Post #100 14 May 2016

Gentlefolk

This is my 100th post - a milestone - the blog has recorded 10,325 'views' since the start, in February 2014.

This post describes our recent visit to Hunan Province, 29 April - 3 May 2016.

Our foreign teachers employment contracts include a university-organised trip every year.  We have been to Sanya (Hainan), Guilin, Chengdu, and Xian.   This time we went to Hunan Province.

Hunan is known for its spicy food, as the birthplace of Mao Ze Dong, and for the Zhang Jia Jie (ZJJ) National Park which was the inspiration for "Pandora" in the Avatar movie.

Our group comprised: Mr Jiang Da Sen, Deputy Director of the International Office (Leader); Michael Christensen (American); Karishma Prasad (Aussie); Vera & Alex Olah (Aussies); and a visiting scholar Mark Rood, Professor of Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois (Champagne - Urbana, Illinois).

Our itinerary is set out in the following table:

Friday, 29 April 2016	Fly from Qingdao to Changsha (8am / 10.30am). Met by guide Zeng Wen Jing (Sherry). Mini-bus to Shao Shan (130 km from Changsha), Mao’s home town. Lunch; check into hotel; sightseeing.
Saturday, 30 April	By mini-bus drive from Shao Shan to Zhang Jia Jie (5 hours). Lunch; hotel. Afternoon sightseeing in National Park (monorail). After dinner visited Tujia cultural/dining centre.
Sunday, 1 May	Sightseeing in National Park (cable car; He Long statue; lunch; crowds;  wonderful views; elevator down). After dinner, foot massage next door.
Monday, 2 May	In National Park, walked along Golden Whip Stream; cable car up to Huang Shi Cun (Yellow Stone Village); marvellous! After lunch drove to Changsha; heavy rain; much traffic, took 7 hours.  Late dinner, then crashed.
Tuesday, 3 May	Morning: visited Tangerine Island in Changsha. Afternoon: flight to Qingdao on Tibet Air (2.30 / 4.30pm). Back to our campus at 6pm; dinner; watched two episodes of Game of Thrones with Michael and Steven.

This year our annual UPC trip was to Hunan Province,

We flew from Qingdao to Changsha, the capital of Hunan, a flight of about 2.5 hours.

Our first destination was Shao Shan, 130 km south-west of Changsha, the home town of Mao Ze Dong.  The next morning we drove to Zhang Jia Jie National Park, north-west of Changsha.

Shao Shan (Mao country)

An aerial view of the substantial house where Mao was born and raised. This was known as a poor area (little arable land, many hills) but Mao's father was a "rich peasant" (landlord). Mao's father could afford to send him to the local (private) Primary School in this village, and then to High School and Teachers College in Changsha.  Today, 'red tourism' underpins the local economy. 

Our group with Mao's family home in the background. From left: Jiang Da Sen; Alex; Michael; Vera; Karishma; Mark. He was an adventurous kid and learnt to swim in this pond. 

A huge statue of Mao dominates "Mao Ze Dong Square" in Shao Shan. Many people bring flowers and offer respect.

They were planting new (mature) trees when we visited the Square. 

Many Chinese visit Mao Ze Dong Square and pay homage /pray to the founder of "New China".

Huge crowds visit Shao Shan every 26 December to commemorate Mao's birth (26 December 1893).

Adoring fans commemorate Mao's birthday every 26 December.

Fireworks at night every 26 December to celebrate Mao's birthday. 

100 couples got married in Shao Shan on the 120th anniversary of Mao's birth, 26 December 2013. 

There are several museums dedicated to Mao Ze Dong's life.

Lot's  of souvenir shops selling statues and pictures of The First Chairman.

We have Elvis impersonators, the Chinese have Mao impersonators.

Mao's favorite dish - braised pork belly.  Delicious.  It was served with every meal we had in Hunan!

Signature of Mao Ze Dong.  His calligraphy was on many street signs in Shao Shan.

Mao Ze Dong aged 19.  Who would have thought this unassuming teenager would rule the most populous country on earth? Undoubtedly Mao was one of the 'giants' of the 20th Century - his actions impacted on tens, even hundreds, of millions of people.  Which other revolutionaries would you put in his category: Lenin, Stalin, Gandhi, Sukarno, Ho Chi Min, Mandela, Hitler?
Mao was able to overcome incredible obstacles to finally triumph.  He must have been a brilliant tactician to succed; he was certainly ruthless, as millions found to their cost.

1936 Mao Ze Dong aged 42 with his 3rd wife He Zi Zhen.  Mao had become the leader of the Chinese Communist Party the previous year.  They were in remote and desolate Yan'an at the end of the Long March.  Fewer than 10,000 survived that ordeal - Mao and his wife look 'skin & bones' in this photo, don't they?.  
But remarkably  within 13 years the CPC rose like a phoenix, was able to defeat the ruling Kuomintang Party and control Mainland China.

1946 Mao (aged 52) with his 4th wife Jiang Qing. She was the leader of the notorious "Gang of Four" during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76).  After Mao's death she was arrested and executed. 

With the remnants of the Kuomintang fleeing to Taiwan, on 1 October 1949, Mao (aged 55) proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China.  Against all odds, the CPC had won!

Mao (78) met Richard Nixon in Beijing on 29 February 1972. His health was already failing; he died on 9 September 1976.

A huge portrait of Mao Ze Dong hangs over the main gate of the Forbidden City in Beijing. There is no doubt Mao was a great revolutionary but having won the Civil War, what was his vision of the brave new world and did he attain it?  In 1955 he collectivised agriculture, and then in 1958 the Great Leap Forward; both were economic failures which led to great hardship and widespread starvation.  In 1966 he launched the Cultural Revolution which turned the country upside-down and led to much misery, persecution and death.
Personally, I think Deng Xiao Ping was the greater: he was a successful revolutionary but retained a flexibility of mind which enabled him to see and accept different development models.   

Our last morning was in Changsha and we visited Tangerine Island in the Xiang River.  At one end of the Island there is a huge bust of Mao, distinctive for his long. flowing Byron-esque locks. His images seem to get younger and more handsome with time - the victors re-writing history?
Mao: Hunan's favorite son.

Zhang Jia Jie (ZJJ) National Park ('Avatar country')

I never thought the landscape of Gulin/Yangshuo could be surpassed, but ZJJ comes close.  But it's different.  In Guilin you are normally looking up at the karst mountains, while here at ZJJ you are usually looking down at these spectacular shapes.

It is difficult to do justice in describing this amazing landscape.  We were blessed with fine, cool weather.

You go around another corner and more amazing scenery.

On our last morning there was low mist or clouds when the rain cleared. Very beautiful effect.

Fortunately we didn't have to climb up these mountains. There were two long cable-cars, the first from France and the second from Austria.  Engineering marvels!

There was a mono-rail train on one section.

The cliff-hugging Bailong Elevator, 335 metres, brought us down from the plateau in 2 minutes.  All these modern comforts make sightseeing so easy and enjoyable. 

Professor Mark Rood with girls from the Tujia minority in a silver shop.

Alex with some Tujia minority girls. They are college students and wear traditional dress at night as part-time jobs. But under the traditional gowns they wear jeans and sneakers! 

A modern statue of General He Long, one of the ten Marshals of the Chinese Revolution (actually, his torso is modern but his horse is very traditional).  He came from a poor family in this area, and rose to become a General and finally Vice Premier of  PRC.  But in 1966 Mao turned against his old comrade, as he did with so many former friends. He was placed under house arrest, given minimal food and medical care, and died in miserable circumstances two years later.

There was a huge Maccas in the middle of ZJJ - is nothing sacred???

Huge crowds in the National Park, especially on 1 May. But the Chinese know how to handle big numbers, and everything worked pretty smoothly.

Left: our guide Zeng Wan Jing (Sherry). She is a Senior student (English major) at a local univeristy and does guiding as a part-time job.  She told us that after graduating next month she will go to Thailand to teach Chinese in a Confucius Institute for a year.  She was a lovely girl, and we wish her well.

The Land of Pandora in the Avatar movie was based on ZJJ.  We watched the movie when we returned to campus, and were able to recognise some of the landscape.  The special effects in this movie are spectacular. 

Michael with some new-found friends.

Michael and Mark on a viewing platform.  I didn't join them - looked too scary!

Crowded trail near the "No. 1 Natural Bridge" scenic spot.

Our group at the Forest Park entrance on Monday morning.  It was raining heavily at breakfast and we told Sherry that we'd prefer to go back to Changsha early.  But she insisted we see this part of the Park.  Incredibly, the rain  eased as we got to the entrance and we had a wonderful walk along Golden Whip Stream and then up at Yellow Stone Village.

Vera and Alex in a "love-lock" on Golden Whip Stream.

Some of the beautiful rain-forest along Golden Whip Stream. It started raining again, but not for long.

Proof that we made it up to Yellow Stone Village.  We were glad we took Sherry's advice - this was probably the most beautiful part of the Park, at least for us.

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And so ended another memorable trip in China.

Notable events in the last week:

Leicester City (The Foxes) won the Premier League.  The bookies rated them a 5,000 / 1 chance at the beginning of the season; a fairy-tale.
Leicester-born Mark Selby beat Ding Jun Hui to win the World Snooker Championship. Selby raced out to a 6 / 0 lead, then Ding fought back, but finally Selby won 17 / 14. On Chinese TV, computers and smartphones, 100 million watched the drama unfold.
Londoners elected Labour's Sadiq Khan as their new mayor, a Muslim.
Stephen Curry voted as the NBA - MVP for the second year running; for the first time ever, all 130 selectors had Curry as their #1 choice - unanimous!
With Ted Cruz dropping out Donald Trump is 'last man standing' in the Republican Party primaries; he will be the Republican candidate come November.  Six months ago no one took him seriously.  I think he could be the next US President. We live in interesting times!

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Only eight weeks until we finish teaching and depart these shores for good.  We'll miss this place,  but it's time to head for home.

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Best wishes, keep well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.edu.cn
Saturday, 14 May 2016