The Great F*rewall of Ch*na

It's the beginning of another adventurous year at Dalian Maple Leaf International School. I'm finally able to post on this blog again after being bl*cked for months by the Great F*rewall of Ch*na. It all started with the 20th ann*vers*ry of Ti*n*nm*n Squ*re last school year. The ri*ts in Ur*mqi didn't help. So many sites have been bl*cked since: B*C, yo*t*be, blog sites and fac*book. I've tried a number of onl*ne pr*xies which have all slowly been bl*cked as well. After several frustrating attempts to break through, I finally found one that works, but I'm not going to divulge information about it lest it too be bl*cked and I once again fall off the map of cyberspace.

I spent July traveling around China with my parents. We had a wonderful time touring Xi'an, Beijing, Dandong, and spending a lot of time at home in Dalian. It was great to see China through my parents' eyes - it felt a lot like being here for the first time again. Here are some excerpts from my mom's journal:

"There is understandably a widespread fear of the swine flu virus. Before we were allowed to disembark from the airplane we were all given a temperature test, a quick swipe on the forehead. At the airport we were again given the test by young men and women smartly dressed in white shirts. All of them wore masks and looked very serious. They had badges on their sleeves that said “Police”. At Tianamen square we saw another group of young men and women wearing white shirts, but their badges read “security”. We know the people who work for the government are the privileged ones, probably envied, admired, hated, and feared by ordinary people"

"Going on the bus from the airport to city centre was great. The seats were clean with white covers at the head area. The highways looked strangely similar to our North American highways. The round signs reminded me of Europe. I was surprised by the greenery, the flowers and the trees. It seems the Chinese are serious about encouraging and preserving their natural beauty.
Going from the bus to our hotel was another story. We wanted a taxi and before we could get our bearings we were approached by a taxi driver. Thinking he drove the regular taxis we had seen on the streets, we accepted his offer, only to be taken to a beige car in an alley that didn’t look like a taxi at all. It was clean, though, and the seats were, as usual, covered with removable fabric. The driver insisted on carrying our bags but I think he got more than he bargained for. His grimaces spoke louder than words. He wasn’t a big man and the suitcases were weighted down by Catherine’s refried beans, canned cherries for black forest cakes, piano books, Body Shop shower gels, shaving cream and more. The handles were straining under the excess weight and I wondered if the suitcases might fall apart under the demands placed on the leather. They were old Samsonite suitcases I had bought for Art shortly after we got married. The suitcases survived and I’m sure the driver was glad to be rid of us. We still wonder if the price we paid for the trip was another rip-off. It certainly was a memorable ride through narrow alleys with many near misses and close encounters with other vehicles trying to squeeze by."

"A funny thing happened in the restaurant at lunch today. Art got his bowl of beef and vegetables and started to eat from it, which the Chinese local at the next table thought was hilarious. Art was puzzled, not understanding why they were laughing at him. Then it dawned on me that he was eating from what the Chinese consider a serving bowl. We cause a few guffaws about our (especially my) inept use of chopsticks too. The waiters helped us out of our misery by bringing us forks and knives, which I cleaned carefully before using them with the Kleenexes standing on the table. We had no napkins. At the other two restaurants we went to we were given moist cloths for our hands. We wanted to try a restaurant that served “Peking Duck” but when we walked in we immediately realized it was not open for business. We had walked into a wedding!"

I had the time of my life when I got back to Canada. On the day I landed, I went out for all-you-can-eat-sushi, watched Les Mis at the art's club, walked around UBC, had dinner at the Fairmont Airport, drank coffee at Starbucks, and shopped on Granville. I made sure to do everything that I love about Vancouver summers: Bard on the Beach, the Vancouver Art Gallery, kayaking at Granville Island, the planetarium, hiking at Mt Baker, walking the seawall, fireworks at English Bay, and spending time with friends and family.

Mandarin lessons are calling. More updates to come...