18 years.
This is the first Chinese New Year (CNY) I spent in Shanghai since I immigrated to the States in 1990. It has been 18 years. 18 years, one could become fully grown and be eligible to vote in most countries. 18 years, a single malt whiskey could fetch hundreds of dollars. 18 years, enough time for the walkman to catch on and go extinct. 18 years, a generation has grown up accustomed to KFC, Playstation (1-2-P-3) and more cars than bikes. So it is not so surprising then that I feel less and less a part of today's society in Shanghai. I wonder about the generational gap between this generation and the one before. The 1980's was such a tumultuous and critical time for the country, yet I suspect Chinese younger than 18 probably know less about the 1980's than any other decade of the twentieth century. Perhaps it is not so surprising that after a week of excessively extravagant banquets, my family has opted for a quiet meal at Meilongzheng, an old favorite Sichuan restaurant, and a meal at home that consisted of rice steamed with vegetable and cured pork, pork hock with bean and tofu with vegetable.
posted by hedgehog @ 7:21 AM
1 Comments:
I won't go into what else changes when something becomes 18... But i think your point about the younger generation knowing nothing about the 1980's is a significant one. Even I seem to miss the old days (and I wasn't even there!), which have be portrayed to me as earnest, honest, and innocent, even in the face of political turmoil and upheaval. This is in contrast to the naive pursuit of material wealth that is so stereotypically framed as 21st century China. My first instinct is criticize this generation for being superficial and uncultured. However, a second pass reveals the political dangers of thinking too hard about anything in China. Things that don't make sense? Well, who has the power to change them? Not the laobaixing. These 18 yo don't dig over there because subconsciously they DO know what lies beneath, and there are consequences. It's like bad parenting: let the kids get away with free speech for a month, then next month crack down with 5 yr prison sentences, replete with confessions and torture, if necessary. The kids never know what's going to set of mom and dad so they move the 'line' to where they think they'll be safe. A revolution? It's not coming anytime soon. So what do we do with all the pent up energy? Direct in the only direction they will allow: economic development and the never-ending pursuit of things you don't have (and what else is there to want but what you don't have?). Dig a little and you're blacklisted. Keep it above ground and you're praised. What about culture? Okay, I have to back track here because to some degree money seems to be able to buy art, wine, food, and good music. So actually, the culture I'm talking about runs deeper as well. My point is that good art, wine, food, and music makes you question the status quo. It forces you to ask why you accepted what came before. And by that very definition, I fear that, as interesting and wild as the new art movements have been, they're actually very safe. No artist living in China, hoping for a career in China can afford to question the present powers that be. They can question the past, petty corruption, and sexuality, but they haven't yet (to my knowledge) broached the taboo subjects. That doesn't make it insignificant because the "positive" outline must outline what is not directly depicted, in other words, what's present delineates the shape of what is missing. Despite the radical changes, China still has some growing up to do. But there's nothing wrong a having a nice warm bowl of steamed white rice with a couple dishes. If we truly wanted to go back to old times, even that would have been a luxury.
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