Adventures in Guangzhou!

Hong Kong was almost "Bizarr-o World," where I am "so strong" for wearing a tee-shirt in 70 degree weather and where our mother uses chopsticks to eat. Ari felt that the city was too western and that he was cheating because there was so much English around him. I questioned that because there were many fewer Westerners walking around than I had anticipated. The city itself is an impressive collection of brand new skyskrapers and high fashion stores. The subway was so spotless that you could eat off the floor. I think that the NY MTA could learn a lot about public transportation from the Chinese. While in Hong Kong, we visited the Hong Kong Museum of History, Victoria Peak, the Hong Kong zoo, and one of many markets. These markets are like the shuk in Israel (times ten) where you can find the oddest of objects, like magnets with Jesus on them or tank tops with English words that just don't make any sense when put together. We found random collections of chopsticks, tea sets, football tee-shirts, and crazy cellphone charms, like the Bruce Lee that I wanted Ari to buy. We also celebrated the first night of Hanukkah Hong Kong-style, and lit candles with the Chabad-niks in the middle of Santa's village (no joke) on Hong Kong Island. Yes, it is true, you can find Jews anywhere in the world. After these few days of being in what Ari told us was a bubble, where almost everyone spoke English, we hopped on a train for the mainland. My brother kept telling us that it would be dirtier, louder, and obviously more Chinese, which made me wonder what the Wolfe family had gotten itself into.

First impressions on China as I stood in the line in customs: "Do not bring any items into China that defile the Communist Party." Dorothy, we're not in Kansas anymore. This warning flashed across the screen in passport control in the train station and I suddenly felt nervous. Maybe we would be turned away from the mainland? Luckily though, these worries were for nothing and the whole Wolfe family breezed through. Gone were the (few) Westerners and we entered a new world. As I looked out the window on the way to the hotel I was amazed at the air pollution, tall buildings, and neon lights. Apparently the Chinese believe that bigger and brighter is just better. I kept waiting for pagodas and temples or buildings that were sterotypically Chinese, but I just saw miles and miles of city streets. The amount of construction in this city is unbelievable and it seems that Chinese progress is moving at a break-neck speed. There are slums directly next to brand spanking new high-rise buildings. It's odd to see this, especially considering that we come from a country that tries to preserve its (young) history and save as many historical sites and buildings as possible. But maybe we will take the Chinese approach in a few thousand years and look to the future instead of the past.

As we began to explore Guangzhou, the Wolfe family also began to confuse the population of the city, and we received quite a few long stares. Have these people never seen white skin before? All I could do was stare back and hope that everyone was satisfied in their viewings of a white family riding the subway in the city. Had we gotten lost somewhere or made a wrong turn? No, we were right where we were supposed to be. Ari took on the role of tour guide and gave us an excellent introduction to Guangzhou.

Stop number one: Qingping Market. Scorpions to your left and turtles to your right. What else could a girl want!?! Actually, Ari bought me exactly what every American needs . . . a small statue of Mao. [editor's note--what else do brothers give their sisters for the 3rd night of Hanukah? A Mao statue seemed like just the thing] That is the China that I had expected. Posters of Mao, soldiers patrolling the streets, declarations of love of the motherland everywhere. Obviously not the reality of modern-day China. Although, our next stop was a tea store, where saleswomen tried their hardest to sell us very expensive (and delicious) tea. This was more what I had in mind. We sat for at least an hour trying different brews of Jasmine and Oolong tea, finally finding one that was exactly to my mom's liking. After, we went to two malls, one of which is the largest in Asia. My favorite shop name might have to be "The Friendship Store." I'll take two friends please. Unfortunately, there was no sale on friendship and I walked away empty handed. Our last stop of this busy day was dinner with the Korean family whose children Ari tutors in English. This meal rivaled any that I had in Israel, where the food just kept coming out of the kitchen. The Wolfes had never eaten so much in one sitting, and we feasted on everything from tofu and Kimchi to tempura vegetables and barbequed meat. The family was very sweet and extremely kind to us and we were happy to have met them.

The next day was rainy, but we grabbed our umbrellas and headed out anyway. In Ari's attempt to show us all things Chinese, we headed for his favorite dim sum restaurant. This busy place seemed to be extremely popular and was packed at 10 am on a weekday. Ari's roommate Steven and PiA'er Wendy, who was visiting from Korea, joined us and the six of us were brought directly to a private room. We joked that they wanted to keep us as far away as possible, but Ari told us it was probably the restaurant's attempt to treat us as nicely as possible. Sure . . . I still think we scared everyone. Ari and Steven did an excellent job of ordering us a variety of different dishes and even got something vegetarian for our mom. We were all very satisfied at the end of the meal and decided it was time to see some Chinese historical sites.

The Chen Clan Ancestral Hall was our first stop on this historical tour. Here we entered the China that I had been waiting for, with unbelievable carvings, dragons, and Eastern courtyards. The buildings were quite beautiful, as were the sculptures, with which we endlessly amused ourselves. Hopefully Ari will post some of these pictures. . . Next stop on the history express train was the Mosque Dedicated to the Prophet, which we were turned away from because we are (shockingly?!) not Muslim. Without missing a beat we headed to Guangxiao Temple with its very large Buddha at the entrance. This was my first time in a temple like this, and Ari explained how to light some incense and say a personal prayer. The smell of incense was rather intense but so much more authentic than the sticks that all American college students think is cool to burn in our dorm rooms. After our walk around the grounds we headed for lunch. We luckily happened upon a vegetarian restuarant and ordered kung po chicken (with fake chicken), thai curry shrimp (with mock shrimp), spicy tofu, and an excellent eggplant dish. After this quick pit-stop, we headed out for some more culture. Stop number three on the history express was Liurong Si, the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees, where Ari and I climbed the nine story pagoda in the middle of the grounds. After breaking a sweat on this climb we decided to rest in Ari's apartment before heading out to the all-you-can-eat Japanese buffet. Delicious!

The weather was finally cooperating with us on Thursday and we decided to finally get out to Yuexiu Gongyuan, or Yuexiu Park. Strangley you have to pay to enjoy nature in Guangzhou, which made me greatly appreciate Central Park even more than I already do. But, before we even made it to the park we were lucky enough to be out on the street on Shamian Dao (Shamian Island), where our hotel is, just in time for the mid-morning exercises of the local elementary school. The patriotic, military style march began playing and the kids began filing out of the building into the small square in the middle of the street. As the music played and the kids stretched I saw a few soldiers walk past, making me feel as if I were in an alternate universe. Tradition is clearly very important to the Chinese and these children were probably doing some of the same routines that their parents had done years before. After staring and gawking for a few minutes, we did head out on the subway to the park. I was amazed at the enormity of the grounds and the different areas that we could visit. The first stop was Wuyang Shixiang, or the Five Rams Statue. It was very large, slightly odd, yet interesting nonetheless. After we headed to the memorial for Dr Sun Yat-Sen and climbed quite a few sets to stairs to the look-out near the top of the tower. Of course Ari and I entertained other visitors by posing for a picture for our parents with Ari looking totally disinterested and me pretending to strangle him. Brilliant! Unfortunately we had to leave this natural wonderland and head out to Ari's school because we were his special guest speakers.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, all four members of the Wolfe family are rock stars here at Ari's school. We were greeted with smiles, cheers, and declarations of, "Happy Hanukkah!" We visited two classes on Thursday where we answered a wide range of questions, covering everything from what our first impressions of Guangzhou and China are to why Jewish people are so good in business. I thought that it was a joke that Chinese people hold Jews in such high regard, but nope, they are serious. We were exposed to every stereotype imaginable and had only about five minutes to break their misconceptions. I'm not sure we were so successful, but at least it was a start. I was also asked an excellent question about the immigrant experience in America and also had about two minutes to explain how foreigners are accepted into Western society. Rather difficult to do on the spot. After these two classes we sat out on the bridge in the courtyard and waited for visitors to Ari's English corner. As his posters around school say, "Want to practice your English? Holla!" We had many guests and spent a while chatting with the students. The girls that I spoke to asked how I spend my free time, what I think about Chinese society, and wondered if I would consider settling outside of the U.S. They also explained that their society is still very, very traditional and that their parents tell them what to do and that they have very little choice but to listen. One female student explained her problem with this; she is told what to do, but is told that she needs to have her own opinions at the same time. How do these two things go together? This same student and a friend of hers also told me that they see Chinese society as being Americanized. I found this fascinating because a minute earlier I was speaking about tradition, but also because in the few days that I have spent here on the mainland, I find this country to be as far from America and the West as possible. Starbucks and McDonalds are the benchmark for these students, which to me only indicate the very beginnings of Americanization. Everyone in the family had equally enlightening and interesting conversations, and our dad especially, was very pleased to have had the chance to speak with the students. As Ari told us, in that hour, we learned more about China than most foreigners will in a lifetime.

Classes continued the next day and we answered more questions and asked some of our own. When our dad asked the class what they would bring with them from China if given the opportunity to visit America. The answers ran the gamut from "my favorite book," to "soil," to "Chinese culture." Fascinating. After a quick lunch in the teacher's cafeteria, where my dad was refered to as being "so strong" for wearing a tee-shirt in fairly warm weather, we got to celebrate the New Year Chinese-style in the individual classrooms of Ari's students. Again we were treated as rockstars and were forced (or requested) to sing, play games, and eat with everyone. Look for our rockin' version of "Let It Be" in a music store near you . . . Now we are making latkes for some of Ari's friends. I mean, what else is there to eat in China except for traditional Jewish food? Just kidding.

I'm sure Ari will finish the tale of the Wolfe family invasion of China. We still have a day left back in Hong Kong and hopefully a day in Macau. There's still time left to get into trouble . . .

As I end this entry I have this to say: I am quite impressed with China, Guangzhou, and mostly my brother. He has managed to learn a fair amount of Chinese pretty damn quickly, create strong relationships with his students, and make a huge impression on the faculty of the school. He has made China home, which is no small feat for a white kid from New England who knew no Chinese before September. I am quite proud of him and all that he has done here. Holla!