By Dr. Stephen Schwalbe
Special Guest Contributor
Program Director, Political Science at American Public University
A visit to China has been on our bucket list of places to visit for close to 20 years now. We originally had planned to visit Beijing in 1996, but then my wife had our baby daughter which put our plans on hold. So, in June 2014, I took my wife and daughter to visit China for the first time.
China is the third largest country by land size in the world (just slightly larger than the U.S.). As such, it is unrealistic to think anyone could see a fair representation of the country in one short visit. However, for our first visit, we decided to hit the high points of China, to include visits to the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Emperor Qin’s Terracotta Army, and the Poltala Palace.
Given the time of year, we expected to see quite a few foreigners visiting China along with us. This was not the case. Other than a couple of German tour groups, we hardly saw any foreigners at all, especially other Americans (less than a dozen). One potential reason is probably the chronic pollution in the major metropolitan areas, such as in Shanghai and Beijing.
Most people are aware that China is going through an industrial revolution, which entails considerable energy to support. Most of this energy comes from coal power plants. There is a major coal power plant on the way into Xi’an from the airport. It looks just like a nuclear power plant. Like all the other power plants, it operates 24/7, year around. The airborne pollution results in a constant gray haze (and that is considered a clear day). We are a healthy family that exercises daily. All three of us experienced sore throats and itchy eyes within hours of being in Beijing. Beginning the first day, I began coughing to clear my lungs. If you did anything but breathe shallow breaths, you would likely end up coughing. I was looking forward to the 10,000 feet altitude of Lhasa, Tibet, hoping that there would be clean air at that high altitude.
Unfortunately, although there was not the chronic pollution found in the major cities at the lower altitudes, there was still acute air pollution in Lhasa. While the cars and trucks generally emit significant pollution, the real culprit is the cultural use of incense everywhere – to include being mixed into the air conditioning in the hotels! So, your choice was either to try breathing the incense in your room, or open the widow to the traffic pollution or construction noise of buildings nearby.
While the air pollution is not enough to make anyone ill in Tibet, the 10,000-foot altitude is. I experienced altitude sickness each day we were there. There is no cure for it, only things to mitigate the pain (such as hot water or tea). After visiting the Poltala Palace (with intense incense present in every room), I was stricken with an acute episode of altitude sickness. I ended up visiting the Lhasa clinic (open 24/7), and received three liters of IV solution and oxygen for two hours at a total cost of only $70! And, I received a lot of attention given that Western visitors are relatively uncommon in Lhasa’s clinics.
Throughout our visit to China, everywhere we traveled, we witnessed significant construction. For example, while driving into Xi’an from the airport, we passed by miles of 30-to-40 story buildings, all empty and unfinished. It was eerie and disconcerting. This may be due to the state-run economy by the communist party. While this may be part of the jobs program to keep employment high, in Lhasa it appeared to have another reason. The massive construction there was turning the cultural characteristic of this Buddhist capital into another commercial Chinese city. Instead of Tibetan-style buildings, the buildings being built were of the modern Chinese architecture seen in Shanghai. As well, the Chinese authorities have constructed many military barracks and command posts within Lhasa allegedly to control the local Buddhist population.
While security in Chinese cities is as expected for any major metropolitan areas in the world, it was distinctly different in Lhasa, Tibet. There were teams of security personnel visible almost everywhere, especially next to key infrastructure, such as tunnels, bridges and city squares. While eating lunch on a roof-top restaurant in Barkhor Square around the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, we observed security personnel on other nearby rooftops armed with cameras and weapons. And, displaying a photo of the current 14th Dalai Lama is illegal (though many Tibetans have shrine rooms in their homes with his photo displayed prominently).
We also noted that the common citizen was visibly afraid of law enforcement officials, probably due to the fact that once arrested for even the most minor infraction, life is different once you are imprisoned. This attribute is not uncharacteristic for communist societies.
In contrast to the massive construction effort witnessed throughout our visit to China, we also witnessed significant infrastructure shortfalls, such as the power grid. The streets of Beijing and Xi’an are lined with electric wiring seen in developing countries around the world. There were hundreds of bundled cable wires hanging from posts, trees, etc., along the streets. I have not seen anything like it in any developed country in the world. It looked very unsafe and unhealthy. In addition, everyone told us not to drink any tap water anywhere in China (and, our guides provided us bottled water, and there were complimentary bottles of water present in every hotel room).
While some of the pollution can be attributed to the ever-growing vehicle traffic, the cars were fairly modern with cleaner-running engines. Most of the cars we saw in Beijing, Xi’an, and Lhasa were of German origin (except Porsche). The next most common brand of automobile was from South Korea (for example, most taxis were Hyundai). There were some Japanese and American cars sighted, but not that many. It was curious that in the Terra Cotta Army museum parking lot, there was a special lot just for Buicks!
Most of the Chinese drivers were aggressive. However, the tour guide drivers were just the opposite – mostly very conservative. So, in Xi’an for example, our driver never passed any vehicle the entire time we were there. While the police cars drove with their warning lights flashing all the time, we did not witness any cars pulled over for speeding, etc. However, in Beijing, the traffic is controlled by license plate numbers (identified plate numbers could not drive in Beijing on certain days). To get around this, companies ensured they had enough cars with different numbered plates. Unfortunately, on one of the days we were driving in Beijing, the tour company cars were all taken and we were in one that was not allowed. And, there was a traffic check point at the merging of two major highways. Our driver, Ya-Ho, was caught, pulled over and given a traffic citation! Needless to say, he was extremely embarrassed.
While visiting China, you notice the signage everywhere being in Chinese and English. This was common until you moved further inland toward Tibet. There, the two languages posted were Tibetan above the Chinese, with the Chinese characters much larger than the Tibetan ones.
And, although China does not have any soccer team in the World Cup tournament being hosted by Brazil, it was being celebrated everywhere that tourists were staying. There were World Cup decorations in every hotel restaurant. The games were televised throughout the country. There were even media reports of Chinese people dying from watching too much of the tournament for too many hours in a row. In fact, a woman who was pregnant miscarried due to watching the soccer matches. As an aside, many Chinese people told us they were rooting for the U.S. team.
The English newspaper published in China everyday is called the China Daily. It is sanitized to include mostly positive articles about the economy and reports about anti-corruption efforts by the local authorities. However, if you read it thoroughly, there are slights against the U.S. here and there (mostly unjustified or unsubstantiated).
The tour companies like to show only the historic dynasties of China up until the last one that ended in 1911. Beyond that, visitors are not shown much about the current culture in China (i.e., the Communist Party influence). We specifically asked to visit Chairman Mao’s Mausoleum in Tiananmen Square (as it encompasses most of the square). It is reminiscent of the Lenin Mausoleum in Moscow’s Red Square, though much larger in every way. Of course, we were among only a few foreigners in line to see the embalmed Mao.
In conclusion, the Soviet influence on today’s China is still quite prevalent in many ways. The country is still at least a decade of development behind most Western countries. And, if you decide to visit China (particularly the northern parts), be prepared to be sick to some degree as a result of the chronic pollution. In the end, seeing the sights and learning more about China firsthand was well worth it.
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