In an earlier post, I described how I traveled around like a celebrity, visiting interesting places and eating banquets, for a television program about foreigners in Shandong Province.   Last Tuesday, the celebrity bus came to pick me up at quarter after six and we went to the provincial capital, Jinan, about an hour and a half away. There we met up with a flock of foreigners, representing the other six nearby cities involved in this effort, and a full complement of dignitaries, such as the vice-governor of the province, and scads of cameramen and photographers.  Together, we toured beautiful Danming Lake, fed by underground springs and home to the largest water lilies I've ever seen. 

Some other highlights -- listening to the members of the Greater Jinan Peking Opera Society performing in the open air, (at least I presume that's who they were -- I loved them), listening to a man in traditional scholar's garb declaim some poetry (awesome), and touring a traditional Chinese courtyard home. Followed of course by a bountiful lunch... 

In the weeks leading up to my departure for China, I did a furious amount of Google-clicking, learning everything I could about the city and province I was headed for, and spending a lot of time reading forums set up by and for expat ESL teachers.  

I discovered to my dismay that a lot of people who participate in these forums are sarcastic and miserable when they have to endure the naïve and ignorant questions of yet another "newbie." Not content with insulting people who visit the forums and post innocent questions, they also like to call out any examples of ignorance about China that come to their attention. For example, a visiting journalist expressed surprise at how far Western fashions, music, and culture has permeated a supposedly communist country. So he's just a  "clueless twit." 

I gave up on reading Dave's ESL Cafe for this reason, even though it's supposedly the pre-eminent ESL website on the internet. There's just too much negativity, crudeness and nastiness. I occasionally check out Raoul's China Saloon; it's a little friendlier but cynicism and pessimism still abound...

....you probably can't afford to golf in China. Especially if you hit a hole in one. Apparently the tips for all the caddies and the drinks at the clubhouse afterwards can cost you thousands of dollars. But follow this link for a fantasy tour of the golf courses of Kunming, the City of Eternal Spring.

Here's a sample: Honghe Spring already has a reputation as one of China's hardest golf courses. With tees suspended precariously on steep, jungle-covered slopes and narrow fairways carved through dense forest, Honghe will test any golfer's mettle. There's probably no better place than this to stress-test both mentally and physically.

More beautiful golf courses at this link.  According to CBS Sports: club memberships and green fees [in China] are among the most expensive in the world. The average initiation fee of a golf club is a staggering $53,000 - more than four times the cost of a club membership in Spain and Switzerland, the countries with Europe's most expensive entry fees. One in 10 Chinese clubs charges initiation fees exceeding $100,000, with annual dues ranging between $1,500 and $4,000.
What's more, green fees are the highest of any country studied by the Golf Benchmark Survey. Chinese golfers pay on average $161 to play an 18-hole weekend round, topping the average green fee in Dubai ($152).

Out:  Long March.  In:  Long Drive.  
Out: Five Year Plan.  In:  Five Iron.
Out: Cadres.  In: Caddies.

I'm part-way through The Long March: the True History of China's Founding Myth, by Sun Shuyun. Previously, about the only things I really knew about the Red Army's Long March was that it was long. And it was a march. The author has deftly combined the memories of Long March veterans with her painstaking research and her personal reactions as she realizes that the darker side of this epic journey has been hidden for propaganda purposes. Very readable.

I just finished Lessons from China: America in the Hearts and Mind of the World's Most Important Rising Generation, by Amy B. Werbel, who spent a year teaching and lecturing at Chinese universities as a Fulbright scholar. Her first days in China and her first reactions were a lot like mine and, I suppose, thousands of other laowais;  she has written a good chronicle of life in China.  So if you're headed for a university job in China, this could be a worthwhile preview. Trigger warning: Professor Werbel is a post-modernist art expert and her world view won't be shared by everyone. If reading phrases such as "gender is a social construct" is traumatizing for you, best avoid this book.

If you are interested in China and haven't read Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, by Jung Chang,  -- well, get this book. Get this book!!  Some friends gave it to me and I cracked it open to console and distract me on the night that I lost my election bid for school trustee. I was awake until four in the morning. Could not put it down. It's that good. 

Chang and her husband recently published a sympathetic biography of the Dowager Empress Cixi. They also wrote a scathing biography of Mao. I think all three books are banned in China. It will be interesting to see if, over time, their research on Mao and Cixi overturns the verdict of history.