It was a music-filled weekend.. I found some more shows to go to. The nice thing about shows in China is that it's expected that the bands share the drumkit, so that takes away most of the set up and break down time. Carsick Cars and Snapline came down from Beijing to play so I interviewed them both, plus Muscle Snog, a local noise band. Carsick Cars was set to open for Sonic Youth in Beijing in April but were pulled from the bill by the government at the last minute so didn't get to play. Sonic Youth is taking them on a small European tour at the end of the month, which is an excellent consolation prize because it is so hard to get out of the country. CC is in the same spirit as SY and the Velvet Underground.. they actually closed with "All Tomorrow's Parties," sung in a Chinese accent. About half of CC's songs are in English, the other half are in Chinese. Snapline is a step back in time to 1970s RISD... they sound and move just like the Talking Heads! Awesome.
The thing about young men I meet here is that they almost always have some "crappy" low-paying for US, mid-paying for China, job but have a graduate degree in nuclear physics or mathematics or astrophysics or some other super smart thing I don't even know the name of. This is the case for Snapline's singer, who moves like Mick Jagger bred with Brian Eno but has the brain of Albert Einstein's son.
Speaking of men, I got asked out on a date just walking down the street by a Nigerian who is here studying Mandarin. When he told me where he was from, the very first thing I thought of was that he probably wanted me to send $1000 to receive up to $1 million in return (ye olde Nigerian internet business scam)... I couldn't help it. Bad.
Carsick Cars at 4Live Bar
Muscle Snog at 4Live Bar
Saturday day, Snapline and Carsick Cars were doing an in-store at some sort of artsy T-shirt co-op type shop, so I went to that, as well. It seems to only rain here on the weekend, and only when I'm trying to go somewhere new so that I'm bound to get lost and unable to pull out the map without making it a huge production of finding an awning and setting down the umbrella and wringing out my invariably-soaking-wet-dress-despite-the-beautiful-umbrella. I interviewed both of the bands at this show because I couldn't find them after the one at the bar. This one was pretty good because they all spoke English well but it's a little hard to interview 8 people at once, plus I don't have much interview experience, so I'm afraid some of the band members left feeling neglected and I came off as super nervously giggly.
Snapline at ENO
Saturday night, I went to see Boojii, the other band of one of the members of Muscle Snog. They were playing at a really chill Red Fez-like place. [Red Fez is a restaurant/bar in Providence that has red lighting and monkey fez and serves only dishes involving cheese]. The good part was the venue, the bad part was the fact that the DJ would play for an hour in between bands. The first DJ was ok and played the Supremes but the second one played 80s Chinese pop. I got there at 10:30 but Boojii wasn't on until 12 so I wandered down the street and found a park where I solidified my reputation as Creepy Foreigner being that I was the only one there who wasn't part of a young couple Almost Making Out on the benches or rocks by the water, nor was I a middle aged man sitting with other middle aged men. I sat on the rocks by a beautiful pond for a long time, then walked through the woods a little bit and again appreciated how much safer the streets (and woods) are in China. A man came up behind me, then swerved his head to continue staring as he passed so I said, "Nihao." Usually this is enough to make them embarrassed and look away but this guy was enthralled and started babbling really fast in Chinese. I said, "Ah, no, sorry I don't speak Chinese," so he started drawing characters on the palm of his hand-- this somehow makes it clearer when you don't know what a word means if you know even a little bit of Chinese. There must be some sort of methodology to the character system to make this help but I have no clue what it is. I went back to the bar where a sign had appeared on the door that said, "Surprise Guest: BANANA MONKEYS" -- local band very much sounding like a mix between the Strokes and Interpol. Didn't end up staying for Boojii because I couldn't take the 80s pop anymore and it was so smoky that my eyes were stinging.
Banana Monkeys
On Sunday, I went to the propaganda poster art museum. It features the propaganda posters produced by the Communist Party from 1949 to 1979 in a large room in the basement of an apartment building. It's a bit difficult to find but really no secret because it's in all the guide books. It was very interesting to read the translations of what the posters said. They were very anti-American, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, and pro-spread of Communism. Many of the slogans were supportive of the Viet Cong, the Cuban Revolution, Korean communism, communism in Africa and the Soviets. The posters refer to Americans as imperialists and featured strong-looking Chinese ("When the Army and the People join together, they are unstoppable") rooting out hidden Kuomintang and Americans. The Americans were always portrayed much like the Japanese were portrayed in World War II-era America propaganda posters-- green-tinged, small, sickly and evil looking.
Unfailingly, the posters revered Chairman Mao. Even the explanatory signs did not fault him aside from referring to the "mistake of the Culture Revolution." I don't know much about Mao but I understand a little better after having read the Madame Chiang Kai-shek book and visited the museum. It's clear to me that most of the people here don't care much for politics, perhaps even less so than in the US-- it's just not something that effects them. Based on the little I know, I don't think Mao was an evil man... he wanted the best for the people but as they say, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." There were also two posters that supported the black rights movement and anti-Vietnam War demonstrations in America-- I think not for any true ideological reasons but just because anything to upset American society was valued. "Firmly support US black people's justice struggle" and "Firmly support US people against US imperialism invading Vietnam," both from 1966. The only visitors to the museum were white, no Chinese.
The majority of China's population is not too interested in the Olympics. They see it as something for people with money and not for them, like much of what is advertised and on the news in China. They don't believe it will bring any benefits for them. Maggie thinks it's bad for China to have the Olympics, she feels they are not ready as a society, cost is too great and it will make China look bad. On CCTV9 yesterday, they said that China will be fully industrialized by 2010 but I feel this is a load of crap.. the cities will be but the countryside is still very different from the cities, especially economically. Read some more about it... The writing's a bit trite but whatever, it's ESPN. The pollution was really bad in Shanghai over the weekend. The new flat is on the 14th floor, so we were right in the midst of it. Beijing is taking 1.3 million cars off the road for a few days this week to see what will happen to the air quality, testing for next year.
Part cloud, part smog
I've mentioned before how Taiwan is a sensitive issue here. I also want to say that if Taiwan seems like a sensitive issue, then Tibet is something NOT TO BE DISCUSSED. The only time Tibet has been on the news has been to show people looking really happy and celebrating Tibetan-style. Culture is ok, politics is not. Four Canadians were deported last week for protesting China's claim over Tibet, IN TIBET. This didn't make the news here, I found out on the internet.
This is what I had for dinner on Saturday. Kimuchi & seaweed vegetable noodles at Ajisen Ramen (Shanghai Chinese/Japanese mix chain). Good but a bit spicy for my tastes. Chopsticks are used with everything, I don't consider using a fork, even at home.. the trip is an exercise in different eating styles because here is all chopsticks and in Ghana it is impolite to use your left hand to eat ("left hand reserved for toilet" says the lore). I'm left-handed...
Last night, I sat on the communal sitting area for our building (right by the river). I listened to Marissa Nadler and Hank Williams and Auto de Fa and Mattie May Thomas and watched the trash float by. About twice an hour, I would hear the splash of something else being thrown in from the other side. Very polluted river; I think it's a tributary of the Huangpi, the main river cutting Shanghai in half. I was out there so long that the tide went back out, so I saw the same trash going the other way, then three barges and a tugboat went by. I sit on the wall, usually until the guards come and make hand motions mimicking me falling into the river which translates as, "Get the hell off the wall, you crazy laowei [foreigner]!" Actually, they are very nice.
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