bipedal rule

technology keeps the tradition in modernity:
biking around the Drum Tower in Beijing's Gulou district

modernity

Quite literally, the bi-pedal of the past still rules in the present, here in China.

In the above scene, a bike-on-green light is situated directly on, if beneath, an automobile light pole.

The nation's fleet of cars is expanding with each breath, but the sturdy and trusty bicycle hangs onto its equally dependent market.

Beijing is a modern city; she shines with lights when the sun calls it a day and turns in for the night.

Compared to the village, Beijing is filling quickly with over-sized vehicles, mostly showy and excessive. The countryside and smaller towns (populations up to 8M residents!) are visibly more about use, with fashion giving way to function, the ritz giving way to rust.

But Beijing cannot resist what of the past lingers on in the modern times of today, nor can she deny what many are still happy to continue. The tradition of bicycles.

the bicycle

My bicycle is my friend, and surprisingly loyal at that! We're close to celebrating a 2-yr anniversary since I first rode her home and locked her safely with a simple plastic-sheathed chain lock. She has not aged well, but still she toils at my command.

Newsstands store a tire pump, thought they do not advertise this. Wheel tuners position themselves out of the wind and often out of the way, but they are always to be found, summer and winter.

While in any part of the city, a taxi awaits my hail, I can be assured that my bike will be patiently waiting my next outing, wherever I shall ride it.

And so, with the help of lighting and a few programmable logic controllers, I will continue to ride safely on the same asphalt lanes that bargain with cars for the advantage.

I am happy that somewhere between the ancient buildings of Beijing and the transportation of modernity, I may share the road and can continue to ride my bicycle.

Note: Access to Blogger is still blocked within China. Without access to a much appreciated VPN (proxy), I would be unable to publish to my blog from within mainland China. Thus, I am blessed and grateful to be sharing.

Mr. Fu

Waiting on my bike for cars to pass, I oppose the proper flow of traffic, simply because to agree with it would take me away from my home.

At last the cars pass slowly; ‘new hands’ slower than old hands, as they methodically and awkwardly navigate first around a ‘No Parking’ sign and then me and another opposer on bicycle, too. The sign is propped up adjacent to a full set of parked cars.

Last to wait for, in our attempt to pass, is an army-green colored canvas-covered traxi - the local adult-size version of a tricycle, which acts as a taxi.

Instead of passing, he slows and opens his flimsy hinge of a door and grabs the plastic yellow sign. He folds it flat and tucks it inside his cabin.

He mutters under his breath and audibly informs us that he’s going to do away with the sign, as if we had asked.

Had he arrived on-duty just to do so? Or was he simply stealing the sign with only a two biker witness?

The fellow behind me and I chuckled at his brash, if rational, manner, and I peddled away now that the jam had disappeared.

mr. fu

I imagine the essence of this very situation, and perhaps more so, a character just like him:

A Mr. Fu, the kind of man who takes matters by the horns and wrangles them by hand - be it orderly or ad hoc. Be it justly or unlawfully.

He is the kind of man who silently opposes the government, staging action that leaps when there is the slightest loss of command.

He express his opinions not with words, for many a worthy word are lost to fool ears.

He is deceivingly patient. But let there be no doubt, he will act. And he acts without regret. Regret is a foolish thing to hold onto, he says. Regrets should be lost with the wind as the weather changes on a whim. To hang onto regret is to wear your winter clothes in the spring, for sake of not wasting them.

This Mr. Fu is a man that people respect -no matter if they disagree or support him. Either way, he is too quick for anyone to comment.

A complaint registered with Mr. Fu is lost to ears wizened, for he knows that foolish words are but the sound of rustling leaves, the wind having already left.

Mr. Fu smiles with his eyes, and without need of words, he speaks only when words are necessary. It is in this way that he usually has the last word.

Others dare not speak after him, else to offer thorns when a rose has just bloomed.

Mr. Fu is alone in his actions, his thoughts, but never lacking for others drawing near.

Note: Access to Blogger is still blocked within China. Without access to a much appreciated VPN (proxy), I would be unable to publish to my blog from within mainland China. Thus, I am blessed and grateful to be sharing.

no photos

It seems there is always something to ban [and then something to breach?] in Beijing.

For example, at a gallery in Beijing's 798 Art District, this begged for a shooting:

no photography...

While visiting a WC at a local coffee shop, I could not resist another breaking of the photography ban...

... a photo of a photo of a 'no photography' ban

...though I never did find anything else worth photographing in that stall!

Note: Access to Blogger is still blocked within China. Without access to a much appreciated VPN (proxy), I would be unable to publish to my blog from within mainland China. Thus, I am blessed and grateful to be sharing.

falun gong

a falun welcome

As I exited the Hung Hom Train Station in Kowloon, Hong Kong on June 11, 2009, I was immediately greeted by a banner stating "Falun Dafa Is Good."

Could it be?

Though Falun Gong had surfaced in conversations since 2001 (the second time I lived in China) it had been just as long since I had really seen any sort of promotion, defense, or propaganda about what mainland Chinese refer to as a cult.

Falun openly protesting in Hong Kong, June 2009

10 years ago...

... on July 20, 1999, the Chinese government bans the practice of Falun Gong (法轮功, fǎlún gōng), also known as Falun Dafa (法轮大法, fǎlún dàfǎ). Falun literally translates as "Law [of the] Wheel".

But what is Falun Gong? Is it a religion? a cult? a meta-physical exercise?

Three principles: Truth. Compassion. Tolerance. But it seems nobody really knows, or at least few agree upon its definition to any degree, even those at wikipedia.

8 years ago...

... during a previous stay in China in 2001, a local friend of mine relayed a Falun Gong story:

His friend was married to a woman who became involved in Falun Gong. One day, she disappeared, and that was in 1998. For three years, the family had not heard from her.

Did she disappear by choice? They didn't know. Did the government take her? They couldn't be certain. Had they heard from her? Not once.

Amidst uncertainty, the family had not gone looking for her. Of course they were worried about her. They were unsure, however, whether her disappearance was willful or forced. If indeed it was the government who had detained her [or worse], the family certainly didn't want to be associated with her or Falun Gong. Knowing did not warrant the risk.

And so they stayed silent.

burned alive

It was during the Spring Festival of 2001 that I visited my friend and his family in Southern China.

The making of dumplings is still the central activity during the holidays, as is, in recent years, a flickering television set.

The date was January 23, 2001. Suddenly a news flash flickered across the television screen. The making of dumplings halted.

Tiananmen Square. Fire. Security guards. Victims.

I saw a completely charred face, recognizable only by three small holes - two eyes, and the latter, a mouth. "Ma ma.... ma ma..." Emergency crews paused for a camera to capture a 12-year old girl calling out for her mother, before she was loaded onto an ambulance.

The story on the TV went as such... "Mother and daughter. Tiananmen Square. Self-immolation with gasoline." Xinhua News reported that the girl was told that she would see heaven if she did as she was instructed, but instead, she ended up in the hospital, only to die 2 months later.

That is what was reported here, on TV. Some say it was staged by the government to gather credibility in its stance against Falun Gong. A deeper look stirs much controversy about the authenticity of this footage; watch video footage and analysis here.

mystery...

... surrounds Falun Gong. The lack of religion in China in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution tells me that there is a strong spiritual void, the nature of which will always be filled by those who feel a calling for something more.

Where there is not the way, the will is found.

When anything goes underground because of a government ban, the spread of incorrect information spreads even faster and with greater conviction. I question that a ban is successful of the opposite.

What is pruned at the branches will flourish at its roots.

For practicing members, a government ban is only to strengthen the desire to practice. For those unfamiliar with the practice, they may be likely to stay farther away, but more so out of fear of persecution than out of lack of curiosity.

torture

Nearing the train station 2 days later, I again was greeted by graphic images of torture of Falun Gong followers, purportedly at the hands of the Chinese government:

purported torture of Falun Gong followers

more purported torture of Falun Gong followers

even more purported torture of Falun Gong followers

today

Shhh. Nobody is talking today.

Still in mainland China, religion and politics are two topics that most of my Han (ethnicity) friends and acquaintances are either unwilling to or uninterested in discussing openly, at least with me (other topics include Tibet and Taiwan). The hangover of not being able to freely discuss matters of importance ever lingers from the Cultural Revolution.

It is not possible to trust the government's hard line statement, it is not possible to trust the follower's blanketed mission, it is not possible to trust the foreign media's distant bias.

Note: Access to Blogger is still blocked within China. Without access to a much appreciated VPN (proxy), I would be unable to write such a post and publish it to my blog from within mainland China. Thus, I am blessed and grateful to be sharing.