I much rather rant about whatever comes to mind without any seeming connection. This whole keeping a journal of what we saw and did turned into something that feels like a job, not fun. So, enough! It's back to all about me, me, me! But I do realize that this blog looks much nicer with pictures in it, so here you go... a snapshot of our beach on Ko Samed (yes, that's in Thailand) where we stayed August 18-22. After that we paid a little visit to Bangkok and, via a short detour to Guangzhou (nothing worth mentioning), back to Nanjing August 25th. And that's it! All done. Finally. Thailand was absolutely wonderful. Even Bangkok felt like a vacation from China. Can someone explain to me how it's possible that Thailand is so clean, even though it's almost impossible to find a garbage bin on the street, whereas in China, where you have litter boxes every few meters (in cities, that is), people just throw their garbage everywhere?At the danger of overstating my case - China reminds me a lot of the US. It's a huge country with a large geographic (and formerly ethnic) diversity, but now it all just feels the same... Yes, every Chinese is quick to point out Tibet and Xinjiang, but it's also no secret that the minorities there don't partake much in the economic development (meaning, they still mostly live in villages and do agriculture, whereas the cities and factories are predominantly Han). When I visited a company in Urumqi, I didn't meet a single person who wasn't Han (and they very much feel like Xinjiang is their province - they don't consider themselves visitors there). Most of the diversity attributed to minorities can only be found in souvenir shops... here, buy this guaranteed authentic Uighur cap, which is mass produced in a factory in Shenzhen! Well, considering most of these factory laborers are migrant workers, there's at least a chance it was made by a Muslim. Is this all that much different from the Native American Tribes in the southwest of the US? The souvenirs they sell are made in China, but the lack of economic and educational opportunities is just as obvious. My impression is that China is not nearly as divers as they like to (make) believe. This is not to say that there are no true Uighur, Mosu or Naxi people, but they don't contribute visibly to the whole of China.
I have seen dozens of small towns that were absolutely exchangeable and forgettable. Those that aren't are turned into tourist destinations, run by Han Chinese. Don't get me wrong - I don't have a problem with Han Chinese.
I am not one to judge if they suppress minorities. It's quite possible they just see the business opportunities where the local minorities don't - and maybe don't want to. Maybe they just want to be left alone and tend their sheep and carve yak butter sculptures. I simply dislike the over-romantization of everything "ethnic." Especially, as you made have gathered from my rants, everything that has to do with Tibetan Buddhism. The more I learn about any form of organized religion, the less I like it. You have to give the Thai credit for a wicked sense of humor though... This picture shows a shrine we saw in Bangkok. Apparently nobody really knows why, but once started, the trend of leaving phallic objects to pray for fertility got somewhat out of hand...
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