Red Shanghai

The 60^th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China is upon us, with all its tanks, missiles, mass demonstrations of patriotism, closings of sensitive areas, and the general outpouring of overdone pomp and propaganda that insecure governments everywhere feel the need to display. In celebration of this glorious holiday, here is a list of the most prominent red sites in Shanghai. If you’re in the city, why not commemorate the CCP’s Diamond Jubilee by visited some of these august locations?

The Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Centre

This museum is, blessedly, privately run, and so should perhaps not be considered a “red site” at all since it isn’t controlled by the government. But for those interested in Chinese communist culture, this memorial to the propaganda posters of the past is not to be missed. With refreshingly honest signage, the museum guides you through some truly incredible posters from 1949 to 1979. Because many of China’s propaganda posters were recycled during the chairmanship of Deng Xiaoping, the ones on display here are extremely rare. These aren’t the copies you find on the street. Be sure to check out the shop, where you can buy original posters if you’re willing to shell out the big bucks, as well as some good reproductions. Interestingly and unfortunately, the place seems to be known only to foreigners. I asked the attendant working there whether the museum gets more foreign or Chinese visitors. He replied that all of the visitors are foreign. This is a shame. As the museum itself states, “Today China’s economic path to prosperity is well defined. But with the shift toward a more modern and forward thinking China, it would be a mistake to forget our recent history.”

Website: http://www.shanghaipropagandaart.com/

To get there: The museum is a little hard to find. It’s located in the basement of building 4, block B, at 868 Huashan Road, across from Wukang Road, inside a residential complex. The nearest metro stops are Changshu Road (line one), Jing’an Si (line two), and Jiangsu Road (line two). Ask the guard at the gate of the residential complex and he’ll give you a card explaining how to find the museum.

Longhua Cemetery of Martyrs

This is a must-see for those interested in how official history of the Chinese communist movement is written. The Longhua Cemetery of Martyrs memorializes those who died fighting for the cause of communism in the early 20^th century. It is built on the site of a killing ground that Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist Party used to murder communists, students, intellectuals, members of trade unions, and others deemed to be leftist in 1927. Later it was turned into a prison. Such museums have a habit of labeling everybody who resisted the fascist tendencies of the Nationalist Party as striving for communism, though in reality the situation in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s was more complicated than that. If you can look past the historical whitewashing, however, visiting this site is still a moving experience. As I have noted before, labeling the entire memorial site “propaganda” risks dismissing too easily the deep resonance such places can have. The people commemorated here are worthy of our remembrance, regardless of who is doing the commemorating.

To get there: The memorial is located at 180 Longhua Road, by the Longhua Temple (which is also worth a visit). There isn’t an adjacent metro stop, but the closest one is the Longcao Road stop on line three. After getting off the metro, walk northeast along North Longshui Road, which turns into Longhua Road.

Mao Zedong’s former residence

This one’s a no-brainer. Any tour of Shanghai’s red sites must include homage to the place where Mao Zedong lived in the mid-1920s. As a sign makes clear, Mao’s life was highly revolutionary: “In his youth, Mao Zedong cherished a lofty revolutionary aspiration, actively seeking revolutionary truth and joined in the revolutionary practice.” The place features recreations of some of the rooms of the house, and upstairs is a little museum with, interestingly, a room devoted to Mao Anying, Mao Zedong’s son who died in the Korean War. It also includes some wonderful Chinglish, such as this caption for a photograph: “Mao Zedong gave a banquet to labor representatives and crackerjacks at technical innovation of Shanghai on March 19, 1960” (1960年3月19月，毛泽东在锦江饭店宴请上海的工人代表，技术革新能手).

Website: http://www.jingan.gov.cn:7001/tour/hisHouse/200610/t20061018_466042.htm

To get there: Mao’s former residence is located at 120 North Maoming Road, near the West Nanjing Road metro stop on line two.

Zhou Enlai’s former residence

Zhou Enlai was Mao’s right-hand man, and the highest-ranking official to survive the entirety of his rule. His former residence in Shanghai acted more as an office for the CCP around 1946 than as a house. It’s a beautiful place, and well worth a visit.

To get there: Zhou Enlai’s former residence is located at 73 Sinan Road, near Fuxing Park. The nearest metro stop is South Shaanxi Road on line one.

Site of the founding of the CCP

‘Nuff said. In the heart of Xintiandi, it’s easily accessible by tourists, meaning the curators were extra careful to make everything spotlessly whitewashed. A must see for red tourism, but five minutes is probably enough.

See this interesting article at the China Beat for information about the history of the building.

To get there: Head to Xintiandi, near the South Huangpi Road metro stop on line one, and follow the tour groups.

Liu Changsheng’s former residence

Liu Changsheng is a relatively minor figure in Chinese communist history. He was a leader of the underground communist movement in Shanghai from 1937 to the establishment of the People’s Republic, and was important in the formation of the Party’s labor policy in Shanghai. The small museum in his former residence focuses on underground communist activities in 1930s Shanghai, and provides a good example of how the government writes the history of this period—largely ignoring the considerable intellectual ferment of the times and emphasizing instead the central role of the Communist Party.

Website: http://www.jingan.gov.cn:7001/tour/hisHouse/200610/t20061018_466045.htm

To get there: Liu Changsheng’s former residence is located at 81 Yiyuan Road, close to the Jing’an Si metro stop on line two.

National Anthem Memorial Hall

The history of “March of the Volunteers,” the national anthem, is indeed pretty fascinating; unfortunately, this museum is too focused on making it a tribute to the Communist Party/Chinese nation. If you can get past this kind of language (“After 70 years of trial and hardship, ‘March of the Volunteers’ has become a part of the very blood of the Chinese people and the soul of the Chinese nation”), the place has a lot of interesting tidbits. For example, “March of the Volunteers” had a broad international following during World War II, including a rendition sung by the American singer Paul Robeson, and played a role in international anti-fascist sentiment. The museum leaves the nasty historical bits out, of course—no mention, for example, how Tian Han, the lyricist of the song, died in 1968 after being persecuted during the Cultural Revolution.

To get there: The National Anthem Memorial Hall is located by the Dalian Road metro stop on line four. Go out exit three; the museum is on the southeast corner of the intersection at Dalian Road and Changyang Road.

Sites appropriated into red history

The government has attempted to appropriate the figures associated with the sites below into the history of the Communist Party. In many cases that’s not far off the mark—Song Qingling, for example, certainly ingratiated herself with China’s new masters after 1949—but their lives are much more complicated than simple allegiance to the CCP.

Cai Yuanpei’s former residence: Cai Yuanpei had a prominent influence in the development of China’s educational system, and was a main figure in the May Fourth Movement. You can see his former residence inside Lane 303 on Huashan Road, across from the Hilton Hotel, near the Jing’an Si metro stop on line two.

Sun Yatsen’s former residence: Sun Yatsen is revered in both Taiwan and in mainland China. See the CCP’s version of his life at 7 Xiangshan Road, near Fuxing Park. The nearest metro stop is South Shaanxi Road on line one.

Song Qingling’s former residence: Song Qingling, the widow of Sun Yatsen, decided to stay in China after the communists won the civil war (in stark contrast to her sister). Her residence is a beautiful mansion with lots of interesting gifts from foreign dignitaries, and a backyard perfect for lawn parties. It’s located at 1843 Middle Huai’hai Road, not too far from the Hengshan Road metro stop on line one.

Lu Xun Park and former residence: Lu Xun, probably the most important cultural figure in 1920s and 1930s China, never joined the Communist Party, but he was close friends with lots of people who did, and supported many of its activities. The CCP regards him as an important figure in its history. In Lu Xun Park, by the Hongkou Stadium metro stop on line eight, you can see his tomb (with calligraphy by Mao Zedong) and visit a museum devoted to him. Near the park is his old residence, a charming place in a relatively out-of-the-way spot, where he lived at the end of his life. It’s located in Lane 132 on Shanyin Road, southeast of the park.

Duolun Road: Duolun Road is famous for being the site of the former residences of several well-known figures, such as Guo Moruo and Mao Dun, as well as the former headquarters of the League of Left-Wing Writers. Nowadays it’s touristy, but not too annoyingly so. It’s located just south of Lu Xun Park.

The Beijing Olympics in hindsight

Susan Brownell, a frequent commentator on the Beijing Olympics, has a useful article up on Japan Focus looking at the Olympics in East Asia perspective. I tried to do this in a more limited way last year; her article is much more comprehensive. This, I feel, is an especially interesting observation:

 

"Western observers tended to dismiss Beijing's Olympic education as just another nationalist propaganda campaign, but I believe they were missing the important point: true, one major goal was patriotic education – but as in Tokyo, the old nationalist symbols were re-shaped by association with symbols of internationalism, the global community, and world peace.  This is the paradox of the Olympic Games – they reinforce nationalism and internationalism at the same time.  Perhaps the national identity itself is not greatly changed, but it is an important shift in orientation if the holders of that identity start to see their nation as an equal partner among friendly nations instead of a victimized nation among hostile nations."

 

Worth a read.

---

Windows Live: Keep your friends up to date with what you do online. Find out more.

Learning about China, one region at a time...

In China, generalizations about foreigners are all too common. But why stop there? Below is a translation of a list of stereotypes about different provinces and municipalities that has been going around on the Internet (incomplete, though—several regions aren't listed, at least not in the copy I received). People in China love making jokes about other regions, but this list is a little different because it focuses on how people from various places are perceived to regard the rest of China; that is, generalizing about others' generalizations.

 

Beijing sees the rest of the country as grass-roots;

Shanghai sees the rest of the country as provincial;

Guangdong sees the rest of the country as poor;

Henan sees the rest of the country as naïve [because Henan is poor, and Henanese have a reputation for being tricky and adept at stealing];

Shandong sees the rest of the country as disloyal [because Shandong natives have a reputation for being forthright and loyal];

Jiangsu sees the rest of the country as undeveloped;

Zhejiang sees the rest of the country as waiting to develop;

Sichuan sees the rest of the country as lacking pretty girls [Sichuan is known for its spicy girls];

Shaanxi sees the rest of the country as without culture [because Shaanxi is thought of as the cradle of Chinese culture, which in turn is supposed to be many thousands of years old];

Xinjiang sees the rest of the country as too crowded;

Tibet sees the rest of the country as unreligious;

Shanxi sees the rest of the country as too elegant [because Shanxi natives have a reputation of being uncouth];

Liaoning sees the rest of the country as cowardly [because people from the northeast are seen as strong brave];

Yunnan sees the rest of the country as boring [Yunnan is a big tourist draw];

Ningxia sees the rest of the country as too busy [Ningxia has a reputation of being laid-back];

Inner Mongolia sees the rest of the country as lacking milk;

Hebei sees the rest of the country as in need of relocation [I believe this is because the Hebei government has a reputation of forcing residents to relocate to make room for big construction projects];

Hainan sees the rest of the country as too cold;

Qinghai sees the rest of the country as unable to hold its liquor.

北京看全国都是基层；
上海看全国都是乡下；
广东看全国都是穷人；
河南看全国都缺心眼；
山东看全国都不仗义；
江苏看全国都欠发达；
浙江看全国都待开发；
四川看全国都缺小姐；
陕西看全国都没文化；
新疆看全国都太拥挤；
西藏看全国都没信仰；
山西看全国都太文雅；
辽宁看全国都没胆子；
云南看全国都太单调；
宁夏看全国都太忙碌；
内蒙看全国都缺牛奶；
河北看全国都该拆迁;
海南看全国都太寒冷；
青海看全国都没酒量

---

Hotmail® is up to 70% faster. Now good news travels really fast. Try it now.

American democracy in China

An article written in Chinese by a Chinese-American describing her experience running for the state legislator in Virginia: State Department publicity promoting American diversity? Little-read blog quietly advocating for political change in China? Nope: Nanfeng Chuang, a Chinese magazine that can be found on every newsstand here in Shanghai and in other big Chinese cities.

In what is, in my view, yet another indication of the increasing range and openness of magazine reporting in China, the article lays out, in impressive detail, the steps necessary to run for statewide political office in the US. It's not written by a political scientist or a reporter but by a Chinese-American woman named Sasha Gong (Gong Xiaoxia 龚小夏), who gained the Republican nomination for state legislature in Virginia's 46^th district (her campaign site is here). She lays out her purpose in writing the article:

"Though there are many news reports [about American politics], Chinese people are still often confused when they view the American political process. Where do American candidates come from? How are political activities organized? What function does money play in American politics? How much of a voice do ordinary people have in the political process? How do political parties and social groups work together? In the following piece I hope to use my own experiences while running for office to give readers a new insight [into American politics]. (虽然有各种各样的报道，中国人看美国政治经常会有一种雾里看花的感觉。美国的政治候选人是如何产生的？竞选活动如何组织？金钱在美国政治中起什么样的作 用？普通人在政治中到底有多少发言权？政党和社会团体如何运作？在以下有限的篇幅里，我希望能够通过自己竞选的一点亲身感受来给读者提供一些新的信息。)

The article isn't analytical or editorializing in tone―it's a straightforward explanation of the process by which someone goes from thinking about running for office to actually doing it. Gong doesn't try to idealize American politics, at least not here. She gets at the nitty-gritty of how it works―getting support from the local party leadership and a myriad of groups, raising money, going from door to door getting signatures, the necessity of proving you're not a carpetbagger, the necessity of keeping an eye on your opponents to make sure they're doing everything right (so you can disqualify them from running if they're not), the importance for a party to control the state legislature for purposes such as redrawing district lines, etc., etc. This is not the stuff of a starry-eyed democratic idealist nor of a cynic fed up with it all; it's a direct explanation of the messiness of democracy in a country where the process has, paradoxically, become somewhat calcified yet still offers the possibility for sweeping change.

Gong, who became an American citizen in 2001, originally came to the country in 1987. She's the kind of immigrant who makes Americans feel warm and fuzzy inside: she wrote a book called Born American: A Chinese Woman's Dream of Liberty ("Here in the United States, she says, she can be both American and Chinese"). In her Chinese article she writes, "The United States is a country of immigrants. Immigrants have shown outstanding success in every part of America, with the exception of electoral politics, which have been more difficult." (美国是个移民国家，外国移民在各行各业都有非常出色的表现，唯独竞选政治是最困难的一项。) She also has somewhat of an activist background, putting up big character posters in the 1970s and later getting detained. In one interview with an American newspaper she said, "The communists never succeeded to shut me up and shut me off." Definitely prime election material.

None of that kind of stuff, of course, makes it into the Chinese article, but the fact that such a person is publishing in a widely read Chinese magazine is impressive enough.

Incidentally, thinking about her candidacy from the American perspective, it strikes me that people like Gong might be the future of the Republican party. In the article she writes, "I clearly indicated to the [Republican] Speaker of the House that when it came to social issues like gay rights, abortion rights, and gun restriction, I lean more towards the Democratic party. But I support the Republican party's stance on conservative fiscal policy, resisting limitless government power, and the guiding principle of 'big society, small government.'" (我对议长表示了参选的愿望，并明确指出我在社会政策――同性恋平权、妇女堕胎权、枪支管制――这类问题上更倾向于民主党的立场，但是我支持共和党保守的财政政策，反对政府权力和规模不断扩大，坚持"大社会、小政府"的方针。) Similarly, in the American interview mentioned above, she says, "I came from the worst kind of big government. I'm naturally very suspicious of any government that grows too big. And I think our federal government is growing too big. I also want people with faces like mine―minorities―to have more voices." Many immigrants, after all, are conservative in many ways; if the Republican party can break away from its image as a white party and focus less its social messages, I bet it could attract more and more people like Sasha Gong.

But enough political analyzing. I'll end with translations of a few Chinese comments about Gong's article from this blog. I tried in vain to find a comment critical of the article, though this is just a small sample.

"Not bad, it gives Chinese people an idea of how American democracy really works, and makes it clear to Chinese what it means when power genuinely comes from the people." (不错，让中国人真正地体会美国的民主是如何形成的，让中国人明白什么是真正的权力来自于人民的含义。)

"This is what a real democratic election looks like! It's not at all like our muddleheaded electorate! American party discipline is loose [i.e. decentralized], probably because the state treasury doesn't squander all the public money? Ha ha ha…" (这才是真正的民主选举！不像咱们稀里糊涂当选民！美国的党纪律松散，大约是由于没有国库银子供挥霍的缘故吧？哈哈哈……)

"Very focused and thorough" (很有针对性呀.很透彻)

"Very interesting. Your experience should be required reading for the whole country." (有意思。你的经历会成为全国人民学习的教材。)

"A country's strength does not reside in how big its financial resources are! It resides in how well off the people are and how lofty their spirit is! A democratic system is the most desirable one! I hope more people can be introduced to American political life. Thanks for your article!" (一个国家 的强大不是体现在国家有多少财力！而是体现在人民生活的富裕和精神世界的高尚！而民主制度又显现最要的作用！希望楼主以后多介绍在美国的政治生活。谢谢你的文章！)

"[Quote from the article:] 'Local political organization and activities are very independent. There may be some interaction [with the national party] at the surface, but this does not involve receiving orders from above.' This is very important!!!! In China the higher-level authorities give orders to the lower level, and the result is that the lower level is the slave of the higher level! The activities of officials are all for the benefit of the higher authorities. Not even a little bit is for the common people!" ("地方组织的活动都是独立的，上面一级的机构可以作点建议，但是却不能下命令" 这点非常重要啊!!!!
中国就是上级命令下级,所以导致下级都成了上级奴隶! 中国官员做事都是为了上级的脸色,没有几个是为老百姓办事的!)

"In fact, everyone knows that in this world there is no perfect system and there is no complete justice. What we need is to guarantee the [integrity and rules of the] system and be relatively fair. But at the moment these two necessities do not exist in China." (事实上人人都知道这世上没有完美的制度和绝对的公平，我们需要的是有保障的制度和相对的公平，但目前的中国这两样都没有)

---

Get free photo software from Windows Live Click here.

Race and espionage

I have a post up on the China Beat about race and espionage:

What’s interesting about Chinese espionage operations in the US, however, is that they appear to involve strong racial and nationalist overtones. The Soviet Union tended to appeal to ideology, or simply offer money or other types of benefits to its agents; China, it seems, is mainly going after overseas Chinese communities in its efforts to recruit spies.

While I'm at it, the Onion issue that parodies China -- which has gotten an unbelievable amount of attention -- includes an article that taps into this widespread notion of Chinese-Americans as potential spies. When the Onion features something, you know it's worth paying attention to.