China or Bust

So I've felt myself slipping into ignorant Americanism a few times here. By ignorant, I mean both uninformed and defiant of learning or trying new things. One of the ways I experienced the former was last night.

As I wrote yesterday (it might say the eighth, still, but here, it's the ninth), a big group of us decided to rent our tour bus and head down to the opening ceremony in the Olympic Park, by the National Stadium. It was incredibly exciting going down there, because we were walking fast, and we were all abuzz about seeing the fireworks, the lighted Bird's Nest stadium, and most importantly, the opening ceremony on one of the big screens, the largest "TV" screens in the world.

Once we got there, we tried to find a good place for all 40-odd of us to stand. Keeping the group together wasn't so bad, because there really are no Black people in China (so please don't talk about Maine). We couldn't stand outside of the Bird's Nest, of course, because that was all blocked off. We found a standing place under a bridge where we could see TWO of the big screens.

So the clock struck 8:05, and a great big burst of gold fireworks went off. The Chinese started shouting, and I thought something terrible had happened (because I didn't see the fireworks). (But my heart recovered). But then, 8:08 comes. Nothing on the screens but a film loop of fireworks, stuff in Chinese, aerial video game-type shots of Beijing. As I would comment to someone later, it looked like the loop on a DVD about Beijing before you press play.

It got later and later, and there were hardly any more fireworks, and the opening ceremony was still not on these super-duper-trons. Our tour guide, a Chinese woman named Emily, told us they would not be showing the opening ceremony.

So we were all pretty disappointed. I kept saying, Why all this hype to play a film loop? But back on the bus, a woman named Carla, who has traveled a lot, and now lives near Dubai, told me to stop using my American logic to rationalize the policies of a Communist, third-world country. The Chinese government had to control the crowds they knew would arrive to watch the opening ceremony, so they just didn't show it.

This is the perfect example of why so much of the griping on this trip is unjustified. Much of what has gone wrong has been out of our control, because hi, it's China. They don't have the same liberties that we do in the US. That's not a plug for the US, with which I have a love/hate relationship. It's only to say that they are controlled in ways that we are not. We are controlled in ways they are not. As the woman Carla said, we're all subject to propaganda and corruption; but those two things manifest themselves in different forms and different language.

So I missed a good deal of the opening ceremony, but what I did see, the white-robed people dancing was incredible. I also saw our friend Victor from Paraguay carrying their flag.

As we were leaving, I mentioned to someone that it felt like a scene from Independence Day. It felt like we were evacuating the city, and I didn't like that feeling. I guess that means I'm still a little fearful about being here. But I've had a great time so far. This experience is surreal, even though it's not my first time here.

Today, because we can't go to the Great Wall (the government has blocked it off until the 14th), we're going to the Silk Market and Wangfujing Street, which apparently is the Rodeo Drive of China.

I think everyday I should include an anecdote of how I was reminded that I'm Black. Well, last night, in the opening ceremony crowd, this woman who looked not Chinese, but maybe from some part farther West, or some other Eastern country, came up to me and rubbed my arm with her finger, I guess (and it truly is a guess) to see if my paint would come off. Sorry. I'm Black4Life.


Kyla
a bridge near a megatrona man on a bicycle last night in the crowd

the Bird's Nest!