Unkie Herb

In August of last year, I traveled from Taipei to Shanghai to visit two high school friends. A beautiful but troubled city, Shanghai was surprisingly different from Taipei. Freshly flashed, it has dealt with it’s rampant poverty by slipping it under the carpet - a ploy not so successfully pulled off. My friends’ apartment was squarely central, jammed between dramatic new condos, People’s Park and a massive slum neighbourhood. Whereas Taipei grew naturally, free markets and democracy having taken effect there some time ago, Shanghai has shot off like a rocket, with predictable results.

For more on this fascinating city and China in general, check here.

Unfortunately, after my travels I seem to have lost my favourite photos of Shanghai, showing it’s grit. Old men in pale boxer shorts playing chess in the park, the watchful eyes of a Marx/Engels statue over their shoulder. A small child playing in a scummy pond under drooping trees. Sagging two story houses, the number of people dwelling inside astounds as much as the fact that the building still stands. This is China.

My photos below show another side, China the new. Soaring, brightly lit skyscrapers, museums, parks. Jackie, a Shanghainese friend of my buddies, laughs over martinis at a hotel bar forty stories up. A child plays with a sprinkler in the park. This is China.

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I stood in the middle of the road. The four A.M. traffic was predictably light, but the intoxicants were definitely part of the equation. I inhaled deeply through my nose. Again. A smile cracked my face slowly.

Four friends stood on the front step of the house, smoking cigarettes and chatting idly. One of them, noticing I was missing, glanced around and saw me straddling the yellow line. My head was back, my eyes closed, my mouth split by a wide grin.

“Evan, what the hell are you doing?”

“I’m smellin my city, man.”

It is my city. For all it’s faults, and it has many, it is mine and I love it. After two weeks in Vancouver, a city of incomparable physical beauty, I think I would still rather live here. It is much more multi-cultural, much more gritty and real, and much more vibrant. Vancouver is a city that has a reputation for laid-back love-ins, but it didn’t ring true for me. I saw a city obsessed with itself, it’s newfound role as Canada’s ambassador (thanks to the 2010 Olympics), and money. Money, money, money, money, money. Now, I know Toronto has a reputation for these things as well, but we don’t try to hide it. We are what we are, take it or leave it. Don’t like Toronto? Fuck it.

I inhaled again, taking in the palette of aromas. It was sweet, spring air. Cool and fresh, with a hint of rain. It follows me everywhere, though it mixes with varied aromas through Koreatown, little India, Chinatown, little Portugal, and so on. I smelled Asia for two years, and now I smell home.

And it’s good.

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This is the first of a new line of posts in which I’ll try to capture countries in photos. I’ll try to say as little as possible, and allow the photos to speak for themselves. I’ll also try to cut down on random shots of people along the way, but I’m sure a few of them will make their way in. I’ve had more than a few people tell me that I should consider a career as a photojournalist, but first I’ll need a real camera.

Here is a small selection of my favourites from my first six months in Taiwan:

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Good to be back in Toronto. I haven’t done anything but drive home from the airport and check the city skyline from the Gardiner Expressway, but I know I’m home.

It is sort of anti-climactic coming home now, after spending time with my brother and friends in Vancouver.

But, here I am, and I will be here for a little bit. I hope to see as many of you local types as I can before I find a job (sigh) and start saving up for next trip.

Watch out.

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The Chinese government has, through computer controlled censorship programs, banned my website. It is possible to still view this wonderful site (personal opinion) in the Wild East, but a proxy server (i.e. internet backdoor) is required. I know this thanks to my friend Adam, who is living in Shanghai again, and an anonymous Chinese person who posted a comment in my last post (”China, what have I done?”).

Now, it may seem reasonable to leave well enough alone and ignore the issue. Adam is, through connections, fairly sure that if I were to just continue to happily write posts without referring to the issue it would clear itself up. Once the offending posts (it’s a good bet that the political references in my Dr. Seuss post are the culprit) are archived off the main page, the ban will lift.

But that’s just not how I roll.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) took the country through diplomatic means in 1945, led by everyone’s favourite, Mao Zedong. Ever since then, the country has been a bastion of freedom and openness. During the Cultural Revolution in the mid 1960’s, the government organized the re-education of those who had been led astray by outside influence. Around half a million lost souls believed that their opinions were actually their own property, and were satisfactorily reprimanded. We all know that to truly be free, we need to accept the state unequivocally.

Since then, beginning with Deng Xiaoping’s visit to the southern provinces, the country has moved with varying speeds toward the free market economy we know and love today. The minor protests in 1989, while attracting international attention, were nothing but a blip on the radar for the resilient Chinese, who are strong in the face of adversity and loss. With the approach of the Beijing Olympics next year, look to China to become a world leader in many fields, not least of which are human rights, an independent press, high standards of living and equality of opportunity. These, of course, are the same values held by the mighty United States of America, with similar success. Perhaps the current tensions that have arisen between these two mighty powers is simply a case of two big fish in the same pond - we can’t have two leaders of the “free” world!

What I hope to express here is my respect and reverence when I ponder the CPC. It has ruled the most populated country in the world unopposed for sixty-plus years. If that isn’t an accomplishment to be appreciated, I’m not sure what is.

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Well.

Apparently, according to my man Adam, my site has been blocked by Chinese government censorship programs. Unkie Herb is no longer available to 1.3 billion people. Perhaps one or two people there actually want to read this site, but its the principle of it, damn it.

Oh well. I’m just wondering what it was that got me blocked there. I also wonder if this is permanent or not. Either way, I’m not stressing. Perhaps if I write some pro-Chinese Communist Party stuff on here the ban will be lifted. Anyway, Adam commented on my post below (”Restrain yourself“), here it is:

Adam:

This all relates to the idea of the “other.” People can only define
themselves in relation to something else. Something only has meaning
or value relative to something else. The “other” serves this purpose.
People normally view themselves in a positive way, so the “other” is
imbued with the qualities that they view as their antithesis. All of
this anti-whateverism is a natural byproduct of self-identification.
And it varies according to scale. Within Canada, people in other
cities hold themselves up against Toronto. By creating Toronto as the
embodiment of what they don’t like, they have given themselves an
identity. Step it up a level and you have anti-americanism. When you
get to Thailand, the guy next to you from Montreal certainly isn’t
the other. But that doesn’t mean this same process isn’t going on. As
you guys have sort of touched on, the problem is when people don’t
differentiate between the idea of Toronto and a person from Toronto.

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Today I saw a drinking fountain. Crazy. They don’t exist in Asia. But they are normal here. Isn’t that weird?

Went sailing with big Steve’s dad and some of his friends (and Steve, Mike and Grant). Even the old people here make fun of Ontario. It sort of confirms the point I made in the Dr. Serious post below. I wanted to ask them if they’d ever been there. Some of them had, as it came up in conversation. They referred to the Great Lakes as ponds. I suppose we can’t all live next to the Pacific Ocean. When I told them I was returning to Toronto in a week, the attitude was unanimous:

“Good luck with that!” Ha.

Is it so hard to appreciate differences between places? There are things in Vancouver that are unlike anywhere else I’ve been, and I love it. But the same can probably be said about anywhere, even the smallest towns that are the most removed from “the action”. I find it hilarious the anti-Toronto attitude here and elsewhere in this country. Did we enslave your ancestors? Perhaps we tricked all those American investors into putting their head offices on Bay Street. As far as I can tell, Vancouver is at least as trendy and flashy (Ferraris and Bentleys and Porsche, oh my!) as anywhere in Toronto, if not more. So you live where there are mountains, I live next to a lake.

LET’S FIGHT ABOUT IT!

The funny thing about the whole situation is that once you actually leave Canada, you realize how ridiculously trivial these issues are. Did you know that all the five billion, nine hundred and seventy million people from everywhere else in the world couldn’t give two shits, and that if you switched the names on a map, they wouldn’t even notice or care?!?! Why do we? Why am I writing this rant of a post about something that means nothing to me?

Damn. This site looks sharp.

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It strikes me as something that I should have figured out a long time ago. One of those “does everybody treat this as obvious?” sort of situations.

The Lorax is intensely environmental, a protest against over-deforestation.

The Butter Battle Book is clearly in reference to the Cold War.

Yertle the Turtle is anti dictatorial.

I knew that Dr. Seuss wrote (drew?) political propaganda during the second World War, but for me to have missed the messages in his children’s books for so long is sort of embarrassing. I can’t help but feel like his books were an attempt at indoctrination, getting kids involved with his opinions at a young age. Some have criticized him for this and other things, such as oversimplifying issues. This makes sense. After all, how can one boil down the political and moral issues of the Cold War into a children’s book? Especially one about two parts of the same land (separated by a wall) who butter their bread on opposite sides, thus leading to an arms race of M.A.D. proportions. Doesn’t that trivialize the issue?

No. It does not. Well. Sort of.

Personally, I think that the Butter Battle goes beyond an East/West divergence and deals more relevantly with the human tendency to view other towns, countries and peoples with disdain. As my dad loves pointing out, people in a town will always tell you that the next town is full of yokels and morons. This is the basis of xenophobia, jingoism and racism in general. It’s ignorance. We can’t see over the wall. When we can, all we notice are the minute differences between US and THEM and it leads us to believe they are inferior (and dangerous) somehow.

It’s sort of the same thing that leads people to fear trying new and exotic foods. Instead of innocent until proven guilty, something strange like octopus or snake seems weird and therefore inedible. Just like in Green Eggs and Ham, where once eaten, they taste delicious (but they’re green!!).

The criticisms Dr. Seuss receives for some of his more controversial books can sometimes seem amusing. I remember as a youngster watching a pro-lumber commercial informing us that for every tree cut down, a new one would be planted. I was not aware until much later that the trees are planted in a monoculture (only one tree species) grid pattern, thus reducing the ecosystem to nothing but a tree farm of the future. This does not support wildlife. The Lorax countered this message with images of destroyed environments, the animals dwindling and then disappearing all together. The cause of the destruction, the “Once-ler,” regrets his actions and asks a boy to replant the forest. The book was actually banned by some school boards in the US. The two points of view may seem to balance each other out, but neither are bias free or fully honest.

The indoctrination argument, as well, is worrying. Kids are more susceptible to one-sided arguments, especially at the ages that Dr. Seuss books generally begin to appear at birthday parties. But, at that age, children also tend to miss the message a little. They enjoy the pictures, funny words and creatively conceived creatures more. As well, if you’ve educated parents and elementary teachers well, they can point out the messages and biases that occur in all sorts of books. Children who learn early to spot slants in books and other mediums will grow up to be more independent thinkers generally.

In the end, perhaps I did notice the message in Butter, but only because it was so obvious. Perhaps there are more subtle books he’s written, whose messages are more rarely discussed than the popular issues I mentioned. The great Doc threatened to sue a pro-life group over the use of a line from the book Horton Hears a Who. Even good old The Cat in the Hat, a book written to improve basic reading skills, became controversial when used in reforms to American education.

Perhaps the biggest issue here is my lack of attention to something that should have been plain. Either way, don’t blame the Doc, he just tells it like he sees it, albeit with a few ooglety-shlams and woggle-goo-frams!

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