What's wrong with these Chinese kids?

"Did you see many pregnant women [in China]?" - My eldest, who became a mother nearly a year ago, wanted to know. "And babies? Prams? Pushchairs? Baby-carriers?"

Even without her asking, I couldn't help noticing that pregnant women were indeed few and far between. I definitely saw one during our 20 days in China; perhaps two. You've all heard about China's one-child-per-family policy, so the scarcity of pregnant women sort of made sense. Our guides on this trip, incidentally, most of whom are parents, had quite a bit to say on the subject. And I shall report. But getting back to Daria's questions: Actually, we saw very few prams and pushchairs. And even fewer baby-carriers.  But we did see babies. Or rather, toddlers. And this is what got to me. See for yourselves, and tell me:

What's wrong with these pictures?

Mother & child on the Bund, Shanghai

Mother & child on the Bund, Shanghai

Father and child, Shanghai

Grandma (?) and baby, Shanghai

Mother (?) and child, China

Father and daughter, China

Mom and kid, the Bund, Shanghai

Mom (?) and kid, Shanghai

 There are more photos, but you get the idea.
At first I made allowances. I said to myself, Hey, you're a mom, you remember what it's like; you go out with the kid, and after walking for an hour or whatever, the kid gets tired and starts nagging, "Pick me up...".

But this was far beyond the natural "pick me up". This was the kids' usual mode of conveyance. Toddlers half the size of their petite mothers are being carried and coddled, all over the place.

I am told that this is part and parcel of the general trend of spoiling the kids rotten.
In 1949, at the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the country's population was around 400 million. During the 1950s-1960s Mao Zedong encouraged women to have children, calling them "hero mothers". Giving birth to 7 or 9 children became the norm. By the time of Mao's death in 1978 the population had more than doubled due to Mao's policy. And that's when the serious "cutback" policy was instituted. Severe punishments were meted out to families who dared have a second child. Many pregnant mothers were forced to have an abortion, even in advanced pregnancy. And since baby boys were favored, many baby girls were abandoned.
The laws were somewhat relaxed in the 1990s: Farmers were allowed a second child, once the first reached the age of four. Ethnic minorities (constituting 7% of the population) are allowed to procreate freely. And in the big cities, though in principle the one-child law still applies, if you can afford to pay the high fine, you can have another child. Or you can find ways of getting around the law, like traveling abroad and giving birth there. Provided, of course, that you have the wherewithal. Like  elsewhere in the world, if you have money, you can buy your way around the law.

I don't know at what age the doting parents and grandparents of only-children begin making huge demands on them, pushing them to achieve. Laura's (our guide) 8-year-old daughter gets up at six every morning, leaves the house by 6:30, and goes to sleep around eight thirty. In addition to school, she takes piano and dance lessons, English, Chinese and math. Many parents force their children to do homework until 11 pm. Every child belongs to the school in his/her district. If the parents want the child to attend a better school, they must "contribute" around 30,000 yuan (approx. 3,000 pounds or 5,000 dollars) just as an entrance fee; and the sum can reach 100,000 yuan.

Eventually, we heard more bits and pieces from our other guides about the difficulties of raising a child in China. But I'm not sure this is the place to spill the beans; we're just tourists, here today, gone tomorrow, whereas our hard-working guides are probably in China to stay.

- To be continued -

Humming in the Rain on the Great Wall of China

Can't write I was ''singing in the rain" on "The Wall" because that might confuse innocent googlers who are searching for, say, musicals by those names; you know -- Gene Kelly, Pink Floyd... And also because I didn't in fact sing. But I was definitely humming with delight, despite the fog and the rain. Though the limited visibility was a bit of a disappointment, the winding wall still exerts an ineffable charm.

The Great Wall of China on a rainy, misty day, dotted with colorful umbrellas

A View from the Wall

 Michael and I had brought umbrellas along, but decided a plastic raincoat would be useful; which it was, to a certain extent, since the wind was blowing and umbrellas flipped, turning inside out, or upside down. The peddlers at the bottom of the hill were doing a brisk business selling raincoats to ill-equipped tourists. All around us were tourists with plastic raincoats: yellow, blue, red. So we didn't feel too silly. It's easy to look silly when you don the plastic thingy over your coat and backpack, making you look like a clumsy hunchback.

Nina in plastic raincoat and Pooh umbrella, on the Great Wall of China

Laura's original idea was to have a picnic lunch, complete with bubbly, on the Wall. But that turned out to be out of the question. So the "picnic lunch" (Subways and soft drinks) awaited us in the van, but we did celebrate our courageous outing with a bottle of bubbly:

Pete opening the bottle of bubbly; Michael in red raincoat & green umbrella; Laura with black umbrella; Kathy on the left with big raincoat.

Be careful if you climb The Wall in the rain; the cobblestones are extremely slippery. And it's difficult to take pictures with one hand, while the other is hanging on to the recalcitrant umbrella, or to the wall to steady yourself, or both. Also, the rain splashed the camera lens, creating an "artistic" effect, i.e., blurred and smeared. (So I bravely deleted them.)

- To be continued -

Compared to Beijing, Xi'an is "small"

 I would have liked to read my previous two posts, to refresh my mind as to what I've written so far, but access is sketchy and temperamental.

Update: Uploaded photos from the Summer Palace, The Nest, and Xi'an:

When booking this trip, we thought we were being smart by not booking the kind of tour that runs you ragged and leaves you no time and energy for the little things in life such as leisurely strolling and exploring on your own. Guess we weren't as smart as we thought :-)

Our 4th day in Beijing, before flying on to Xi'an, was dedicated to two sights, or sites: The Dragon Lady's Summer Palace, and the Nest. Not much I can tell you about the Summer Palace, since it was so overrun by droves of [mostly Chinese] tourists led by guides with blaring, amplified microphones. There were some pretty trees, rocks, statues, and paintings... and a lake with a stone boat... and lots of stories about the formidable Dragon Lady.

Stone boat in the Dragon Lady's Summer Palace. Amazingly, a tourist-free photo!

Statue of ferocious dragon at the Summer Palace

  It wasn't as impressive as the Forbidden City, while the Forbidden City itself, though huge, was a bit of a letdown: very run down, dusty, dead-looking. You needed a lot of imagination to see it as it was in its prime, shiny with color and splendor, bubbling with life and cruel death.

So, on to The Nest -- that incredible feat of architecture built for the 2008 Olympics. The outside is beautiful, and the interior is amazing.

The Bird's Nest -- Beijing National Stadium -- amazing architecture

Inside the Bird's Nest (Beijing National Stadium)

A 2-hour flight took us to Xi'an, a city with a population only about half the size of Beijing's. But you can look up all that info if you wish. We were met by our local guide, a slim, efficient woman who told us we could call her Wei. Works for us.

We arrived at the Day's Inn hotel, checked in, got as far as the elevators... and got stuck in a queue. Apparently, some six tourist buses (coaches to the Brits among you) had arrived shortly before us. The hotel seemed mobbed. Word of advice: If you can help it, do not go down for breakfast between 7-8 a.m. on such days. This morning, there was hardly a spare seat in the dining hall; the staff could simply not keep up with the demand for coffee, muesli/granola, bowls, butter, and an assortment of other breakfast things. Luckily, an English couple who were occupying a table for four saw us going round and round in circles looking desperate (and hungry), and invited us to join them.

Today's tour began with a walk/bike-ride along the old city walls: the guys hired bikes, the ladies strolled and chatted. The guys in question were Michael (a.k.a. Hubby), Colin, and Pete. The ladies were me, Susan and Kathy. We've been getting along so splendidly that, wherever we go, we're being asked if we've been friends for a long time. No, we say; only met them 4 days ago for the first time... Our first guide, Wang Yi Hong, when wishing us a good trip, told us to keep together "like sticky rice".

Our second guide, Wei, explains the history of Xi'an's old city walls

Traffic both in Beijing and in Xi'an (and I suspect in most if not all other cities) is crazy: everyone honks, shoves, pushes, as best they can: cars, buses, bicycles, scooters and pedestrians. Traffic lights? Ha!! Might trumps right. Every intersection is a battlefield. I gasp and hold my breath at each intersection, expecting someone to be run over. So far, sigh of relief, no harm done to anyone as far as I could see.

Time to get ready -- we're going to dinner and a show.
Sorry, no time to proofread or self-edit.

Catch you later, Internet permitting.

China – Beijing – First Impressions

“So, what are your first impressions?”

Gray, gray, gray.

That was the first thing I saw through the aircraft window as we approached Beijing airport, and that was the first thing we noticed as we left the huge terminal, driven in the large van sent by the travel agency to pick us up. We had no way of telling, of course, whether this was customary Beijing pollution or an unusually misty day, or a combination of both. We still don’t know, because we landed on Sunday afternoon local time (April 22, 2012), and as I write it is – hang on, let me check – Tuesday afternoon (April 24), and not only is it still super-gray but it is also raining, and has been since this morning. As far as I’m concerned, blue skies in Beijing is just a myth. Like that story of the blind men feeling an elephant and each giving a different description of his conclusion of what an elephant looks like, based on the part he touched.

Sorry I don’t have a photo to corroborate my above observation. All photos are on the camera, where they shall remain until we get home. Only yesterday I hastily, injudiciously, wrote to my kids that “blogging about China without uploading a single pic seems a bit-- maybe not altogether pointless -- but somewhat lacking.” Must swallow my words. Hubby forgot to pack the appropriate cable. I hinted that a big city in China was probably the perfect spot to buy such a cable, but my suggestion has been frowned upon.

Update: Have photos!

Grey Beijing from hotel window (Crowne Plaza, Chaoyang U-Town)

Enough background chit-chat.

We’ve just returned from a day on the Great Wall. It’s beautiful, the way it snakes up and down the hilly terrain, winds and bends, carrying millions of tourists every year… Today, because it’s only the beginning of the tourist season, it wasn’t very crowded. Not that we were alone there – far from it. Even though our guide assured us that we are taken to a slightly less popular part of the wall (but the part graced by former president Clinton, mind you), because it is less crowded, with fewer merchandise stalls. Climbing the slippery slopes with us were a variety of nationals, many in plastic raincoats in bright yellow, blue and red, and most carrying umbrellas. With good reason. The plan was for us to have a picnic lunch on the wall, complete with champagne, to celebrate our prowess. Due to the rain, the picnic lunch was eaten in the van, after climbing down, but the champagne was drunk on the first landing, before setting out, perhaps to give us courage.

Update: Photos of pre-climb bubbly, and the Great Rainy Wall: 

Bundled in raincoats, having a pre-climb drink on the Great Wall of China

A [plastic] glass of bubbly before hiking up the Great Wall of China

Nina in plastic raincoat on the Great Wall of China

The winding Great Wall of China on a misty, rainy day

 Our guide in Beijing is petite Wang Yi Hong, nicknamed Laura by Western tourists. Ever since our first meeting on Sunday afternoon, she’s been trying to teach us some basic expressions in Mandarin, such as “ni how” – hello; the non-committal reply “ma-ma hoo-hoo” – so-so; and the essential “boo ya” – I don’t want it, to be used upon insistent peddlers. On the way to any destination, she gives us a bit of history, interspersed with comments based on her own family’s experience. For example: In the 1950s and 60s, chairman Mao encouraged women to have babies, and 7-9 children families were quite the norm. By 1978, when Mao died, the country’s population had more than doubled thanks to that policy. And so the one-child policy was put into effect. Women becoming pregnant with a second child were forced to undergo an abortion, even at an advanced stage of the pregnancy, and severe punishments were meted out. Many baby girls were deserted. The lucky ones got adopted by foreign couples seeking a baby. Wang Yi Hong’s mother managed to have two daughters before 1978. But since Chinese parents value boys more than girls (long story – look it up if you don’t know), Mother wanted to try again, this time hoping for a boy. I think she tried to escape, or hide, in a different city, but to no avail. She was found out and caught by the authorities and forced to have an abortion.

Since the ‘90s, incidentally, the law has become more flexible: Farmers are allowed a second child, once Child #1 is four years old. Not a farmer? Tough. City folks are still allowed only one child. The fine for having a second child is higher in proportion to the size and standard of living of the city.

Laura, a.k.a. Wang Yihong, explains it all

 We are staying in a five-star business hotel, the Crowne Plaza, on the 17^th floor. The hotel is as posh as you’d expect from such establishments. The most expensive item in the mini bar is the bottle of mineral water – the equivalent of 10 pounds sterling for a liter. You’re better off drinking beer or juice. Internet connection is ridiculously expensive, too. Which is why I’m now going to put on a dry pair of shoes (as opposed to the Timberland hiking shoes that got wet on the Great Wall) and go downstairs to the lobby, where there’s free WiFi, and try to post this, before you get tired of my story.

Our room in the Crowne Plaza, Beijing, Chaoyang U-Town

Fav amenities: yellow duck for bathtub...

Box with cute office supplies on desk

-        To be continued -