China Magnificent

Tonight, mostly out of curiosity but in part to keep myself awake long enough to get back onto CST, I watched the VHS recording my mom took of the opening ceremony from the NBC broadcast. I was disappointed by how much was skimmed over for the sake of leaving room for inane commentary and advertisements- an entire puppeteering sequence was cut, presumably because it would not appeal to the Western sense of grandeur exemplified by the rest of the performance, as well as the phenomenal transitions- the seamless points in the show where two thousand people disappear into the dark and within seconds are replaced by two thousand more- the sudden spotlight on Lang-Lang's piano as he plays, with his top chords finished gracefully by the little girl next to him- the attention to detail so integral to all things Chinese. 

To have stood in the streets beneath fireworks as they raced towards the Bird's Nest- the Footsteps of History, as the commentators referred to them- I feel marked, as the city was marked that night. 

The commentators prattle on about this and that- the phenomenal nature of the technical feats, the months of intensive training, numbers, costs, creativity- but the event speaks for itself. It is immediately, unquestionably, ranked among the greatest shows the world has ever seen. 

A few stabs are made to give cultural context to the Western audience. Disclaimers of "..But to the Chinese people, this is instantly recognizable"; "This is so important within the Chinese culture"; "This may not immediately make sense to a Westerner, but..." are littered throughout. 

I came to China as an outsider and left as one. We came, we saw; we judged, as people do.  The world came to Beijing to judge. We romanticize or condemn. The commentators passed judgment that night, as have reporters, foreigners, expatriates, businessmen, tourists, housewives, children, every day since. 

China opened its doors as if to allow entrance to a manicured garden, and perhaps that's all that most foreigners saw: the New Beijing, China cleaning up, topiaries and happy citizens. 

There is more to see than they intended. Protesters beaten, newsmen shut down, promises broken. Athletes trained from childhood, taken from families, forced to be the best.  Beggars under the gleaming new buildings.

Who is anyone to judge, without the understanding that comes only from seeing both action and purpose? From understanding both what is done and what is meant to be done- from seeing a person, a people, a nation as both the image it is given by the world and the image it holds as a self-  the negative space between the two pictures-

 I can see Chinese citizens, strangers, friends I have made, eagerly whisper that they understand what I mean when I say that the media hides things, or else shout vehemently that our information is wrong when their national pride and cultural paradigm is bluntly attacked by a superior boy waving a foreign book in their face. 

I can come from a society, infant among civilizations, built on fiery self-important concepts of the individual, and love a people, old like rivers, coated in plastic, who are caught amongst the slow cycles of tradition and dutiful service, the embers of revolution, and hungry dreams of restored glory, saved face, renewed strength. 

There is no understanding when neither side is willing to let go. One cannot expect to change a mind, or learn anything new, when one is not willing even to let himself see why another point of view might be held. If we know only that we are Right, we will be wrong as long as we live. 

I came to China not knowing what to expect, or rather, expecting many different things. Some expectations were fulfilled, others were shattered, others changed as I did. 

The torch is lit for only hours more. China has risen to hold the flame aloft and will soon quench it. Was it everything she hoped for? Were her own expectations met? Tenderly, I wish it were so.  Now she must lower the torch, put down the guiding beacon and remain standing on her own, in a world where expectations of her have now risen, where criticism will be swift and plentiful as she once again stands strong in the coming century.  Whatever the world believes of her- fireworks, human rights violations- she is not going away. The world's eyes were caught in the last decades by Hong Kong, Singapore, Little Tigers, Little Dragons-

But China is the Big Dragon, and she is awake.