opinios

Personal space is non-existent in China. You get used to it pretty quickly. As for the megaphones, they seem to instil Maoist levels of authority to all who operate them. Scary stuff when megaphone operators en masse in tourist areas, ie Tiananmen Square, Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an....argh.

that's it cuz! Fire up! Good stuff! Yeah I could write a whole heap on this (and I have in the book I'm writing!)

the CHinese language is monosyllabic (I learnt that word just the other day!) so they're just firing off short words in rapid fire succession which makes it sound so fast and crazy. Yeah they do shout and scream but the actual language exaggerates it. It's like if we were speak english really fast only using one syllable words.

also, the commies are in a win-win situation. They've successfully reduced the population to stupidity, and now the only way to contol them is to actually have a tight control over them coz they're all like little kids who need a spanking! Let me tell you, Mao was a prick, but he wasn't stupid, he successfully made himself into a god, you gotta hand it to him.

Too true Nick, I was flabbergasted when the tour guide of our tour to the Cloud Ridge Caves (who was the most enlightened, knowledgable, learned, well-read and seemingly free-thinking Chinese person that I came across) told me she loved Mao (it took me a while to build up the courage to ask her how she felt about him). She made some comment like "He did a lot for this country; of course nobody's perfect and everyone makes the mistakes, like the Cultural Revolution, but basically he is great".

Check out this list for how big a "mistake" the Cultural Revolution was...

You're right, Mao instrumented his own transformation into lord and savior, and he succeeded probably beyond his wildest dreams.

Nicole: I agree that megaphones are scary. I can't believe that people just take it and move on as if it isn't happening.

If I feel like I am being treated unfairly then I will generally question it, I guess that is the fundamental of free speech that we take for granted in the west. But when it is the military holding the megaphone in China, Tiananmen Square is an example of what can happen when you stand up and say "Hey, buddy, chill out. I don't deserve to be spoken to like that" or even "Um, I hate to jump in there but I must say I do disagree with your last point".

I just hate the fact that it transcends the military and makes its way into the entire psyche: train stations, anywhere.

such is the life of the abused. the entire makeup of an abused person's brain becomes sheltered and dark. i'm sure it's because the chinese know what would be coming to them if they spoke out. the government there doesn't just put people in jail who disobey.. it's far worse than that. i'm sure the governement's viewpoint is "look at how many people we have? who's gonna miss this one person?" quite sad really. oppression of the people by shear force of fear. just check amnesty international's stats on human suffering in china. it's no wonder the entire populace is down and out.

i've often thought about visiting china to see these things for myself and to get a good look at the country in case the gov. should ever cut off tourism. many people tell me that actually visiting the country would be, in essence, supporting the chinese gov. in their oppression of chinese people but i disagree. it's good to see things with your own eyes and take the stories back home to hopefully bring about change. thanks for sharing your stories here.

Ha. That was one of my biggest impressions of China - Why is everyone yelling - why are they so angry??!! I thought Mandarin was a horrible language until I visited my relatives (who are Chinese) in Singapore and when they talked in Mandarin it sounded like they were singing a pretty song.

To be honest though, I don't think that living in a supposedly 'free, democratic society' always solves the problem - I've seen some really mean immigration officers, policemen in the US and elsewhere. That being said...I, personally, wouldn't want to live anywhere else other than a democratic country. Everyone should be able to voice their opinion.

my two cents worth.

Mao is a complicated issue. One thing the Chinese do say about him is correct. He brought the country together as one, good on him. He was a good military strategist (apparently a lot of it from his mastering the CHinese book "The Art of War") It was an amazing feat, he brought a whole population of peasant soldiers together and defeated the far more organised 'yuppie-class' Kuomintang and then the Japanese. BUT, what happened then was that from this amaing feat he then became Chairman, which was the big mistake! He was good at war, but he was a shit politician! (His brain was still stuck in war mode!) So when the Chinese say it was a mistake in terms of this I have to agree with them.

another interesting point to consider is religion. The majority of people in the world need something, anything to look up to and follow, just to get them through everyday life. Santa Claus, easter bunny, Luke Skywalker, anything! People look up to Mao simply because he is just something to look up to, the same as we might be in awe of and go all apeshit over Jesus (at least they're following someone who is actually REAL! Even if he did make some 'mistakes') For most Chinese it doesn't extend far beyond this, it gets them through each day of their poverty-stricken lives. yeah, the ccp may have created this phenomenon in the first place, but they can't go back now, it would be chaos, and they know it. we've seen signs of them opening up, we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

What makes you say J.C. wasn't real Nick? The Jews acknowledge that the man existed, even if they don't believe he was the son of God...

BTW did you know that your site is not viewable in China? Anything hosted on a domain that holds many different people (and their viewpoints) like netfirms.com, typepad.com or blogspot.com all time out when you try to access them.

I know that JC isn't real because I am the son of God! Alright! The secret is out! It's me! I'm the man! Everyone might as well know now! I can't hold it in any longer! I was saving it for my 33rd birthday, but a few years earlier wont matter.

Yeah, all blogs are blocked in CHina, but I didn't realise mine was too!