Californian Town Fears Yellow Peril

Last week, C. Custer from China Geeks put the spotlight on xenophobic rants by Chinese online in response to a video of a moronic, drunken foreigner and his run in with the police. The blog posting was an excellent examination of under currents of anti-foreign sentiment in Chinese society. Many of us that read the post commented that the similar phenomenon would happen in the United States. The Associate Press then went and reported on a nearly similar example of xenophobia in the California town of Hacienda Heights.

At a recent school-board meeting, a group of mostly white town residents vehemently opposed a Chinese government program (Confucius Classroom grants) to fund a local middle-school language class. Here are some illustrative quotes from the small minds at work:

"These children have young brains that are very malleable and they can be indoctrinated with things that America would not like,” said an opponent to the school board members who approved the program.

"China already owns and changed most of the shopping centers in Hacienda Heights… Do we really want them to change our kids' minds, too?" wrote a resident to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

According to the AP report, some town residents feel they need to protect the community's youth from communist propaganda that could be hidden in textbook passages unreadable to non-Chinese speakers. One resident explicitly took issue with the program’s association with Confucius; "When you Google it, it comes up as a religion… It just seems wrong on so many levels."

Opponents attending school board meetings brought signs bearing such slogans as "America, Not Confucius".

The city planned to accept an offer to have the Chinese government place a teaching assistant in the school and pay his or her salary. In response, an editorial in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune called the plan "tantamount to asking Hugo Chavez to send his cadres to teach little American kids economics."

In the great tradition of American journalism, AP went out and sourced an academic wonk to weigh in on the issue. A University of Southern California public policy professor, Nicholas Cull, who reportedly ‘tracks China's efforts to shape its image abroad’ said, "I'm sure this will become a standard dispute… People in America are very suspicious of ideas from the outside."

So, apparently Ward & June Cleaver have decided to draw a line in the sand and fight the insidious dissemination of the PRC’s ‘soft power’. I wonder if they have ever heard of Voice of America and understand why it was created.

I’d also like to know if they have any appreciation for the fact there are now more English speakers in China than in the United States, and that they were taught by legions of under-qualified Americans (and other native-English speakers) who intentionally spread Western culture, including the ideas of liberal democracy and free market economics. I would also like to point out that many of these very same English teachers also did their very damn best to sleep with some of their female students.

Dear readers, I was an English teacher in China in the 90s, so I speak from experience. Was I spreading American ‘soft power’? I suppose I was.. but ‘soft’ isn’t the word I would use.

Oh, by the way, let’s not forget the untold number of religious zealots masquerading as teachers who are giving out Bibles, organizing underground churches, and generally engaging in activities the PRC government deem illegal.

Why do the Chinese tolerate this horde of barbarians who spread anti-Communism and corrupt the morals of their youth? I suppose it’s because they want to create a competitive 21st Century workforce and become a global super power. You know what? It’s working too.

Reading between the lines of the article, I suspect opposition to this particular PRC-funded language program is mostly about a town’s changing demographic, where the whites are no longer the majority and they are lashing out at perceived cultural and economic threats. Damn, isn’t globalization a bitch? You’d think after America worked really hard to win the Cold War the whole world would just giddyup, speak English, drink Coca-Cola and let white Americans run everything. Well, not hardly.

Waves of 'soft power' will crash into each other, but it doesn't necessitate a 'clash of civilizations'. Hopefully communities throughout the world can take the best and leave the rest behind. Isn't that what America is about?

From Austin City Limits to Beijing

I’m a New Yorker, a Beijinger and a Texan, in that order. I had the great pleasure of living in Austin, Texas for 5 years and my life is much richer for it. Austin is an oasis of culture in the Lone Star state. It’s home to the Austin City Limits Music Festival and South By Southwest, two amazing cultural events that everyone should attend if they get a chance.

Austin bills itself as the ‘live music capital of the world’ and with good reason. The Austin Chronicle lists 792 venues for music, which is a staggering number of places to be able to go out and catch a show for a city of only 1.7 million. In comparison, Beijing Municipality would need to have about 10,000 venues to meet the same ratio. Keep in mind, that while the two cities’ populations are vastly different, their size is not, Beijing is 16,801.25 km2 and Austin 11,099.91 km2.

The reason I show you the numbers is for some perspective and so that you can believe me when I say you can pretty much move 10 minutes in any direction in Austin and run across some good live music. Of course ‘good music’ is in the ear of the beholder; the city serves up a smorgasbord ranging from country/western to rock and jazz. If you are looking for rap, house, drum and base, classical, etc., go somewhere else.

Living in China I’m pretty much out of touch with the music scene back in the States. I try to keep up, but it’s hard. The fact that I’m not as young as I used to be might also be a factor, but I try really hard to ignore that. Anyway, if you live in China and are anything like me, you’re probably starved for good music—you can only shuffle your iPod so many times before your 10,000 favorite songs start to get really boring. So here’s 4 good suggestions of amazing musicians from Austin you’ve probably never heard of. All have found some national success in the Sates, but they haven’t made it big; however they remain institutions in Austin. If you like what you read below, run to your nearest media store or website to buy or download these artists.

Bob Schneider – An incredibly versatile musician, from hard driving punk & funk to straight rock and acoustic ballads, Bob Schneider has created an impressive body of work. My advice is to listen to three of his albums before you make up your mind, each one is more different from the last. His early band, The Scabs, was known for its funky rhythms and raunchy lyrics, but Bob’s latest album, Lovely Creatures, is a schmaltzy guitar laden folksy affair. My favorite albums are Californian and Lonelyland.

The Asylum Street Spankers - The band almost defies description, but I’ll give it a try. Led by Wammo and Christina Marrs the Spankers create a crazy combination of blue grass, jazz, swing, Tin Pan Alley, rock and occasionally rap. Sometimes they are plugged in and sometimes they are completely acoustic; with yukalaylee and kazoo. While many of their songs are about drugs, sex and political protest, they also found the creative where with all to do a children’s album. The Spankers are hysterically funny and musically sublime.

James McMurtry – In the tradition of Townes Van Zandt, James McMurtry (son of famed novelist Larry McMurtry) strums, moans and blasts a lyrical fusion of country/western, blues, folk and rock. WARNING: If you are allergic to the slightest bit of twang stay away. However, if you like the occasional Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson song, or Neal Young or the aging and melancholy Bruce Springsteen, you’ll like James McMurtry. My favorite album is Where’d you Hide the Body

The Gourds – Although sometimes labeled ‘alternative country’ I think they are far more rock n’ roll, but with Zydeco mandolin, banjo and accordion. Their big claim to fame was a cover of Snoop Dogg’s Gin N’ Juice, a favorite that is often repeated on my iPod. If you are fan of the Grateful Dead, Phish, or Little Feet, the Gourds are for you.

This by all means is NOT an exhaustive list of the wonderful talent orbiting Austin’s musical galaxy. I left the city over five years ago to return to Beijing, I wonder what I’m missing…

P.S. Please write to me with suggestions of new or old music to check out, I am always looking for more.

Uneasy Rider: Why China Needs a Motorcycle Movie

I got my first motorcycle in China, and because I didn’t have a driver’s license, insurance or registration for the bike; I achieved Badass Outlaw Biker-status immediately. Another childhood dream come true.

The bike was a Changjiang 750, or “sidecar”, or kuazi if you are a member of the cult. Someday I’ll write another post about the bloody knuckle joy of owning one of these great motorcycles and the adventures I had driving all over the countryside surrounding Beijing. Today, however, I am musing about motorcycles, their relationship to man and the universe. I know, it’s been done to death, but now it’s my turn. It’s my blog and I’ll do what I want.

America has a great tradition of motorcycle stories and there’s a good reason for it. The motorcycle is essentially a metaphor for a modern horse and American mythology is a Western; its errant knights are cowboys. Motorcycles stories, as good mythology, help Americans define their relationships to themselves, others, society and the cosmos.

Here’s an incomplete chronological inventory of the motorcycle mythos in America:
• The Wild One – Marlon Brando (movie)
• Hell's Angels – Hunter S. Thomson (book)
• Born to Be Wild – Steppenwolf (song)
• Easy Rider – Dennis Hopper & Peter Fonda (movie)
• Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance – Robert Pirsig (book)
• Harley Davidson & the Marlboro Man – Mickey Rourke & Don Johnson (movie)
• Wanted Dead or Alive – Bon Jovi (song)
• Motorcycle Diaries (book & movie)
• The World’s Fastest Indian (movie) [thanks Jim for the recommendation]
• Wild Hogs (bad movie)

Look at what the motorcycle represents: freedom, individuality, speed, danger and strength. A man riding a motorcycle is not weak, enslaved, or a faceless member of the masses; he’s a hero (even if only to himself). The motorcycle serves as America’s vehicle of choice in its modern odysseys; reflecting the nature of its people, cultural changes, man’s relationship with technology, spiritual awakenings, and other important themes.

China needs a motorcycle movie. As the nation continues to wrestle with its identity in a post semi-colonial age traumatized by the loss of its traditional culture and the birth of a new society, it should take a good look in the mirror. A motorcycle movie could serve as an apolitical, romantic, modern fantasy to help China discuss, identify and celebrate its values.

I’d like to see a Chinese motorcycle movie. Imagine a couple of young Chinese on Changjiang 750s as they go “on the road” from Beijing to the farthest corners of the PRC to discover themselves and what it means to be Chinese. Although I’m partial to motorcycles and stories about them, China doesn’t have to take my advice. It’s up to the Chinese to create their own modern mythology. Fortunately, I like kungfu movies too.