CHINA TRIP Day 13: "Crossing the double yellow!"

Sunday, May 30

The taxi ride to the museum was my worst experience in a car. Our cab driver kept talking to us in Chinese despite us speaking in English and shaking our heads multiple times. This was our first cab ride in Taiyuan in broad daylight and so we were well aware of the traffic around us.

We witnessed multiple examples that could be used as evidence for the complete lack of concern for traffic laws, unless there weren’t actual traffic laws in China (that would explain a lot). At one point as our taxi was nearing the museum we had to take a turn and instead of putting on the turn signal and staying in our designated lane, the cab driver decides to pass the car in front of us by crossing the double-yellow line that divides two-way traffic. I remember actually being concerned for my safety and was watching the road to make sure there weren’t any cars headed for us. Our cab driver wasn’t bothered in the least and continued in the same lane until we reached the museum. None of us hesitated in hopping out of the car as fast as we could. Tim was literally crying when we got out of the car and we tried to laugh the experience off.

We went through the museum rather quickly. The museums were beginning to blur together for me; they all contained vast amounts of articles and contained so much history that it was getting overwhelming. The museum had a variety of exhibits, but they were all kind of reminiscent of the National History Museum we visited while in Taipei, which brought back the discussions we had about the authenticity of some of these articles. In the museum we visited in Taipei, even though some of the articles on display were priceless given their age and historical significance, they weren’t necessarily original pieces. It left me thinking about the irony of the situation. A museum was supposed to house these historical, treasured pieces and while it technically did, the pieces also technically weren’t very historical since some of them were copies. With the amount of history China has though, I’d be surprised with any number of original artifacts.

When we got back to the hotel we saw balloons and a slew of people walking in. Apparently there were two wedding receptions happening at the same time in the hotel. Our hotel wasn’t as big a venue as many of the standard hotels in the US, so I was a little surprised that they would book two receptions at the same time. Especially since both parties were outside on either side of the doorway greeting their guests. I don’t know how many people in the US at least would want to share that kind of event with another group. The dresses of the brides were pink and red and I was confused as to why they didn’t wear white. I knew red was considered a lucky color in Chinese culture but if they didn’t have a Western white wedding, I would have expected them to be dressed in more traditional attire. However, Professor Noble explained that Western-style weddings were a rare occurrence in China; most couples just register on their own and then host a reception. I wasn’t sure what to make of that because I know that even in Korea, Western-style weddings are common.

I loved the experience and looking back I could really appreciate how lucky we are in the US. On our way back to Beijing several of the other students and I talked about our lunches with the villagers and while to us it seemed as though their living conditions were sub-standard, we realized that it was our modern, Western perspective passing judgment. If this lifestyle was all that these villagers knew, then they didn't consider it sub-standard at all. And they seemed genuinely happy. I won't forget our host's smiles and encouragement to continue eating during our lunch.

I had been keeping count of the people who assume I’m Chinese and just come up to me and begin talking but hadn’t been logging them down daily. My tally so far is 36.