There hasn't been much excitement here in China since Dad and Janie left so I haven't felt the need to post a blog. However, I know my Mom and Dad are dying to read something written by me so I felt the need to come up with something relevant to my time in China but also interesting enough to post on here since they aren't the only ones who read it.
I'll begin with an update on life. It has been getting much warmer lately in Beijing. Yesterday it was about 70 outside and I even went and laid in the university park to get some sun while reading. The forecast for the next 5 days looks similar. Surprisingly, there has also been very little pollution, the sky is beautiful and I'm trying to take all this in before it's too late and the sand storms begin. Last week I had exams, and while I haven't heard about the grades quite yet, I felt like I did pretty well. Other than that, I've just been relaxing and doing a lot of reading. I've started a new blog actually http://realistguidetolife.blogspot.com/ . You'll notice I haven't posted anything on it yet because I haven't really decided what I want it to be. I think it will just be a compilation of interesting news articles and my thoughts on them as I like to think millions of people might actually care what I have to say!
Anyway, moving on to some more interesting information. I'd like to start by discussing something that surely all of you have heard about but the details of which most people are unclear. The One-Child Policy. It's still very much alive in China and the repercussions are only now beginning to be noticed by the government as they attempt to scale it back as much as possible. Currently, the One-Child Policy only applies (on the books) to individuals who are Han Chinese and are not only children. If you are a minority ethnicity in China you are allowed to have more than one child but usually not more than two depending on your locale. If you and your wife are both only children, you are allowed to have two children and if you live in a village you are allowed to have two children and a third if the first two are girls. This is a very basic breakdown and it is much different in different parts of the country. Why am I telling you about this? Because I've been asking a lot of people in Beijing their thoughts on the One-Child Policy just to get a feel for the trend. Surprisingly, about 50% of the people I talk to are totally in support of the One-Child Policy. I often hear responses such as "I know people should be able to decide how many children they have but we have too many people in China and there is no other way." This might be the propaganda speaking or maybe the day-by-day misery of sitting in traffic for hours.
However, there is also a huge amount of people that object to the policy on the grounds of freedom. I learned from a friend last week that Beijing University professors, even if they meet the requirements to have two children, are threatened with losing their job if they give birth to a second child. While stories of this are common, to actually know these professors and hear it from their mouths makes it so much more real. There have been stories of female professors or even employees working for the university being given ultimatums of having an abortion or keeping their job. I think this is really hard for most of us to fathom given that we live in America and this is probably unheard of or if it isn't that's because you've seen someone taken to court for it.
The One-Child Policy is a very difficult subject to talk about in China. The Country certainly has a population problem that they need to focus on. As more and more people are learning, the One-Child Policy is only leading to what might become larger problems in the long run. Currently, China has a surplus of 30 million men that will never have a chance to start a family. It's hard to believe but it's even more terrifying to think how those men might start to behave as they get older and are spurned from society because they can't find a wife.
The second thing I want to talk about is something that should be discussed now that Dad and Janie are done eating Chinese food for a while. It's called 地沟油 (di gou you) in Chinese and it literally means "sewage oil." That sounds pretty disgusting, but just take a look at the pictures in this news article written by a Chinese person and translated into English. Oh, and in case you want more reliable sources, check out this one from the New York Times.
Basically, 地沟油 is used cooking oil that is thrown down a drain of a large (usually more upscale) restaurant. As it slowly travels down the sewage system, some lovely entrepreneurs open the man hole and retrieve the used oil as it settles on top and usually gets stuck in their collecting devices. Once this SEWAGE is collected in large blue bins, it is then taken to one of two places, a large factory (if you're lucky) where it is sorted and "recycled" or to someone's backyard where they filter it themselves. The worst part about this whole story is that the restaurants SELL the rights to their sewage to whoever bids the highest price for it. They are participating in this black market horror. This might be something that is easy to shrug off as a lie if it wasn't for one very important and horrifying proof that this really goes on around me. Every week, as I leave my hotel room to head for class, several times I will see a little white van parked behind the restaurant with an old man and an old woman and huge blue bins in the back of their car. I first shrugged it off as someone possibly cleaning the sewage. Then I heard about 地沟油. They certainly have long spoon-shaped devices and large buckets to collect the 地沟油 that leaves MY HOTEL! I promise, the next time I see them, I will provide picture evidence.
From the people I've talked to about it, everyone in China uses 地沟油 if the prices are low. This terrified me, given that I tend to eat food that costs less than 40 cents a meal. Street food? You bet. 地沟油 might just be the primary ingredient. Low estimates say that 10% of the oil used in China is 地沟油. My guess is that it's more along the lines of 50% considering that I've found very few places that serve expensive food and that the people I've talked to simply shrug off 地沟油 and explain that it's fine to eat. This leaves me with one of two options as I have about two months left in this country. The first--start eating at expensive upscale restaurants in Beijing that might take me an hour to get to by taxi. The second--lay back and enjoy my 地沟油 filled street foods and hope to God that if it's safe enough for the Chinese, it's safe enough for me.
Checking out, 地沟油 street food is calling my name. Sorry for the long blog!
Michael
For the Chinese aficionado check out this Chinese Wikipedia-like site to learn more about 地沟油. Unfortunately, our very own wikipedia doesn't seem to have an article on it.
UPDATE:
After sniping this poor picture (I'll work on getting better ones) I asked the people who work in the lobby of our dorm why the same couple came every other day and opened the sewage drain. I asked if they were coming to collect 地沟油 so they can sell it to other people on the street and the answer was straightforward and surprising, he said "Yes, that's what they are doing. That's the way China is." Anyhow, for the time being, please enjoy the disgusting picture.
Let me explain what is going on here. Directly in front of the van is the kitchen for our upscale hotel restaurant. This man and his wife come every other day to collect the sewage that runs off from the kitchen. The "ladle" resting on the van is used to sift through the food that is floating in order to collect only the finest quality cooking oil. The blue bins in the back of his van are filled to the brim with used oil that we can be sure is not properly cleansed before being resold on the street. Next time someone tells you that food you're eating from Panda Express isn't "Chinese" enough, look them dead in the eyes and say, "Thank God it isn't!"
