The Air in China
Posted: August 7th, 2008 | Filed under: International | 42 Comments »
So, here’s what happened: We went to Tiananmen Square. We took a cab there, a winding 40-minute drive with plenty of fun near-death experiences, a thrill-ride that cost us 34 yuan, or five bucks, or roughly one-sixth of what it normally will cost you to take a cab from the terminal at the Denver Airport to the exit of the Denver Airport. We had to go through a security line to get through to the Square, a line that offered an interesting look at Chinese culture: If Tiananmen is any indication, people here do not seem to respect the integrity of lines*. It’s odd because in so many ways this seems like an ordered and disciplined nation, a country of rules. And yet the law of the land seems to be: Praise to the aggressor who ignores the line and goes hard to the basket.
*I have a new theory based on my traveling that we Americans — and I think this probably goes against conventional thinking — are actually among the most respectful people in the world when it comes to the concept of lines. I say this fully admitting that I have not waited in lines in Russia — and from what I remember seeing in black and white footage growing up, the Russians are champion line waiters. Still, based on my own experience, lines are mere suggestions in Europe, they are scrums in the Middle East, they are tests of will in Latin America. It’s funny, but I think there is something that makes us fundamentally angry in the United States when we see people cut in line — and this includes people in cars who rush down the construction lane and and try to cut you off at the blinking arrow.
Margo and I were in Las Vegas a few weeks ago, and we were waiting in a line for a cab at the Wynn when these two young women wearing short black cocktail dresses (not that I noticed) kind of snaked there way through the line and casually tried to jump ahead. They clearly believed that their looks exempted them from the line-waiting process, and I imagine it probably had in the past. This time, however, they made the tactical error of cutting in front of this very loud and determined woman from New York. She promptly called over a security guard who escorted the women to the back of the line, where they belonged, and here was the exchange.
Security guard: “Excuse me. This is a line for a cab. People have been waiting a long time. You will have to come back here with me.”
Woman in cocktail dress: “Oh, this is a line? I didn’t reali …”
New York woman: “Oh yeah, I know honey, you just figured all these people had been standing here for fun.”
Woman in cocktail dress: “No, I just …”
New York woman: “Yes, I know, it’s very confusing, I know, all these people just standing there, ha ha, get your ass to the back of the line.”
Woman in cocktail dress: “Well, that was uncalled …”
New York woman: “Next time you’ll know not to cut in front of a New Yorker.”
ANYWAY, we made it through security and went to Tiananmen Square, walked into the Forbidden City, were offered countless opportunities to buy crumpled postcards, and then I saw something that I have never seen and, I suspect, nobody else has ever seen in the long history of China. I saw my buddy Vac stand in front of the 600-year-old Tiananmen Gate and record a video log about Brett Favre getting traded to the New York Jets. I suspect that no one did this during the Ming Dynasty. The best part of this scene was that after a little while many Chinese people gathered around Vac, and watched his commentary with curiosity and confusion, it was quite the scene, and while my Chinese is a bit rusty I’m almost certain that I heard a few people, while walking away, say to each other in what I believe was the Northeastern dialect of Mandarin: “This man’s crazy, Favre is going to be an absolute disaster in New York, he has nothing left. His New York experience will be quite a circus. Does this man not remember Joe Namath with the Rams?”
After a while, we headed back in separate cabs to our work — Vac and the video-log cameraman in one cab, me and the venerable Detroit columnist Michael Rosenberg in another. Vac’s cabbie, apparently, found his way back to the Main Press Center, where we are based. Our cabbie, I can tell you, did not. I think we knew we were in trouble when the cabbie pulled over to the side of the road and started yelling in Chinese at a woman. She yelled back. He yelled back. And then the woman looked at us in the back of the cab and gave us the most sincere “Oh man, you two are totally screwed” smile I have ever seen. A few minutes later the Cabbie stopped at some place, turned off the meter, turned around and gave a thumbs up sign that seemed to indicate, “OK, you two get out now.”
We looked around and using that keen geographical sense we had honed in about 36 hours of jet-lagged Chinese awareness, thought, “OK, this kind of looks familiar.” We would find that it was not, in fact, familiar. We would find, in time, that we were several miles from our destination point. We would find that Chinese soldiers protecting the Olympic circle are not necessarily willing to let you through gates. We would find several very helpful people who, unsurprisingly, did not help at all.
Two things stood out during that long walk. One happened while we were waiting as an especially helpful-but-not-helping young woman tried to talk a guard into letting us walk through a gate, a shortcut that would have cut roughly a mile off our walk. The guard was having no part of it even though Rosey and I were practically puddles of mush at this point and his gate did not appear to be an especially important strategic entry point. I couldn’t blame him, though; I’m sure he had been told that he was to not let anyone through his gate and based on where his gate was, he probably would not get another chance to turn people away. The thing I remember though is that while we waited, we noticed a few people in a nearby parking lot — there was a old married couple, a mother and her daughter, a couple of kids. They were just talking , looking out over the horizon. And then, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, they started playing what appeared to be entirely impromptu and informal badminton matches. Apparently, this is what happens in China — badminton will just break out. I had not seen spontaneous badminton since, I guess, a backyard birthday party when I was like 9. It was quite the thing.
The second thing was the haze. It was all around us, closing in, not unlike the dry ice fog you see at rock concerts. There has been a lot of talk about the poor air quality here in China, and it’s very real. You probably heard that four U.S. cyclers caused a bit of a stir here when they walked off their planes wearing masks, like they were about to go into surgery. It was a goofy and disrespectful thing to do — hey, if you want to wear a mask here, knock yourself out, but if you’re representing your nation in a foreign land you probably don’t WALK OFF THE PLANE with a mask like you just landed in the middle of a nuclear accident. Still, the smog here is thick, and it’s palpable, and it’s everywhere — the sky is bright white, buildings maybe four or five football fields away are shrouded in what looks like a gray mist.
We walked and walked and walked through the smog, occasionally stopping to get turned around by another soldier. And we both thought that this might not be too healthy, two out of shape sportswriters walking several miles in Chinese smog. I have a touch of asthma as well, which only adds to the joy. … We finally made it back. My feet hurt, and my back ached, and I was sweating like the old Martin Short lawyer from Saturday Night Live*.
*”I knew that. I can’t believe you think I didn’t know that. I knew that.”
But, I was breathing fine. In fact, knock on wood, I’ve been breathing fine ever since I got here. So far. I know it’s a long Olympics. Anyway, here is the odd part: After the walk I had this overwhelming feeling that everything here seems oddly familiar. It’s weird because nothing at all is familiar — not the food, not the language, not the customs, not the hardness of of my bed, which is apparently used as a bowling lane in non-Olympic years. Still … that’s what I was thinking while we walked. I had no idea where we were or where we were going or how we we were going to get there, but something about it felt like home. It took me a long walk to figure it out, but finally I did. I’d seen that white sky before, many times. I grew up under that sky. In a weird way, I loved that sky. I grew up in Cleveland.
Loading ...
Nathan Thurm!
Have fun in China Joe. Don’t catch anything penecillin can’t cure.
I didn’t grow up there, I’ve heard plenty of good things about the place, and I’m too young to remember real smog even in an industrial city like Baltimore, but I have to figure the Chinese won’t find anything good in getting compared to Cleveland.
(Like I said, I’m a Baltimore boy, so I don’t have room to talk any wider then legroom on a flight in coach.)
Just wait Joe, the smog will get to you. I spent about 10 days there a few years ago. After 3 days or so your throte will get sore and then you will start coughing a little, then a lot. It happened to everybody I was with. There were times when a few trucks would go by at the same time and the diesel fumes would make it impossible to breath. Good luck.
P.S. MAKE SURE YOU WEAR YOUR SEATBELT! Driving in China is insane. I don’t think we drove anywhere without seeing an accident.
*Throat*
I went to China last year. I learned that the Chinese don’t understand “lines” before I even got off the plane. An elderly woman nearly knocked me over to get in front of me when the plane was unloading.
The Chinese government actually tried to teach its citizens how to wait in line so as not to miff tourists. It looks like that initiative didn’t work so well. For entertainment, go to a crowded McDonalds and watch the lines.
Similarly, lanes of traffic are mere suggestions, as are stop signs, stop lights, and pretty much any other traffic signals.
Joe–
There’s a good story about how Americans love waiting in lines (and following rules for the sake of following them) in a book by Bill Bryson called, “I’m a Stranger Here, Myself.” I was re-reading it the other night and realized that your writing on this blog is eerily similar to Bryson’s style. You might want to check it out when you get home.
The line thing really got to me when I was China. Strangely, some people there do seem to recognize that line-cutting is frowned upon, so they developed the following technique:
1) Wander to the front of the line
2) Stand on tiptoes, peer around as if you are trying to read an important sign, or understand what the line is for, until…
3) A cashier / teller / etc. opens up — snag the spot!
Glad to see you’re getting by out there. We greatly appreciate Margo posting these updates on our behalf.
For what it’s worth, the British LOVE to queue.
Amazing…here in Japan, the line-waiting techniques are remarkable. People will wait 12-hours in line silently, with bathroom and food breaks, and no one will steal their spot…
I was a young columnist when I started that walk and “venerable” when I finished.
It’s worth getting up at 6 AM to go to a park and see it filled with people of all ages, but especially older ones, doing tai chi, yoga, swordfighting, and…get this…ballroom dancing. At 6 AM!
Also, be sure to try the fried crickets and barbecued scorpions. Mmmmm…
Is it me or is it him? It’s him, isn’t it?
It’s the wrong time to be in China. Raul is on one of the really great hot streaks, even for him. For the moment, he remembers how to do it. Look for your pitch and DON’T SWING at anything else. He has 17 RBI in his last 6 games. He’ll doubtless forget again, but it’s a fine time to be a Raul fan.
Not to get all philosophical, but the line waiting thing illustrates why the US has the greatest economy in the world. Economists say rule of law and property rights are ultimately the most important factors in economic development. But rule of law isn’t just the government enforcing laws, because the government can’t be everywhere all the time..
Instead, you need your citizens to have an innate willingness to generally follow rules and even enforce them themselves absent the presence of government authority. For all our flaws, Americans get this, and that’s what makes our economy work so fluidly compared to other nations.
USA! USA!
Sorry, got a little too worked up there about the American sense of fairness.
From my (somewhat) extensive travelling experience, I concur that line waiting seems to be unique to the US and Canada. Wasn’t aware of Japan but that certainly makes sense.
Someone should – if it hasn’t been done already – write about the history of line waiting. Why is this only unique to a small number of countries/places?
I was in the San Francisco airport a few years ago, waiting to go to the Philippines for a family reunion. The person at the gate explained the whole “boarding by zones” format and repeated “Please WAIT for your zone # to be called.” He then said “Zone 1″ and it resembled that commercial where everyone from the stands runs onto the tennis court to try and hit tennis balls.
a fried of mine taught english for a year in shanghai, and he related a story to me in which a child of about 7 just squatted in the middle of the road and defecated. i pray you dont see anything like that.
Don’t get tossed into a red prison for saying anything too liberal.
There was a funny article about the “lines” to get tickets for the Olympics. Apparently, people waited for days, only to have the lines break down and it became a scrum. They interviewed a couple fo people, one feeling quite fortunate that the lines collapsed. The other, who waited a while, didn’t seem to pleased.
If you ever cross the border from South Africa to Mozambique, there are signs all over the immigration building that inform all comers, “Respect the queue.” It’s a fun little saying to shout out from time to time.
The oddest trend to emerge in New York in the last few years is the tendency of theatergoers to line up outside the theater 30-60 minutes before the doors open.
You already have your ticket and all the seats are assigned. What are you standing in line for?
KJ — Speaking as an American (a New Yorker, in fact) and as an economist by education, you are absolutely correct. I may be imagining this, but it seems to me that as the economy has deteriorated in the past years, so has the wilingness of people to wait in lines. Not sure which is the chicken and which the egg here, but there does seem to be a correlation.
Mikey — Speaking as a New Yorker who works in Times Square, I blame it on the tourists. And you’re right, it is utterly ridiculous, not to mention pointless. You will sit in the same seat, and the curtain will go up at the same time, regardless of how long you stand outside blocking the sidewalks, often blocking the streets as well.
I think it’s an unintended consequence of the Disney-fication of Times Square. The tourists all think they are getting in line for Space Mountain or something. Just another depressing thing to think about when I try to go out and get lunch on a Wednesday afternoon (matinee day) here in the location formerly known as Times Square, now converted to NewYorkCityLandâ„¢.
[...] Joe Posnanski likens the air in Beijing to the air in Cleveland. I guess that I can see that. [...]
I was in China (and Beijing) last christmas, and despite 3 weeks there, i never noticed the line thing. (I was there during low season so there weren’t a lot of places where lines are to be found.)
I have to admit to being a bit irked at some of the sentiments here that seem to regard China as a 2rd world country or something. While the economic disparity is huge between rural and urban areas, as cities go, Beijing is at least if not more modern than any american city. Everyone uses cell phones.. and I mean EVERYONE.
As for censorship and totalitarianism.. yes it is there, but the Chinese have perfected the art of subtlety. I had to adjust my thinking when i went to a bookstore (the one in central area in Beijing) and found copies of 1984, and Animal Farm).
And trying to tie “line-waiting” with rule of law is a silly exercise. China has one of the fastest, and largest economies in the world.. and Joe already pointed out that the phenomenon is also in Europe.. so yeah… out patriotic tendencies should probably NOT follow our line waiting abilities.
Joe, go the Temple of Heavenly Peace on a sunday, you’ll find people engaged in all sorts of activities from card playing, traditional music, dancing ceremonies, etc etc.
@Noel (and others): Don’t be so hasty, especially when it comes to airport lines. I don’t have a lot of international travelling experience, but the more I’ve flown recently (domestic), the more I’ve seen a breakdown in the “line rules.” My personality is one that loves and cherishes rules and lines because fairness is important to me. E.g., if everyone followed the speed limit in the same way, we would all move faster. But the airport is the worst place to demonstrate American’s willingness to spend time in lines. Overall, the respect of the line seems to be breaking down. (and wouldn’t that be interesting if something like that was correlated to the economy)
Oh, I would also HIGHLY recommend the subway system in Beijing. It moves at an incredible pace, and even though the station and people constantly seem packed, that’s all right as trains move in and out every 2-3 minutes. (And this reminded me that people waited very patiently in those lines for subway cars.).
The train is pretty extensive to most parts of Beijing and you don’t have to deal with taxis and getting ripped off.
COMPLETELY UNRELATED TO ANYTHING:
Just wanted to let everybody know that I was listening to a certain human/bovine Shock Jock this morning and Anthony Bourdain from the excitingly entertaining “No Reservations” on The Travel Channel listed his favorite BBQ in the world as none other than the Burnt Ends at Oklahoma Joe’s. I think that settles it.
In Soviet (and post-Soviet) Russia, lines wait on you. When I visited Russia, I realized that waiting in line is an art unto itself. The wait — and not the goal of whatever you’re waiting for — is the experience.
I waited in a long line to see the Amber Room at Catherine’s Palace. The line barely moved all morning. Our guide explained that they only sell tickets at two times — I don’t remember, but say, 11:00am and 1:00pm. They sell a certian number of tickets, then close shop. Fair enough… if not for the fact that tour guides, because they represent large numbers of people, get to go straight to the head of the line. So the ticket booth opens, sell tickets to the guides, run out of tickets, and close shop. If you aren’t represented by a tour group, no ticket for you today, sorry. Try again tomorrow. Here’s the amazing thing: as we talked to people in line, that’s exactly what they’d do — one couple was there for the third consecutive day, waiting all day (and failing) to see the Amber Room.
We never did see it, except in pictures.
@Jeff:
They don’t just defecate in the streets in China. A friend of mine saw a bum taking a dump on the sidewalk on 3rd Ave in NYC. I wasn’t there, but he told me about it minutes later, as he was on his way to meet me (and some other people) at a bar in the area. And this wasn’t back in the 70s, either – it was in 2005. And it was at like 9PM on a Friday night.
‘Course, that ain’t normal, but still, it’s pretty funny. I’m glad I didn’t have to see it, though.
Linus,
The patriotic comments were meant to be humorous. And I wouldn’t say the relationship between line waiting and rule of law is “silly.” If you can’t respect someone right to be at the front of the line, how do you respect their right to own property or collect on a bill?
China’s economy is growing rapidly, but that’s because they were starting from almost nothing. How secure do you think a small business person feels about his property rights in China compared to in the U.S?
I’ll grant that Europe may be a glitch in my theory–although Europe’s economy isn’t nearly as dynamic as the U.S.’s in terms of entrepreneurship.
OK. Way too much philosophy/economics for a sports blog, eh?
I adopted my daughter from China in 2006 and experienced the line phenomenon first hand. On the first day, we were at the train sation in Hong Kong twenty minutes early and first in line (we thought). Boarding time came around and we were stampeded and were the last people on. This repeated just about everywhere we went. One major exception was at the bank. People stood in line forever. There were military gaurds at every bank and every few minutes a ‘VIP’ would walk in and immediately be put first in line. We Americans and the regular Chinese folk stood in the same spot forever waiting to get to the teller. Unless you really need to exchange money while you are there, avoid the bank. Most hotels will have someone at the front desk who can exchange money for you.
If theres one thing we love to do in Britain* it’s queue. I’m guessing that America has adopted that sensibility from us. If I has to make a list of things that were quintessentially English, Id have queuing right up there near the top of the list.
*I personally really hate referring to myself as British. I’m English** and proud but it just seems that the rest of the world can’t handle England, Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland as separate entities so we just get called British.
**On another note, technically I am British and not English. Our passports all say British (which I’m not keen on).
Hey Dan,
I completely agree with you — Bryson and Joe have a similarly, great “everyman” persona. Love them both.
The key phrase in the line controversy is “get to the back of the line just like everybody else.” It’s not property rights, it’s social equality.
The bank story is a good example. In America, you could have a separate first class line and nobody will complain — airlines do it all the time. People pay extra to be in that line. But you can’t walk a first class customer up to the front of an existing line.
Joe,
I just wanted to know why Bill didn’t invite you to eat penis with him? I thought you guys were friends.
After having lived in Beijing last year, I need to tell you that the only plush beds in the entire country are those at the highest quality hotels catering to western businessmen. Everywhere else you’re more or less sleeping on a plank.
The smog was the most incredible thing about working in Beijing- once in a while it would rain and the sun would come out, and i’d be squinting and wondering where all the extra light came from. When I lived there there was talk about reducing the number of cars on the road and halting construction projects to reduce the worst of the particulate matter, but my ex-pat friends tell me that didn’t happen.
Btw- The beijinger accent is terrible. If you have a lonely planet book or a translator you should be fine for sightseeing but if you have a more traditional guidebook the words will not be pronounced by locals as they are in the book. To be safe, toss a spare “r” onto the end of every word. Think of it as the Reverse Bostonian.
“That was right around the time I invented standing in line.”
“You invented standing in line?”
“Yes, before that everybody just gathered around. It was all a big mess, so I said, ‘Why don’t we just make a line?’ ”
“Oh yeah, what was the line for?
“To get in.”
As as right now Maddux and Pedro are in a dead heat. Shades of the Costner/Cruise battle.
Personally, the most enjoyable line-waiting experience i’ve ever had was at in the “Queue” at Wimbledon. A beautiful scene, respectful people, and incredibly well-organized by all involved. All i could think about was that if that was in the United States it would devolve into an angry stampede rather quickly.
It is simple. In American, GB, Japan and some other countries (I am guessing Australia, Canada, South Africa, hmm, what do they all have in common), the first thing, I mean, the very first thing we teach our children in school is to stand in line quietly and respectfully. If you do, you get rewarded, if you don’t you get punished. It doesn’t take Pavlov to figure out why those children grow up to be line respectors as adults.
Humma -
The Amber Room was over-rated -Just too gaudy.
Joe -
I lived in Russia for two years. The queuing thing is touch and go. Historically, the Russians have been good line-waiters (they had to be – “No – This is line for ‘No Fish’, the line for ‘No Meat’ is across the street”. But today, it’s a very different story.
It’s strange, but there are some places where people are totally orderly and others where it’s complete chaos.
Getting into a football stadium, driving in traffic, getting on the subway – complete every man for himself (you feel happy getting felt up by the security guards at the football stadium, b/c you’ve been released by the mob) If no one is coming in the other direction, feel free to drive on the other side of the road.
But at stores and tourist sites, it’s a different story. Maybe it has to do with the Babushka’s barking out orders to toe the line, but the crowds are docile and orderly.