Adventures in Guangzhou!

We paid a small fee to have access to the bus system going between the various Mao sites and were on our way. We opted not to pay an extravagant amount to get into the park that held reproductions of Mao's various homes from around the country. Umm, 50 kuai to see something that Mao never even touched? No thanks. Instead we made our way to the main museum and the huge Mao statue. I was blown away by the hundreds of people who all seemed to be praying and bowing in front of this statue of the Chairman. It really seemed like they were worshipping some sort of deity.

I also found it interesting that people were setting off TONS of firecrackers and lighting candles by the statue, acting much in the same way that David and his brother did at the graves of their parents. First of all, Mao isn't even buried here--his body is in Tian'nanmen Square in Beijing! Second, these people have no relation to the guys whatsoever! Third, while Mao certainly did some incredible things for China, he is also responsible for the deaths of upwards of thirty million Chinese. Is that something to deify?

The museum itself was interesting but there was no English so I was definitely at the mercy of my imagination and of David's translation whims. Not surprisingly, there was no mention of the Great Leap Forward or the Cultural Revolution. I was tempted to buy some of the ridiculous trinkets available in the gift shop but I resisted. I wonder what Mao (or any of the founding members) would think about the fact that the museum is charging a huge admission and ridiculous prices for souvenirs bearing their faces. You can get anything with Mao on it and I mean anything. Mao keychain? Obviously. Mao sweater? Sure. Mao pen? Definitely. Computer generated picture of you standing next to Mao? You betcha. It was wild.

At lunch David and I had an incredible conversation about international politics, government shortcomings, economic globalization, the merits of civil disobedience, and constitutional ethics. Wow. There's nothing like a really smart guy to get the blood flowing in your brain. I was constantly amazed by David's knowledge and insight into matters that are generally misunderstood or misinterpreted by other Chinese I know. We chatted for hours, ate overpriced food, and generally had a ball.

Mao's actual house was a big let down but it was worth it just to see everyone else's response. Ohmigosh! Mao's brother's horse's stable! Wowzers! An old kitchen table! They went nuts and it was entertaining to see that sort of reaction to a bunch of non-descript items that had probably been replaced by imposters years ago. Maybe I'm just a bit of a cynic in this arena.

On our way out of the house and back to the town, I noticed a father holding up his son's legs so the kid could defecate right there in public. Once again, is this necessary? No one else seemed to mind but I just can't get over the use of any and every place as a restroom. What gives? There was definitely a bathroom within 50m. I find it hard to believe he couldn't have made it. And if it was an emergency, at least try to do it way off to the side or something! The funniest part is that at that point I didn't even flinch--just another area of the sidewalk to sidestep.

We were going to stay two nights in Shao Shan but at the end of the first day we realized we had pretty much done everything. So we booked a single night at a cheap hotel, negotiated the room-price down about 300 kuai, went out to a park, hiked up the hill, came down, had dinner, and watched a non-dubbed version of Mr. & Mrs. Smith back in our rooms. Good times.

The next day was pretty uneventful. Waking up late, we slowly made our way to the buses and headed back towards Zhuzhou. Naturally, a girl threw up on the bus right next to me during a particular bumpy section. Why me? Not so sure. But again, at that point it was all part of the experience and I sort of assumed something gross would happen during the ride. No big deal.

Back in Zhuzhou we attempted to find David's friend that he hadn't seen in 18 years. We knew her name and general location but had no other contact info. Kinda like searching for the proverbial needle but I enjoyed the ridiculousness of it. We were unsuccessful (no surprise there) but had fun wandering around. We went to a dumpling place for lunch and feasted on some tasty jiaozi. As usual, we drew a ton of stares and some conversation to go along with it.

David and I got sick of telling the same old story (I'm from America, we're coworkers, blah blah blah) so we started making up stories to tell people: David is my translator and I'm from Iceland; David is my tourguide and I'm from Finland; David is my half brother and we're taking a heritage trip; and last but not least, I am David's Israeli bodyguard. Ha!

Back to David's uncle's house, we spent the night watching Beijing Opera on TV and eating more youzi. It was somehow comforting to be back to the routine of washing your feet and all that. I could do without the cold rain, but it was nice to have the couple constantly feeding us again.