In four parts:

1. Greetings! (and apologies)
So, I’ve been in China for nearly three weeks now, and as of today, now have internet access in my apartment. I would like to put that forward as my reason for not making my first entry sooner, though in truth, I could have just as easily typed up an entry on my laptop and plugged in at the school that I’m teaching English at. The thing is, you see, is that I’ve found it difficult to do any kind of writing that I expect might be read without having the internet readily available; whether its checking facts, looking up more sophisticated synonyms for more words than I’m proud of (e.g. I just looked up synonyms for “sophisticated” but found none more suitable), or just distracting myself so I don’t have to write. Anyway, I could go on about how I feel I’m part of some internet-dependent contingency and that it creates within me insecurities about the authenticity of my own “voice” but I won’t. I’m sure I’ll have hard enough time pulling your attention away from the presidential election, without going into a self-recursive diatribe (I’ve got a window open on CNN.com myself). So yeah, without further ado… on to the primary focus of this blog. (I had a “Seinfeld” moment where I had to decide whether or not to use an exclamation point, I opted against it.)

2. About this Blog: A Short Note
Now, perhaps, some of you have judged from my snazzy title (I contemplated using “The Chopstick Diaries” perhaps with the subtitle “Or A Highly Ironic Title for a Blog About China”) but I think it would have gotten old real quick) that this blog will be geared toward the rapid economic growth and social change that China is currently undergoing. It isn’t; though it seems impossible to talk about contemporary China without talking about its economic progress. For my own sake, I’ll try to avoid discussing politics because I certainly wouldn’t want to offend any sensitive parties (I think you know who I’m talking about). What this blog is really about is me seeing myself in China. Having written the next section before this note, I’m aware that it is very heavy on historical facts and statistics (which I provide no citations for), but bear in mind that it is merely meant to serve as background information for what will eventually be a relation of my experiences and observations of China.

3. Prologue: Omens and Indicators
For the past nineteen days I’ve been living in Tangshan, a “small” industrial city located about 150 km east of Beijing. It has a population of approximately 7.2 million, though perhaps only 3 million live in the city proper, which covers an area of roughly 3,900 km² (or nearly 20 Oaklands for you Bay Area folks). It has the dubious distinction of being the site of China’s first and largest cement factory, but is more (in)famously known for having been the epicenter of the catastrophic earthquake that struck China in July of 1976. Both the magnitude (7.8) and the death toll (240,000+) were under-reported due to the fact that the leadership did not want any foreign aid at the time (apparently). Most articles that question the exact figures seem to claim that it was actually 8.2 and 780,000 respectively, though I’ve heard from locals (only one, actually) that the magnitude was closer to 9.0 (which for those of you familiar with the exponential progression of the Richter Scale, will know is no small difference). Regardless, the entire city was leveled in under thirty seconds.
It’s been said that disasters such as this foreshadowed the death of a great emperor or the end of a dynasty, sometimes both. Two months after the “Great Tangshan Earthquake” Mao Zedong, who had been lying on his deathbed for some time already, suffered a final heart attack amidst countless other ailments and “abdicated the throne” (which, of course, was pretty much under the manipulation of the “Gang of Four” (a political clique headed by Mao’s wife, Jiang Qing) at that point). This was the quintessential sea change for the People’s Republic of China. Along with Mao, died the revolutionary fervor that had been so necessary in establishing the State in the beginning, and allowed for the undertaking of a new direction that over the next three decades would bring about, arguably, the most voracious economic and social change ever witnessed in modern history.
The period immediately following Mao’s death, was one of transition, with the party leadership trying to reorganize itself and move out from under the shadow of the Cultural Revolution years. It would be the re-emergence of Deng Xiaoping toward the end of the decade that marked the first step toward this new direction. Deng, a long-time party leader who had previously been labeled a “reactionary” by the Jiang Qing clique and imprisoned, was reinstated, following their incarceration, and soon rose to power to become the PRC’s “second emperor”. Known as the architect of “Socialism with Chinese characteristics,” Deng initiated the economic reforms that ended collectivization and opened up the doors for private enterprise and foreign investment, and well, the rest is—as they say—is highly condensed history.
China’s “socialist market economy” has brought about an average of 10% GDP growth every year since 1978—not that I really know much about economics, but this is apparently quite a feat. The terms “mercantile” and “steroidic” have been used to describe it . What I gather from it, is that China’s got something to prove (something I’ll get into later) and they don’t want to waste anytime doing it.

4. The “Reborn Phoenix” (Or A Cheesy “Oriental” Characterization): First Impressions
And now, getting back to Tangshan, which will be my microcosm of Chinese society for the next few months. Its destruction heralded the end of the Mao era, and the majority of its restoration preceded the economic reforms. The city’s architecture is a monument to the period that served as a fulcrum between the Mao and Deng eras. You won’t find many “traditional Chinese style” buildings (if there are any at all). Now there are a couple skyscrapers scattered across the city, but the majority of the buildings are no taller than six stories, which I assume was intended to be a precaution against future earthquakes, though I suppose skyscrapers were not really in style back in the pre-socialist-market-economy-late-seventies. I live on the sixth floor of an apartment building which is divided by three stairwells (no elevators and no hallways) leading up to apartments on either side, making for a total of 36 apartments to a building. Its situated in a “neighborhood” of perhaps a dozen or so identical apartment buildings surrounded by a wrought iron fence with a single entrance where there’s a security booth. All the walls in the building are made of solid concrete (good luck getting thumb tacks into those things—good luck getting thumb tacks at all, for that matter, I haven’t seen any around) and entrance of every apartment has two doors: one wooden one, and one metal one with three different locks and generally looks like it leads to some sort of bunker or bomb shelter (I wonder if breaking-in-entry is a huge concern in China, though I somehow doubt it). I’m pretty sure I’m living in a “Reconstruction-era” building. I assume everyone in the city lives in an apartment, and the majority of the apartment buildings seem to be set up in this manner, though not all with security booths or perimeter fences.
The school I work at is located in the center of downtown where the signs of economic progress are most visible. Here, you’ll find KFC and McDonald’s and Brand-name sportswear shops, the main four being: Nike, Adidas, Puma and Kappa (oddly enough). Most of the advertisements in the downtown area display “foreigners” (i.e. Caucasians, Anglo-Saxons, et al.), though the presence of foreigners is virtually nil. I blend in well enough until I open my mouth, and the locals find out that I speak horrible Chinese; then they I assume I am either Japanese or else from Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (aka “Chinese Turkistan”), and always seemed somewhat relieved when they find out that I am neither and am, in fact, a mixed blood from America. Anyway, I know I’m trying to make up for the past three weeks, but this is getting a little too long. I’m sure there will be plenty of time to describe the city and in greater depth later on. Good night and happy voting!