WHERE HAVE ALL THE COMRADES GONE?

Nimen hao,

I am sitting in a restaurant at the Nanking Airport waiting for my plane to Beijing.
This is my sixth trip to China and I have put down some random impressions on how China 
has changed. If you are interested in China please read on -- if not, I apologize for 
the spam. My comments refer to (big) city life -- I know it is different in remote areas. 

CONTENTS

    1. Where have all the comrades gone?
    2. Cell phones, McDonald's and smoke everywhere
    3. Energy, energy, and more energy
    4. The true meaning of savagery
    5. Diannao and Jisuanji - the changing linguistic landscape


1. WHERE HAVE ALL THE COMRADES GONE?

One thing you immediately notice, if you are as interested in Chinese as I am, is 
that almost no one uses "Tongzhi" ('Comrade'), the hallmark of the Communist 
Party,  any more. This seems to have disappeared, at least in the cities, along with 
those drab, gray and gloomy 'Mao suits' (I think that's what you call them). 

Both men and women wear bright, colorful clothes, and shops carry plenty of the 
latest fashion goods from Paris and Milano..... The men are tall and handsome, 
the women elegant and beautiful. It seems to me that the women go up one
notch in beauty every time I visit China -- I should visit more often :-) 


2. CELL PHONES, MCDONALD'S AND SMOKE EVERYWHERE

For better or for worse, at least on the surface, China is becoming increasingly 
Westernized. McDonald's ('mai3-dang1-lao2') are extremely popular (always full, it 
seems, with long lines),  and the number of bicycles, though still high, seems to have 
dropped sharply and replaced by zillions of cars belching out their favorite 
pollutants. 

Cell phones (shou3-ji1) seem incredibly popular. Someone told me that there are more 
cell phones in China than any other country in the world.....

As incredible as it may seem, smoking seems to be even more popular than in Japan, 
which is already as bad as you can imagine. As an aside, I just read that about 
10,000,000 die yearly from smoking.

After Nanking ("the Southern Capital") I went to Beijing  ("the Northern Capital"), which 
 is more beautiful than ever. Every time I come there are new modern buildings, well designed 
 and colorful. Sadly, the traditional side streets (hu2-tong4) are slowly but surely being
 torn down, taking with it that special flavor of the days of yore. The airports
 (I've been to four so far) are excellent -- clean, well designed, convenient.
 
 In contrast to the modernization, you still do see poverty on the streets -- beggars
 and homeless people  -- but it seems to be less than before. Some people say 
 that the hallmark of a developed country is clean toilets, and those have been getting
 better. But I did run into a few of the smelly ones (this is a euphemism for "revolting stench", 
 in case you wonder).
 
 
 3. ENERGY, ENERGY, AND MORE ENERGY
 
 China is in  a state of dynamic change. I feel tremendous energy everywhere.
 The economy is healthy and vigorous, new construction work is going on
 everywhere, and prices have one clear direction -- up, up, up. 
 
 China is no longer a "cheap" country for travelers. A cup of coffee at the airport 
 restau rant I am now in costs about  $3.15   (though admittedly coffee is a luxury
 item and airports are expensive). Taxis are still cheap, and "normal" hotels reasonable, 
 though the better hotels are (almost) as expensive as in Japan and Europe...
 
 What I felt very clearly  is the *strong energy* from people. They seem fully alive
 and express their emotions clearly -- joy, anger (not infrequent), sadness etc. This is in 
 marked contrast with the very low human energy in Japan -- a Japanese woman in an 
 ashram in India where I once  meditated described the Japanese as a "nation of dead
 bodies" --  this "wears exaggeration on its sleeve", but I know exactly what she meant.
 

4. THE TRUE MEANING OF SAVAGERY
 
 I doubt if there is anyone who has never heard of massacres and atrocities 
 performed by the Japanese in Nanking in the late thirties. You may even have read
 the famous book,  "The Rape of Nanking", which I believe was banned in Japan for
 a while.  
 
 I made it a point to visit the huge memorial and museum in honor of the 300,000
 Chinese slaughtered by the Japanese. I was told by some that in actual fact the
 number is closer to 900,000, though 300,000 is the official figure. Speaking of 
 numbers, one of the exhibits there said that 35,000,000 (count those zeros) 
 Chinese lives were lost during the Japanese occupation. The highest number I 
 ever heard is 21,000,000.
 
 At any rate, what the Japanese did in China.  both in terms of "quality"
 and quantity, almost makes Hitler look like a saint. Such words as "massacre", 
 "savagery",  "cruelty" are mere words -- seeing those exhibits with my own
 eyes was revolting and even more shocking than the Yad Vashem Holocaust 
 memorial in Jerusalem.
 
 What really angers me is that even today there are Japanese who deny the Nanking
 massacre ever happened, and as you no doubt know  the Japanese government
 refuses to write the truth in Japanese textbooks.
 
 "Those who forget history are bound to repeat it" (I think that was what Churchill
 said.). There was a enormous sign at the entrance to the memorial with the Chinese 
 equivalent. I wish that those Japanese who deny Nanking go to that memorial
 and see it with their own eyes.
 
 I pray for the souls of those viciously slaughtered at the hands of the Japanese in 
 Nanking.
 
5. DIANNAO AND JISUANJI  -- THE CHANGING LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE
 
 The archetypical example we always use for C2C (Chinese to Chinese conversion) is JISUANJI 
 (Simplified Chinese) versus  DIANNAO (Traditional Chinese) for 'computer'.  This is no 
 longer true. DIANNAO, at least in  spoken Chinese, is  as common or even more common than 
 JISUANJI.  Perhaps a better  example to use would be 'software', RUANJIAN in the mainland 
 and Hong Kong, and RUANTI  in  Taiwan. RUANTI is never used in the mainland (though sometimes 
 it is used in HK), so  it is a good example.
 
 A fascinating word I saw in a big department store in the center of Nanking was:
 'ke3-kuai4-li4'. Now think a bit -- does this remind you of some English word?
 The characters, literally, mean 'able-quick-stand'. If you use your phonetic 
 imagination you will see how this sounds approximately like "QUICKLY", apparently 
 the name of a fast-food stand in the department store!
 
 To my surprise, I noticed that TC is, if not 'alive and well', is at least 'alive' in mainland
 China, especially in signs. For example,  one sign at  the airport shop VOGUE had
  SHI2-SHANG4, with SHI2 'time' written in TC.