiannamen Square; a shiny new airport surpassing any in the US; old villages torn down and replaced by shopping malls; a GPS-controlled electronic guide to the Forbidden City – this mixture of historic and innovative, revolutionary and traditional is all accommodated by Beijing. The city seems to receive all these different energies and yields to hold them all.
Xi’an (Fire) has been chosen as a Special Economic Zone for the Western provinces. This designation has led to hyper-development of the city, with construction rivaling parts of Dubai. The city has grown from 4 to 8 million people in the past 5 years. The Chinese businessmen in the packed lobby of the Shangri-La Hotel during a Thursday afternoon tea are busy creating the new frontier. They smoke up the room with chatter, deals and cigarettes. The terra-cotta warriors in the outskirts of the city, and the Muslim market in the city-center still reminiscent of the times when the silk route ended in Xi’an are the primary cultural poles. The worry is that the frenzied construction comes at the cost of quality and is only a real-estate bubble. If this fire is extinguished by an earthquake either seismic or economic, all that may be left is smoke. Incredibly, this is one of ten other Tier 2 cities in the country that are being grown in a similar fashion.
Hong Kong (Metal/ Lake) is an old pair of shoes that fit comfortably. Landing in a city where the residents speak English and old money pervades, provides a sense of satisfaction. Signs still use Chinese characters (although people speak Cantonese) and the city is a protectorate of the mainland, but freedom of the press exists, and access to Facebook through the internet is once again possible. There is content in the air. People are happy and the the economy is rebounding from the financial crisis. But there is a sense of complacency amongst the people – a resigned air of the glory days being in the past, similar to Europe. Although much of the mainland aspires to Hong Kong’s wealth, this city is stagnating. Full integration with China will be in 2030, but already the government is looking past this metropolis. The communists will pick the fruits of Hong Kong but will not invest, because this is not the future of the Middle Kingdom.
Shanghai (Wood/ Thunder) is the future and excitement of China. Similar in feel to New York, the World Expo this summer, has been a reason for the government to invest and clean up the city. Construction is rampant and overwhelming. One plan takes the extensive highway next to the river (located alongside the Bund) and moves it underground. The leadership started this revision 3 years ago, and the structure will finalize by end March. In contrast, Boston took 20 years to do complete a similar project along its riverbank. The revolution is that people are so preoccupied making money they have ignored politics. The apparent division between capitalism driving the people and communism managing the State can be seen across China but is most striking here.
We concluded that “Red” China has transformed into “Ferrari Red” China. Manufacturing is replacing agriculture. Materialism is the new manifesto. Ermenegildo Zegna mega-stores are the temples. Currency is the new comrade. As with any makeover, this change comes at a cost. The Culture Revolution stripped much of the country of its deep heritage, and the hyper-economic affluence has been the only way to fill the vacuum of sophistication.
The pursuit of the all-powerful RMB makes the country feel soul-less. This mentality might have been on what our pre-conceived notions of Mordor were based. Conspicuous consumption is the norm these days - mixing expensive Bordeaux wines with coke, ordering excessive food just to throw it away, destroying traditional villages to create luxury apartments; flooding the borders into Hong Kong to go shopping.
But the epiphany was that the soul resides with its people many of whom live outside these urban centers. The heritage has not been forgotten just suppressed under money and commercialism. This is evident in the resurgence of a foodie culture – shanghainese cuisine mixing black poppy and hairy crab, peking duck with little fat and crisp skin, or mutton soup with glass noodles in Xi’an. Along with the Chinese characters which Mao tried to remove, these traditions have survived repression. If the government were to place emphasis on art, theater, music, and literature, the culture would again flourish.
In the next few decades the country and the people will need to question which path to take: continue on the rocket trajectory of consumerism or pause to re-establish historic customs and rituals. The more the government transfers people into the urban centers and encourages materialism, the more it walks down the first path. It may be time for China to re-balance again.
March 14, 2010
