We left home not really knowing what to expect. We feared food we wouldn’t like, diarrhea, extreme heat and humidity, unfriendly people, not being able to understand anything or anyone, guides espousing propaganda, too many people on our tour (called TBI, organized through AAA), not being met at the airport, and wasting a lot of mismanaged time. In reality, the opposite was the case.

Our tour group consisted of 25 people (100 when we were on the boat), and our Chinese guides (a different one in every city) were exceptionally bright, nice, fluent, and open. The group was big enough to get away from the people you wanted to, and small enough to make some friends and feel a sense of group purpose.

Beijing is bending over backwards to prepare itself for the 2008 Olympic games. On any given street, there would be at least 100 workers building new roads, sidewalks, plantings, etc. (manual labor, not machine). In a country with 1.3 billion people, manpower is no problem. The Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and the Great Wall were every bit as spectacular and overwhelming as one hears. Tiananmen Square alone can hold one million people (although when we were there, we probably only saw 1/4 that many)! It was on the Great Wall that we first started to notice how much of a novelty it was for Chinese to have Westerners around. Several people asked to have their picture taken with us. The fear of American Imperialism, which Chairman Mao espoused far and wide, is completely absent today. The most fascinating experience in Beijing was a rickshaw tour through some alleyways (where the Chinese living is the most traditional), into a home, and into a dayschool for young children. While the average Chinese person is not rich by Western standards, and infrastructure for things like water and sanitation still has far to go, we saw no beggars, no homeless, and no dire poverty.

Forty years ago, during China’s last great famine, 100 million people died of starvation. China is very anxious not to repeat some of the mistakes that lead to that. It is, indeed, true that there is forced sterilization after a couple has had one child (two if you live in the countryside, and the first one was a girl). AIDS is rampant in the countryside. Homosexuality is prosecutable. Reform camps still exist if you speak out against government policies. Christianity is still viewed suspiciously (1100 house churches were plowed down recently). But one doesn’t change a 5000 year old civilization overnight!

We spent five days cruising up the Yangzi River (the Changjiang, or Long River, in Chinese) ­ the world’s third longest river ­ into the spectacular Three Gorges area. Huge mountains rise up nearly a mile high from the river. Breathtaking! Each day we took excursions off the boat into some interesting cities, visiting silk factories, lacquer factories, cloisonné factories, jade factories, acrobatic shows, and the like. Bartering is expected (one usually walks away with half the market price), but we Westerners did our share to stimulate the Chinese economy!

Needless to say, we saw the amazing Three Gorges Dam project ­ the largest dam project in the history of the world. The idea behind it is to control the flooding around the Yangzi river and to create hydroelectric power. It is an awesome feat of engineering. I found it enormously depressing and ecologically unsound in the extreme. It was virtually impossible to get the Chinese to talk openly about all the realities of this project. Yes, it creates jobs and will probably control some flooding. (Although if the 800 tributary lakes, which have been turned into farms, were re-opened, then flooding would not be a problem.) Issues of silt buildup were not addressed. Issues of the necessity of the floods for soil nutrients were not addressed. The displacing of 10 million people was discussed at length, since the government has built brand new housing and city areas above the previous slum areas; but few would mention that the people are required to purchase these new accommodations and are only given a bit of money to do so (the amount depends on the province and the corruption ­ in some places all the money has disappeared). The water level will rise to 175 meters above sea level, flooding most of the rice fields, destroying archaeological sites (the oldest in the world), creating problems for fish, turning the river into a lake for much of its length, and irrevocably altering the feng shui of that region.

The river trip ended in Chongqing, the furnace of China, where the summer temperatures can be 115 degrees. (For virtually our entire trip, we had mild temperatures and little rain ­ extremely lucky!) The city and its surroundings has a population of 33 million. Nicknamed "The Mountain City," it is the only major city in China that isn’t crowded with bicycles (250 million of them throughout the country).

We then flew to Xi’an to see the famed Terra cotta warriors. These 8000 warriors, only discovered in 1974 (8 feet underground), are thought to be an exact replica of the army of the first emperor to unify the entire country, Emperor Chin (from whom the country gets its name). The emperor’s tomb is a mile away; and it was believed that these soldiers would protect him from evil forces. This was quite advanced thinking, as the tradition before that had been for the ruler of each province to bury alive his entire household with him (often his army as well).

Shanghai was last, and the most surprising. Not remotely like anything else we saw in China, it is fast, modern, tall (buildings), and energetic. Most of its high-rises, which make it the most densely populated city in the world, have been built within the past 20 years. This is spectacular architecture, one after another. China foresees Shanghai usurping Hong Kong’s place as a financial leader. The US has already poured $40 billion into development there. For modern development, this makes New York look slow. But it is a financial center, not a cultural center. The arts do not flourish there (except architecture); there is no blend of old ethnic communities like one finds in NYC. It was impressive, yet somehow lacking in soul.

As I mentioned, we lucked out with the weather, but the pollution and smog was ever-present. I feared needing surgical masks to walk down the streets, but it was really no worse than Los Angeles. I asked a guide about the pollution issue, and her response was that China is putting all its energy into development at the moment; ecology has to take a back seat for the time being (much like it was here in the USA during the 19^th century). I hope they don’t wait too much longer, for their own sake!

Food was everywhere! Every meal was a huge feast, seated at a lazy susan, with dish after dish coming our way. We tried everything, and had a great time with it. Accommodation, especially in Beijing, was very nice, quite Western.

It has been said that the 20^th century was the American century, and that the 21^st century will be the Chinese century. I think that’s pushing it a bit. There’s no question that this sleeping dragon is awakening, and will be a major force in the world’s future, but I think it is more likely that another 75 years will pass before we see China in its full potential. Capitalistic socialism will carry it far financially, it has a tremendous sense of its own culture and dynamism, but it has far to go sociologically and spiritually in the realms of human rights, ecology, and metaphysics.

We left with a tremendous feeling of closeness to the Chinese culture, deep respect for its traditions, warm feelings for its people, and sincere gratitude for having the opportunity to witness its grandeur. We loved the trip, the experience, the people. We’d recommend it to anyone.

Jonathan Dimmock
August 2001