I love Xi’an. I truly do. If we had to stay in this
country for any amount of time, I think I could live here. Xi’an is quaint and quirky, crowded but spacious,
amazing and appalling, all at once.
Of all the cities we have visited in China, Xi’an I
think suffers the most from the millstones which China drags along as it tries
to progress into the 21st century.
One millstone is the Imperial past which shapes
tradition. Tradition is not a small
thing in these parts. The Dynasties are carefully excavated, memorialized, and
preserved in wonderfully curated museums where the oppression and misery of the
folk who did the heavy lifting while the leaders basked in magnificence is unheralded. All hail the unknown persons who made
amazing scientific, artistic and technological advances well before the rest of
the world were wearing clothes. Xi’an is famous for its historical treasures,
as it should be. A visit to the
archaeological dig containing terracotta warriors ( and bronze chariots, and
stables, and all manner of things needed for the afterlife) should be on everyone’s bucket list. We wonder just how much of the area’s economy
depends upon tourist revenue. The city
has worked hard to make Xi’an a splendid attractive place to come with the
family.
But the poor will always be with us and it bothers me
to see ancient tiny toothless grandparents begging amongst the beautiful
statues in the park, or sidling up to you outside the museum to gather your
empty plastic bottles (to recycle??) Where did the tradition of taking care of
the elderly go?
Well, part of that challenge is also connected to the
next millstone. The Communist Dynasties.
Not much changed for the truly poor under communism, I think,…the folk
carried the weight while the leadership got fat and powerful. Now China’s economy is vying for a part of
the capitalistic pie. This economic shift creates a mobile population that
comes to the cities or moves to another. Then parents are left behind, with no
infrastructure for support. In a country
this huge, children cannot go home every weekend, so the elderly make do the
best they can. But it is a problem.
Opening itself to the capitalists has made other
changes to China- Dunkn’Donuts, KFC, Macdonald’s, Subway, Prada, big cars,
7-11---just to name a few. Boggling to
see a Papa John’s Pizza nestled next to a stunning statue commemorating ancient
Chinese philosophers and poets.
Another millstone is the population numbers. My goodness, there are a lot of people here.
Everywhere. Loudly. The rule about one child has serious
repercussions in the countryside, but here in the city it seems like every
second person has a child about their person. Every one of them cute as a
button. I asked how the one child rule
was working for China- the answer: very
slowly. I guess good nutrition and better conditions mean people aren’t dying
fast enough….but the grandchildren are twice as tall as their grandparents…
So it is a little multiple personalitied, China
is. You can’t find a taxi to save your
life in Xi’an, but around the corner is yet another serene and breathtaking
public park to settle your chi right back down.
The University here is doing well and has a great new campus. But the
students really struggle with conversational English, so they almost have to go
study abroad if they want to present well in the greater scientific community. There is internet and even WiFi but the
connections are so slow and chancy that you can’t upload photos.
And there is more, the air conditioning works a treat-
but the plumbing is so outdated that you throw your toilet paper in the bin and
take a lot of cold showers.
Still, it is green and lovely here, even in this
heatwave. I do love Xi’an; warts, wrinkles and all.
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