November 2004 Newsletter Dear OBE MEMBERS,
This newsletter has turned out to be rather lengthy. However, I wanted to share some of my observations and experiences with you. I have decided to break the newsletter into two parts. This is the second half of last month's newsletter.
Many people have expressed interest concerning my life in China. Every day continues to be a new adventure. The language barrier is the most difficult obstacle I confront on a daily basis. Few Chinese speak English, so I have just completed forty hours of Mandarin language lessons. I have found that learning the language is a difficult endeavor at best, but a very good challenge.
The following "snap shots" of the country are only a small sampling of what I have experienced living in Shanghai. I have included "images" that are not on the travel channel in order to give you a feel for the "real" china that most people will never see. This newsletter will be different from the norm, I will be focusing on observations I have made in China.
At a busy intersection, a bus turns and hits a ten-year-old boy on his bike and knocks him to the street. As the boy is crying in the street, I watch in amazement as the bus driver opens his window and screams obscenities at the kid for blocking the way of his bus. The crying boy drags himself and his bike to side of the road. The bus driver speeds off leaving a cloud of exhaust. Even though this is a crowded street no one seems to notice or care. As a side note, China had over one hundred thousand deaths caused by autos last year even though they have relatively few cars compared to the U.S. The authorities have just installed a new law, mandatory loss of all driving privileges for life if you are involved in a motor vehicle fatality.
In many parts of China and Southeast Asia cats and dogs are raised for food. During the SARS outbreak, cats were suspected as potential carriers of the disease. Because of this, countless thousands were killed throughout China. The numbers of cat deaths are unknown but some estimates were over a million. On a related subject, pets such as cats and dogs are a new phenomena in China and many Chinese are noticeably afraid of large dogs.
In general, the concept of personal space appears to be non-existent. People will walk and bump into you and step in front of you in line without a second thought. In fact, the idea of standing in lines appears to be relatively new. At bank machines and cash registers I quickly learned to defend my space and became a little more aggressive. Today there are over 50,000 foreigners in Shanghai and I believe they are having an impact on some of the traditional behavior.
A common sight in Shanghai is the dramatic contrast of the old and the new. Everywhere I travel I see countless ultra modern glass and steel high-rise buildings under construction that are surrounded by flimsy bamboo scaffolding.
In late November we were in Shanghai for a week. As we enter a modern ten-story shopping mall, we were unexpectedly greeted by English Christmas music, Santa and Christmas trees. In addition, I was surprised that most of the product advertisements and billboards featured smiling western woman in scantily dressed attire.
Outside of the city we are driving on an expressway going about 70 miles an hour when cars speed by us on the left shoulder doing 80 plus. Apparently emergency shoulder lanes are viewed as passing lanes.
As I walk through a western style supermarket I see the Chinese 'take' on fresh food. Large tanks are overflowing with live frogs, snakes, eels, turtles, fish and many things I can't begin to identify. Fish heads are a popular item. In the countryside, cats are again on the menu. In general, real Chinese food is nothing like the American versions.
As I shop in various stores, people will stop and examine the contents of my shopping cart. They are very interested in what westerners eat and drink. In addition, if you have a small child with blond or red hair, the locals may stop and rub the head of the child for good luck, some will even attempt to pick up the child and hold it. The intentions are very friendly, however, on one occasion I have seen a western mother react in horror.
There are many misconceptions. The standard of living is improving rapidly, many Chinese own their homes or apartments. In addition, one million people in the Shanghai area now own a car. Families are very close and multiple generations often live in one home. Personal property rights are now assured and capitalism is now king; everyone is selling or making something. Also, China has few taxes on the average citizen, as an example there are no sales taxes. The Chinese government apparently doesn't need to tax their own citizens because they obtain huge sums of money from the Western nations.
In closing, I am sure of one thing, as Americans remain divided over countless issues like gay marriage, abortion, gun control and immigration, the Chinese are marching together as one powerful force of 1.3 billion souls. Ask yourself, what made America a great nation and created our current standard of living? The answer is cost effective mass manufacturing. Based on all that I observe, in ten short years China will economically replace the U.S. as the dominant world power. It is a shame that the leaders of both political parties are too busy fighting amongst themselves to even see our nation's great economic decline on the immediate horizon. The modern Rome is emerging and it is China. If you doubt my viewpoint, just visit any Wal-Mart and you are observing the manufacturing power of China. Today they dominate many critical U.S. industries such as steel manufacturing, plastics, furniture, small arms, computer, audio and video product production. As America throws hundreds of billions of dollars down the drain every year on endless pork projects and wars, our most important world markets are being systematically conquered by the Chinese. As a side note, few are aware that the Chinese government now finances the record U.S. deficit of well over one trillion dollars. The sad fact is that both major political parties refuse to even acknowledge that we have a serious and growing problem that threatens our future.
I understand that this has nothing to do with out-of-body travel, however many of you have been asking questions about my move here. I want you to know that I am safe and thank you all for your concern. Future newsletters will have more of a 'traditional' feel with content about astral projection.
All my best, William Buhlman