I have been adapting and becoming a six month citizen rather than just an exchange student. I believe this is a key aspect of cultural immersion, and I wish I could have been able to fully realize the benefits of such a transition earlier. It is very easy to live in your dorm, eat at close by establishment, and hide from the culture as long as you have your laptop and some DVDs. But why would anyone want to do this during such a great opportunity?
Frugality has never been my forte and when it comes to money I still spend like a teenager, but this trip has made me much more aware of the value of money when living on my own. For example, I have stopped just settling on going to restaurants and started grocery shopping and making my own food. I know it does not seem like much of a step to some of those who are more mature, but for me someone making my food has always been a part of my life. I am finding the cheapest prices at stores and looking for the freshest food. It is a growing up experience that I am not able to have at the Academy. I also have a bike that I ride around to get to places that are close. I no longer take taxis or subways and because I know the area so well now I am able to take the bike lanes to where I need to go. It is truly a funny sight to see when I am biking alongside a bunch of Chinese people heading to work and I head to the other campus for class.
I have also continued to contribute to the community and I teach English to kindergarteners at a local school. This particular school employs (I don’t get paid) people like myself with no teaching background, because it is a school for children of migrant workers. Due to the fact that these children and their parents are not Beijing residents they cannot attend Beijing schools. The school set up for them consists of makeshift classes and have little to no funding. I teach the kindergarten level because the other teachers speak no Chinese and those that do are not a fluent as I am. My Chinese is probably the best out of all the teachers at the school, so I was assigned the youngest class of children.
In addition to being a student, citizen, cook, teacher, and midshipman, I now consider myself a Beijing-er. I assigned this title to myself because I truly feel my culture shock has disappeared forever. I admit the first few months were filled with frustration, but now I am truly assimilating into the Beijing culture. I can have long conversations with taxi drivers, order dishes without looking at a menu, drink Chinese rice liquor like a champ, and I am now able to used the swear words in my sentences quite fluently when I am in company that allows for it. I know it seems vulgar, but I feel that a part of assimilating and making foreign friends is talking as they do. There have been nights when I go out with only Chinese speakers and spend five hours at a bar without speaking a word of English. Actually, I have a rough time recalling if conversations were held in English or Chinese anymore. I feel like I am able to get out or at least say whatever I want to say in Chinese and it is not a huge deal to speak it anymore. Listening is still difficult, but I feel like I am getting there.
So what did I just tell you in this entry? Basically, I admitted I curse like a Chinese construction worker and live like I am a Chinese citizen, but that is not all. This entry was to show that no one should have to be confined to being just a foreign exchange student. No one should be confined to the words used in text books or the friends in the dorm. When abroad go out and make real friends from the city, use words the young kids our age say, go on adventures, buy a bike, and live like a citizen! Culture shock is inevitable but it is not indefinite. Right now I fear the culture shock of returning to the Academy more than anything because I have become so accustomed to this lifestyle.
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Jordan J. Foley
傅力波
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Wang Fu Jing Street
I finally visited the notorious Wang Fu Jing Street in central Beijing. A famous shopping district consisting of Zara, D&G, Polo, and many more designer shops lined along a high pedestrian traffic plaza make up what is referred to as the “Shops at WFJ.” If you recall the Jasmine Revolution a few months ago, this was the place that the Twitter post said to meet. WFJ is not only heavily traveled it is heavily traveled by foreigners making it a great place to get the word out about democratic reform. I am being careful not to make this post into a politically charged rant, so I would rather like to change the subject and talk about deer testicles.
Yes, deer testicles. The one thing I did not mention about WFJ and the reason why I referred to it as “notorious” is the snack street that is located on the side of the shopping district. I took many pictures of the odd food served down this snack shop lined street and some of the places cooked delicious food like scorpions, grubs, and starfish…all on a stick. A short list of some of the weirdest cuisine I saw on WFJ sticks were sea urchin, whole baby quails, snakes, and, yes, deer balls! If you are wondering to yourself what these looked like just skim through my pictures and see if you can pick out what is what. If you are also wondering if I ate anything just let me tell you this, it was not the sheer strangeness that turned me off. I have tried some very weird dishes while I have been in China, exempli gratia duck tongue. The thing that actually turned me off was the smell. Not the smell of deer balls on a stick, but the smell of deer balls on a stick that might have gone bad…three days ago. I have been to fish and meat markets and I know the smell of raw food, but this was the smell of food that has turned…violently. If there is a revolution on Wangfujing Street that revolution is coming from all the food on Snack Street that has gone bad and “turned,” metaphorically of course. Call me a wimp for not trying if you will, but the last thing I need is to see scorpion coming back up again. I am generally cautious about Chinese food, and I am not about to be eating some pig kidney on a stick that went bad last Friday.
WFJ is definitely a tourist trap, but it has some pretty delicious treats as well. I had a whole coconut to drink while I ate fried taro flavored ice cream and grilled corn on the cob. It is almost like eating carnival food in the States. The pictures of WFJ do not really do it justice, because I really feel like in order to actually have the full experience you need to smell it too. One second you can smell delicious dumplings being made and the next you are hit with a whiff of squid that has had the pleasure of sitting out in the Beijing Spring heat for six hours.
Tourist trap or not, WFJ is a must see in Beijing and a great place to play a game of who can eat the grossest stuff without throwing up. First prize: deer testicles on a stick!
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Jordan J. Foley傅力波
X
Yes, deer testicles. The one thing I did not mention about WFJ and the reason why I referred to it as “notorious” is the snack street that is located on the side of the shopping district. I took many pictures of the odd food served down this snack shop lined street and some of the places cooked delicious food like scorpions, grubs, and starfish…all on a stick. A short list of some of the weirdest cuisine I saw on WFJ sticks were sea urchin, whole baby quails, snakes, and, yes, deer balls! If you are wondering to yourself what these looked like just skim through my pictures and see if you can pick out what is what. If you are also wondering if I ate anything just let me tell you this, it was not the sheer strangeness that turned me off. I have tried some very weird dishes while I have been in China, exempli gratia duck tongue. The thing that actually turned me off was the smell. Not the smell of deer balls on a stick, but the smell of deer balls on a stick that might have gone bad…three days ago. I have been to fish and meat markets and I know the smell of raw food, but this was the smell of food that has turned…violently. If there is a revolution on Wangfujing Street that revolution is coming from all the food on Snack Street that has gone bad and “turned,” metaphorically of course. Call me a wimp for not trying if you will, but the last thing I need is to see scorpion coming back up again. I am generally cautious about Chinese food, and I am not about to be eating some pig kidney on a stick that went bad last Friday.
WFJ is definitely a tourist trap, but it has some pretty delicious treats as well. I had a whole coconut to drink while I ate fried taro flavored ice cream and grilled corn on the cob. It is almost like eating carnival food in the States. The pictures of WFJ do not really do it justice, because I really feel like in order to actually have the full experience you need to smell it too. One second you can smell delicious dumplings being made and the next you are hit with a whiff of squid that has had the pleasure of sitting out in the Beijing Spring heat for six hours.
Tourist trap or not, WFJ is a must see in Beijing and a great place to play a game of who can eat the grossest stuff without throwing up. First prize: deer testicles on a stick!
--
Jordan J. Foley傅力波
Sunday, March 27, 2011
The Dragon
Gao Ru or “Rosie” has finished my Dragon painting. It is exactly what I was trying to convey with the dragon leaving the hardships of winter to attain a goal in the spring symbolizing perseverance. I uploaded the picture into my blog so you could all see it. In fact, Rosie asked if I knew anyone else who would like such a painting. I paid a little over 200 RMB for this which is around 25 dollars. I think the personal touch is worth the price. It is not every day that you can personally request a painting from an artist. With that said if anyone has requests please email me and I can bring you back a painting.
Things have been pretty quiet on this front, but today I had one of those moments that allow me to truly see my progress. Coming back in the cab from teaching English I had a 45 minute conversation with the taxi driver without a pause…all in Chinese of course. Little things like this make me happy.
I am now into my two week count down for Thailand. I will be leaving on the 9th of April to go to Bangkok and Phuket for the week. It is finally time for some fresh beach air and sun!
--
Things have been pretty quiet on this front, but today I had one of those moments that allow me to truly see my progress. Coming back in the cab from teaching English I had a 45 minute conversation with the taxi driver without a pause…all in Chinese of course. Little things like this make me happy.
I am now into my two week count down for Thailand. I will be leaving on the 9th of April to go to Bangkok and Phuket for the week. It is finally time for some fresh beach air and sun!
--
Jordan J. Foley
傅力波
Thursday, March 24, 2011
789
789 pronounced “chee joe bah” is Beijing’s artist colony and modern art district. From its inception, like everything else in China, has grown exponentially at a tremendous pace. As a modern art district, 789 is now rivaling those in France, Spain, and America.
789 used to be a large factory complex during Mao’s China in charge of making light posts. In some of the exhibits you can still see old factory slogans painted in red on the walls. Now 789 has developed into an indoor and outdoor art facility, allowing Beijing and Chinese artists to present their work in a common area.
I believe modern art is open for personal interpretation so I took pictures of some paintings and sculptures that I found interesting. I will allow you to define the meaning for yourself. My favorite artist at 789 was named Ahn Doolin. I actually got to meet the strange fellow and took a picture with him outside of his exhibit. He is the guy dressed like a 70’s pimp. We talked some prices about his art, but he is out of my price range for now. I took some pictures of a few of his paintings as well and you can see why I like them so much. Ahn combines stark battle scenes with florescent colors, but only names his paintings after the season which they are in. For instance, there is a painting of a sunrise over the sea as it hits the shore of an ancient sea shore battle titled “Winter Time.” Another titled “Friends in Summer” shows two knights dueling in front of fluorescent stained glass.
789 is an interesting area and shows China’s steps towards modernization and presents art that is uncommon to Chinese culture. There was so much to see that it was impossible to do it in one day so I plan on heading back soon…maybe to buy some of Ahn’s paintings.
(Note)
Graffiti of person being shot in head, blood hearts read “I will forever love you.”
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Jordan J. Foley
傅力波
789 used to be a large factory complex during Mao’s China in charge of making light posts. In some of the exhibits you can still see old factory slogans painted in red on the walls. Now 789 has developed into an indoor and outdoor art facility, allowing Beijing and Chinese artists to present their work in a common area.
I believe modern art is open for personal interpretation so I took pictures of some paintings and sculptures that I found interesting. I will allow you to define the meaning for yourself. My favorite artist at 789 was named Ahn Doolin. I actually got to meet the strange fellow and took a picture with him outside of his exhibit. He is the guy dressed like a 70’s pimp. We talked some prices about his art, but he is out of my price range for now. I took some pictures of a few of his paintings as well and you can see why I like them so much. Ahn combines stark battle scenes with florescent colors, but only names his paintings after the season which they are in. For instance, there is a painting of a sunrise over the sea as it hits the shore of an ancient sea shore battle titled “Winter Time.” Another titled “Friends in Summer” shows two knights dueling in front of fluorescent stained glass.
789 is an interesting area and shows China’s steps towards modernization and presents art that is uncommon to Chinese culture. There was so much to see that it was impossible to do it in one day so I plan on heading back soon…maybe to buy some of Ahn’s paintings.
(Note)
Graffiti of person being shot in head, blood hearts read “I will forever love you.”
--
Jordan J. Foley
傅力波
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
A Chinese Wedding
The main difference in a Chinese style wedding from a Western style wedding is the fact that the service and reception are lumped into one. As everyone eats delicious fried fish, roast duck, pork loins, and mounds of noodles the service goes on and speeches are given by friends and family members. The ring, “I do” part, and bouquet throw were all conducted in the giant hotel party hall while everyone was eating and drinking. This method is definitely a lot easier than moving around from place to place, because sometimes miscommunications happen and people get left out of pictures…uhhhh….(inside joke)
It was amazing how excited the bride and groom were to have a foreigner in attendance. My friend and I sat down at one of the head tables, even though he himself was not the closest of relatives with the groom. Soon after we sat down my friend’s cell phone rang and it was the bride from the other room! She told him to make sure that I had everything I needed and if I wanted anything they could get the servers to get it. She obviously meant to be secretive about it, but my friend thought it was too funny and told me anyway.
The dinner started at 10:30 in the morning on a Sunday and right away we began drinking bai jiu (Chinese liquor). My friend made it a point to tell the whole table I was in the Navy and because China has an infatuation with the military, from fashion to just plain curiosity, they began to pass me more and more shots. It is impolite to refuse anything, especially in this setting, so I looked at my watch and said here we go! I took the first shot at 10:45 am.
The dinner and festivities were about five to six hours long and I was going shot for shot with our table. I started to get pretty good at drinking bai jiu so I was feeling good, but still coherent. As the bottle reached its end I asked the eldest man at the table to finish it with me (polite custom). He said that he was driving and only drinking Sprite. I asked if anyone else wanted to and they all had the same response. Apparently the only two people actually drinking at the table were me and my friend. So we were basically going shot of bai jiu for shot of Sprite…not a fair game.
The ceremony consisted of segmented performances and picture slide shows being played on big screens. I took some pictures of the ceremonies performed by the couple and of some of the decorations. I have not really been to many weddings I can remember, but I believe that this is the way to do it. Money was definitely not an option and there were no stale cookies or fake bottles of wine on the table. Everything was real and real expensive. They did not expect gifts and they just enjoyed everyone’s company and wanted to allow everyone to celebrate WITH them not FOR them. My friend convinced me I should go up and say something to the bride and groom over the MC. I agreed and grabbed the microphone and said a few words, everyone clapped and I sat down. Not until the next day did I see the video of me literally standing up there for five minutes speaking fluid Chinese about how love is the most important thing on earth and how great the bride and groom looked so nice, all the time holding a glass of bai jiu. I was thinking about posting this, but my blog is not able to upload large video, so I will just keep this one to myself.
The dinner ended around 4:00 pm and we all went back home. My friend and I made it back to our dorm OK and could not believe we still had the rest of the day ahead of us. This experience was truly a lot of fun and I am thankful I had an opportunity to see an actual Chinese wedding.
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Jordan J. Foley傅力波
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Trip to Rosie's
Today my program organized an auxiliary trip the house of a 68 year old artist named Rosie. Her English name is Rosie, but she is actually a Beijing native. The reason for the trip was because last week during our 21st Century Beijing class we were discussing the concept of ti yong. Ti yong was formed during the reform era and used by Confucian reformers who were tasked with deciding what to preserve from Chinese imperial culture and what they could use practically from the West. The ti or “essence” refers to Chinese society and what was important in order for cultural preservation, and the yong refers to “usage” such as infrastructure and economic developments used by the Western powers.
This concept was actually invented by Rosie’s Great-grandfather who was a famous Confucian reformist. One of our CET professors knew Rosie quite well and when we started talking about this in class she offered for us to visit Rosie’s house and see some of her paintings. The trip was organized and we went the following week.
Rosie’s home was a typical Chinese style apartment on the east side of Beijing. Inside was atypical. Inside there were stacks on stacks of traditional style Chinese paintings and calligraphy. I would estimate over 500 works of art. I should also mention that what makes Rosie’s work so impressive is that she suffers from MS and is confined to a wheel chair and has limited mobility in her hands. This, however, has not slowed down her painting. She still produces fabulous works on a daily basis and much of it from memory. When we came in she was showing us a recent painting of the Summer Palace in Beijing that she reconstructed from memory. The details were uncanny. Rosie’s husband also suffers from debilitating Alzheimer’s disease. Due to both of their health problems they have a full time nurse working at their home. I mentioned before that Rosie was not slowed down by her own illness, but instead her husband frequently slows her down. This is because he likes to hide her brushes and paint in random spots around the house. It is sad to see considering they were both very active and healthy painters not so long ago, but old age has really taken a toll on their physical health. Rosie is still very communicative, although she has trouble moving part of her face.
I ended up sifting through the paintings and buying a small Chinese landscape and calligraphy of a famous Li Bai poem. I also made two special orders which I will pick up in May to add to my art collection I started in Yunan. I asked her to paint the calligraphy of ti yong (体用 ). I felt like this had significance not only what it represents in Chinese society, but also the fact that her Great-grandfather was the man who came up with the phrase. I also requested a painting of a dragon (my birth year). I discussed with her how I wanted a black dragon coming out of the water. He would be leaving a turbulent winter scene and entering a spring landscape. Right away, Rosie took my idea and ran with it and from her rough sketch I am very excited to see what she comes up with.
The trip was quite an experience and it really shows the great things that can come about during an abroad program. I can always hang these paintings in my house and have meaningful stories to go along with them that will allow me to recall the experience I had while studying in China.
--
Jordan J. Foley
傅力波
This concept was actually invented by Rosie’s Great-grandfather who was a famous Confucian reformist. One of our CET professors knew Rosie quite well and when we started talking about this in class she offered for us to visit Rosie’s house and see some of her paintings. The trip was organized and we went the following week.
Rosie’s home was a typical Chinese style apartment on the east side of Beijing. Inside was atypical. Inside there were stacks on stacks of traditional style Chinese paintings and calligraphy. I would estimate over 500 works of art. I should also mention that what makes Rosie’s work so impressive is that she suffers from MS and is confined to a wheel chair and has limited mobility in her hands. This, however, has not slowed down her painting. She still produces fabulous works on a daily basis and much of it from memory. When we came in she was showing us a recent painting of the Summer Palace in Beijing that she reconstructed from memory. The details were uncanny. Rosie’s husband also suffers from debilitating Alzheimer’s disease. Due to both of their health problems they have a full time nurse working at their home. I mentioned before that Rosie was not slowed down by her own illness, but instead her husband frequently slows her down. This is because he likes to hide her brushes and paint in random spots around the house. It is sad to see considering they were both very active and healthy painters not so long ago, but old age has really taken a toll on their physical health. Rosie is still very communicative, although she has trouble moving part of her face.
I ended up sifting through the paintings and buying a small Chinese landscape and calligraphy of a famous Li Bai poem. I also made two special orders which I will pick up in May to add to my art collection I started in Yunan. I asked her to paint the calligraphy of ti yong (体用 ). I felt like this had significance not only what it represents in Chinese society, but also the fact that her Great-grandfather was the man who came up with the phrase. I also requested a painting of a dragon (my birth year). I discussed with her how I wanted a black dragon coming out of the water. He would be leaving a turbulent winter scene and entering a spring landscape. Right away, Rosie took my idea and ran with it and from her rough sketch I am very excited to see what she comes up with.
The trip was quite an experience and it really shows the great things that can come about during an abroad program. I can always hang these paintings in my house and have meaningful stories to go along with them that will allow me to recall the experience I had while studying in China.
--
Jordan J. Foley
傅力波
Monday, March 14, 2011
International Friends
The dorm which I live in is named the International Cultural Building and rightly so. To my best estimations there are over five hundred foreign students here from Spain, Italy, England, Russia, and many more. I must say one of the best parts about looking the way I do is that I can pass for about any of these countries. For example, my friend from Canada who I met in the lobby the other day said that he had no idea I was American and could swear that I was Italian. Some of the Italians think I am Russian, the Russians think I am Spanish, and the Spanish do not usually care enough to differentiate anyone. The only people who can tell that I am American are the Brits, but I have been working on a muffled British/Irish accent when speaking Chinese so hopefully with some time I can pass as being from England. I have also noticed different habits from each of the countries. My group of friend is essentially the UN consisting of a few Canadians, some Brits, a Russian, and a bunch of Italians. The problem with having an international group of friends is that everyone’s weekend habits are different. For instance, the Canadians and Brits like to go out early and hang out at bars whereas the Italians like to go to clubs with loud techno music. The Russians enjoy clubs with places to sit and drink and the Spanish do not even go out until 11:30 pm because they take their siestas during the day which allows them to go out all night.
Having such different interests and schedules makes hanging out on the weekends difficult, but when we are all able to get together it is quite a good time. It is also funny hearing people with different accents speak Chinese. As I said before, I have been practicing different accents with my Chinese and right now I am working on a Russian accent as well. It actually sounds much better than my British accent because I have already convinced many taxi drivers I was from Russia.
I have enjoyed having such a diverse group of friends because not only am I experiencing Chinese culture, but I am also part of a world culture in my dorm. Sometimes I feel like an international traveller just from walking to the lobby for a late night snack.
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Jordan J. Foley傅力波
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Kuang Kuang
I hope my little brother Grant’s East Asian Politics class will take the time to watch this video and discuss its contents. Below is a link to the popular cartoon in China called Kuang Kuang which is the equivalent of America’s South Park. The creators are equally edgy, but what makes this three minute video much more sensitive than say South Park’s infamous Muhammad episode is that China is known for its strict censorship. For instance, yesterday I was doing a report on China’s population and pollution problems and half of the sites providing facts were blocked. The episode of Kuang Kuang I posted was taken off the Chinese web in a matter of days, but still lives on YouTube. The episode was posted last month for the Chinese New Year and recounts some of the corruption and atrocities that have happened in China all the while relaying an undertone of government corruption and moral ineptness. Please watch the video first and then read the explanation below and then watch the video again. Most of the subtitles are in Chinese, but I translated the important parts. It is pretty gruesome so beware!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNzjClqE1pY
Ok, let’s address the many questions you may have. Kuang Kuang is the little character with the bloody nose and he has just received a New Year’s gift from his girlfriend Xiao Hong. Kuang Kuang begins to read and falls asleep and starts to dream. The book is about rabbits and the song begins, “Little Rabbits, white and white, love to eat carrots love to eat lettuce, hoppy hop so cute…and so on”
The next scene is Kuang Kuang and Xiao Hong as rabbits feeding their baby. The delivery truck was driven by a tiger and the truck reads “3 Tigers Milk” which is a parody of the “3 Deers Milk” which contained melamine and caused many babies to become sick and die in China this past year.
The age old fight between the rabbit and the tiger dates back to the Chinese Lunar Calendar as they are not compatible creatures to marry and be friends. This also adds to the comedy of the cartoon by portraying the tigers as “The Man” and the rabbits as “the commoners.” The next scene you see Kuang Kuang running to a tiger cave and the translations show, “To serve the rabbits” and “to build a harmonious forest.” Two phrases used by the Chinese government, “To serve the people” and “to build a harmonious society.” The fire that takes place in the cave and little rabbits being incinerated refers to a school fire that happened ten years ago in Xinjiang when the teachers shouted, “rang ling dao xian zou” which means “let the leaders leave first.” This caused outrage all over China as many children were burned to death in the school fire as they waited for the teachers to leave.
Next scene, the slot machine reads “destroy” and the construction machine runs over a TV showing a tiger that looks very much like Hu Jintao. This TV program refers to last summer when Mr. Hu went to a woman’s home in Beijing to ask her how her quality of life was in the city. Clearly staged, she said it was fantastic and only paid 77 Yuan a month for rent. This caused so much uproar in Beijing because it was a blatant government lie. Rent in the city is nowhere close to 77 Yuan a month. It is more like 77 Yuan per square foot, per day!
The next scene shows two rabbits and a nail house or a “ding zi hu.” Nail houses are people who refuse to relocate as the government has bought the land for construction. The rabbit lighting herself on fire refers to a woman five years ago who protested the moving of her home and lit herself on fire. The government proceeded to tear down the house after her death. The old rabbit you see who’s face turns to the words “I object!” goes to the government to state his views but as you see he is beaten badly. You will see the old man again, remember?
The next scene is a tiger driving a car as Kuang Kuang and Xiao Hong are running down the road. The car hits Xiao Hong and kills her. The tiger gets out of the car and says “My dad is Tiger Gong!” which refers to the Hebei incident when the son of the powerful Hebei police official, Li Gong, drove drunk and killed a girl who was biking on the road. He got out of the car and shouted to the villagers “My dad is Li Gong, sue me if you can!” and drove off. This caused such outrage in China about corruption of officials that the sentence for the boy was quite heavy and he will be serving a long sentence in jail.
The old rabbit appears in the cartoon again as he is thrown under the tire of the car. This refers to the murder of a village governor in Guangzhou who protested the destruction of villages for infrastructure. It still remains an unsolved mystery, but he was found one day decapitated by a truck tire. Some believe government thugs held him down and had the truck drive over his head.
As you can see by the end the rabbits cannot take it anymore and fight back. This might have undertones of a revolution, but to me it is just some edgy artists’ black humor. I hope this explanation helps and you can watch it again and get what is trying to be conveyed through the cartoon. As Americans we are not as shocked by this as we should be, but just think about this from a Chinese perspective and how censorship rules the media. The fact that this cartoon so openly protested the government and China’s morality is clearly a novel idea in Chinese media and is worth discussing.
PS nothing we know of has happened to the creators of the cartoon.
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Jordan J. Foley
傅力波
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNzjClqE1pY
Ok, let’s address the many questions you may have. Kuang Kuang is the little character with the bloody nose and he has just received a New Year’s gift from his girlfriend Xiao Hong. Kuang Kuang begins to read and falls asleep and starts to dream. The book is about rabbits and the song begins, “Little Rabbits, white and white, love to eat carrots love to eat lettuce, hoppy hop so cute…and so on”
The next scene is Kuang Kuang and Xiao Hong as rabbits feeding their baby. The delivery truck was driven by a tiger and the truck reads “3 Tigers Milk” which is a parody of the “3 Deers Milk” which contained melamine and caused many babies to become sick and die in China this past year.
The age old fight between the rabbit and the tiger dates back to the Chinese Lunar Calendar as they are not compatible creatures to marry and be friends. This also adds to the comedy of the cartoon by portraying the tigers as “The Man” and the rabbits as “the commoners.” The next scene you see Kuang Kuang running to a tiger cave and the translations show, “To serve the rabbits” and “to build a harmonious forest.” Two phrases used by the Chinese government, “To serve the people” and “to build a harmonious society.” The fire that takes place in the cave and little rabbits being incinerated refers to a school fire that happened ten years ago in Xinjiang when the teachers shouted, “rang ling dao xian zou” which means “let the leaders leave first.” This caused outrage all over China as many children were burned to death in the school fire as they waited for the teachers to leave.
Next scene, the slot machine reads “destroy” and the construction machine runs over a TV showing a tiger that looks very much like Hu Jintao. This TV program refers to last summer when Mr. Hu went to a woman’s home in Beijing to ask her how her quality of life was in the city. Clearly staged, she said it was fantastic and only paid 77 Yuan a month for rent. This caused so much uproar in Beijing because it was a blatant government lie. Rent in the city is nowhere close to 77 Yuan a month. It is more like 77 Yuan per square foot, per day!
The next scene shows two rabbits and a nail house or a “ding zi hu.” Nail houses are people who refuse to relocate as the government has bought the land for construction. The rabbit lighting herself on fire refers to a woman five years ago who protested the moving of her home and lit herself on fire. The government proceeded to tear down the house after her death. The old rabbit you see who’s face turns to the words “I object!” goes to the government to state his views but as you see he is beaten badly. You will see the old man again, remember?
The next scene is a tiger driving a car as Kuang Kuang and Xiao Hong are running down the road. The car hits Xiao Hong and kills her. The tiger gets out of the car and says “My dad is Tiger Gong!” which refers to the Hebei incident when the son of the powerful Hebei police official, Li Gong, drove drunk and killed a girl who was biking on the road. He got out of the car and shouted to the villagers “My dad is Li Gong, sue me if you can!” and drove off. This caused such outrage in China about corruption of officials that the sentence for the boy was quite heavy and he will be serving a long sentence in jail.
The old rabbit appears in the cartoon again as he is thrown under the tire of the car. This refers to the murder of a village governor in Guangzhou who protested the destruction of villages for infrastructure. It still remains an unsolved mystery, but he was found one day decapitated by a truck tire. Some believe government thugs held him down and had the truck drive over his head.
As you can see by the end the rabbits cannot take it anymore and fight back. This might have undertones of a revolution, but to me it is just some edgy artists’ black humor. I hope this explanation helps and you can watch it again and get what is trying to be conveyed through the cartoon. As Americans we are not as shocked by this as we should be, but just think about this from a Chinese perspective and how censorship rules the media. The fact that this cartoon so openly protested the government and China’s morality is clearly a novel idea in Chinese media and is worth discussing.
PS nothing we know of has happened to the creators of the cartoon.
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Jordan J. Foley
傅力波
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