Two Sides of China

Reading through China Digital Times this morning, two articles came to my attention that illustrate two sides of China. On one hand, when we think of the Middle Kingdom, we conjure images of the violence of the Cultural Revolution and the corruption of the early reform period. These images are strengthened by an underlying sense of Orientalism, xenophobia, and more generally the fear of the unknown. These photos of riots at the Northern Auto Mechanics School in Handan, Hebei show that sometimes these fears are not unfounded. The uproar began after a teacher allegedly beat a student during military training. Photographs and an article in Chinese can be found here:

http://news.wenxuecity.com/messages/200805/news-gb2312-614851.html

China Digital Times provides an English summary of the events as well as a slideshow of photographs from the school.

On the other hand, the Sichuan earthquakes have revealed the positive side of patriotism and nationalism that became so ugly in the wake of the Tibet uprising and the Olympic Torch relay furor. People are willing to give all that they can both financially and in terms of volunteering their time to help their countrymen get back on their feet. China Digital Times has captured the spirit of the Sichaunese affected by gathering together jokes initially collected by the blogs and SMS in China.

I've reproduced some here:

* A friend told me that he was riding his bicycle at the moment [of the earthquake] at the city’s central square, and saw Chairman Mao [statue] waving to him… He was so shocked he fell off his bike, and then realized it was an earthquake.

* An old man in Beichuan, dragged out by a Russian rescue team. The first thing he said was “This is one hell of an earthquake, it shook me all the way to a foreign country!”

* Four old ladies were in the middle of playing a game of mahjong, and noticed the table was shaking badly. They did not say anything, went to find some cardboard, put it underneath the table and continued their game.

The originals can be found at:

http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2008/05/humorous-spirit-of-the-sichuan-people/

Hung Huang on Chinese Nationalism