I'm Lovin' It!

I've gone book shopping twice in the last month. With a child like L--, a library or a bookstore is a fixture in life. She had a library while she was in school, where she chose a new book every day. This is her picture of heaven. Now that school has stopped, she spends time staring at the book shelves, trying to find one she hasn't read yet.

So, at the beginning of July I took her to a bookstore. This is not just the bookstore on the corner, of course. This is a bookstore which sells English language books. This means imports, and they sell at a premium. We bought 5 paperback children's books - and paid 341 RMB. That's about $11 per book.

Then last week I heard about a little shop run out of someone's apartment. Places like this are what shopping in China is all about. It seems like to us that the owner of the apartment is somehow connected to a children's publisher. Because this is no bookstore. This is piles of books, and boxes of books, where each book costs 15 RMB. That's about $2.50 per book. I spent 428 RMB and came out with a stack of books so high I could barely walk.

And my little girl is back in heaven again.

Phew!

Shanghai has been cleaning up its act this year. We're receiving new sidewalks on every street, reorganizing power lines, and smoothing out major streets. We're planting trees and sprucing up green spaces. And we're building like mad people.

Building like mad people isn't unusual for Shanghai - but the scope of building within the Shanghai Expo site is really quite spectacular. The site covers 5.28 square kilometers and crosses the Huangpu River. You can watch construction progress on the Expo's website, but the small camera dwarves the impressive growth we see everytime we pass through the site.

Much like the Olympics in Beijing last year, China has invested much money and emotional energy into this Expo - the modern version of the world's fair. As the Olympics were Beijing's coming out party to the world, Shanghai will dance in the world spotlight with the Expo in less than one year. They expect 70 million visitors to enter the grounds, with participation by 200 countries and international institutions (those international organizations are important, since there are only 195 nations in the world).

Only recently added to that list 200-strong?

The United States of America.

A World's Fair without America's participation would have embarrassed China as well as America, if not more. Shamefully, America could not find someone organized and influential enough to make this Expo happen. First, it seemed unclear whether or not the U.S. desired involvement. When a ragtag team of fundraisers and organizers called Shanghai Expo, Inc. were finally authorized to organize American participation, they were unable to raise the appropriate amount of funds or to garner enough corporate interest. The U.S. government is legally prohibited from providing funds for a national pavilion, and so the state department sad rather idly by, waiting for these yo-yo's to put together something funding for a pavilion that would save face for everyone.

Dangerously close to the deadline - the Expo will begin in 292 days - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton grasped the reins and handed them over to Jose H. Villarreal, appointed U.S. Commissioner General to the 2010 World Exposition on July 1. Since that day, he jumped on a plane to Shanghai and organized an official announcement of US participation.


Americans in China (Jim Fallows and Adam Minter are two interesting ones, but my friends and I are included) were becoming increasingly nervous about the impact a lack of participation could have on U.S.-China relations, and the Expo as a whole. With this announcement, many Americans familiar with China breathed a collective sigh of relief.

The Chinese Lunar Calendar

I know very little about the Chinese Lunar Calendar - and will claim absolutely no expertise in this forum. Suffice it to say that I knew it described holidays and had something to do with the phases of the moon.

Last year, June brought in a crashing wave of rain. I believe it rained from one of the first days of the month until one of the last days of the month, nearly every day. It would rain at least once a day, and it may well rain all day. Then July came, blowing the rain clouds away and bringing on heavy heat and high humidity through to mid-September.

I prepared myself for this onslaught of weather as I faced the summer in Shanghai. Many expats leave for the summer, especially those whose children are in school. Most of L--'s classmates... I'm sorry, ALL of L--'s classmates left Shanghai within 2 weeks of the end of school. They will return within 2 weeks of the beginning of school. We faced a yawning chasm of summertime with no friends, and the impending torrential fall of rain.

We waited for the rain with fear. Would we be sitting indoors for a month, scratching each other's eyes out with loneliness and boredom?

June rarely saw a drop of rain, and the temperature did not climb too high. It was pleasant to be outdoors, and we saw off our old friends while finding time to make new ones at the playground.

As July began, the temperature began to rise... and the rains set in. Not as bad as last year - thank goodness! Still, the season of pervading damp had clearly set upon us.

Apparently - and I can not find documentation to support or negate this on the web, but I believe my source - the Chinese lunar calendar has two Mays this year.

So our lovely June came after a lovely May - this fits entirely.

And our wet and steamy July was essentially a wet and steamy June, come 1 month late.

The question this raises is whether the heat will last until mid-October!

Never a Dull Moment

Even though my day to day life in Shangai may have grown rather dull during the summer, the China-related news has certainly not disappointed.

First, we've got the Uighur conflict. I can't claim much expertise on this issue, because although I've read a bit about it, I'm so skeptical of all news coming out of China that I feel confident only in the fact that I am not getting the full story.

Second, the ongoing H1N1 virus quarantine. We received this communication from the U.S. Embassy today:

The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens to the quarantine measures imposed by the Government of China in response to the 2009-H1N1 pandemic...

In May 2009, China implemented a policy that allows it to quarantine arriving passengers who exhibit fever or flu-like symptoms if they are arriving from a country which has cases of 2009-H1N1, including the U.S. Although the overall percentage of Americans being quarantined remains low, the seemingly random nature of the selection process makes it almost impossible to predict when a traveler may be placed into quarantine. Travelers with even a slightly elevated body temperature risk being placed into hospital quarantine, while passengers sitting in close proximity to another traveler with fever or flu-like symptoms may be taken to a specially-designated hotel for a quarantine of approximately seven days, even if they show no symptoms themselves.

The Department of State has received reports of minors traveling without a parent or adult guardian being taken into quarantine upon arrival. Some of the children were under 10 years of age. Parents considering sending their children unaccompanied to China are urged to consider postponing their travel until the quarantine policy ends or until 2009-H1N1 Influenza subsides. In addition, there have been some instances where children have been separated from their parents during quarantine because only the parent or the child tested positive for 2009-H1N1 or exhibited symptoms. Travelers are advised that Chinese health authorities have not issued a country-wide policy on keeping family members together in quarantine, and the practice of keeping young children with their parents or guardians varies by quarantine facility. In some hospitals, parents have been denied access to their children who were in isolated quarantine. In these situations, there exists the possibility of Chinese medical personnel administering medications to minors without parental permission.

The Department of State continues to receive reports about poor quarantine conditions, including the unavailability of suitable drinking water and food, unsanitary conditions, the lack of telephone access, the absence of English-speaking staff, and limited availability of English-language interpreters.

Travelers to China are reminded that all foreign travelers, including U.S. citizens, are obliged to follow local procedures regarding quarantines and any other public health-related measures. The U.S. Embassy is unable to influence the duration of stay in quarantine for affected travelers. The Chinese government will not compensate people for lost travel expenses. Travelers to China are urged to consider purchasing travel insurance to protect against losses in the event they are quarantined.

It seems that most residents are able to face quarantine inside their own homes, but we have many friends who have been effected by this in some fashion - including deciding to remain in the U.S. rather than fly back to China because a member of the family felt sick. Probably a good decision for all involved, regardless of the quarantine risk.

Emotionally Invested

Dave tells me I become too emotionally invested in things - so invested that I get too upset when they don't come through.

We had decided to move when our lease expires, on August 31. We want to be within walking distance of L--'s new school, snuggled right in the heart of the French Concession. We want to live in a lane house, a renovated old home located on a lane off of the main street. We spoke with two agents, who showed us a number of homes. We like a number of homes. We told a number of landlords that we like their homes. We heard back from every single one that they were unwilling to hold their apartments until Sep. 1. Two of these went as far as writing a contract, and having Uncle H-- sign off on the paperwork. All negotiations were complete when the landlord informed us that they had rented to someone else - someone able to move in before Sep. 1.

So we will wait a few weeks, and we will look again. Presumably, many of those apartments we liked will still be on the market. Presumably, others that we will like just as well will newly be on the market.

And this is where I am too emotionally invested. Although I recognize that this is not the end of the world, I still feel the weight of depression this evening - after learning that the second home we had negotiated a lease on was given away. This home met each of our criteria beautifully - location, size, layout and access to green space. It may not have been the perfect home, but it was perfectly suitable and I had begun to move us in within my mind. Now I feel as if the rug has been pulled out from under me, and I know that I will have to arrange our move at the last minute.

This weight of depression was lifted at the playground this afternoon, as the girls and I made a new friend. Most of our friends have left for the summer, and we are enjoying meeting new children and moms who are around for the heat and humidity of July. We spent an hour or so with an Indian girl and her mother from Dehli, learned that they live right downstairs from us, and enjoyed watching the girls interact so naturally together.

The balance of this overabundance of emotional investment is that moments of joy come in wonderfully unexpected places and overwhelming ways.

Chinese Babies Sold Into Adoption

Every time I think about this article, I get charged up. In fact, I've been sitting on the article for a few days, waiting to write until I could be less emotionally involved. But I simply can not distance my emotions from this scenario.

The article is linked above and copied in full below, but allow me to shorten the story with key lines:

"About 80 newborn baby girls from a county of Guizhou Province in southwest China have been removed from their families by local officials since 2001, and most have been handed over to foreign adoptive parents as orphans at a price of $3,000 each....

One family's "fifth daughter was removed by local family planning officials when they didn't pay the appropriate fine...

"'This is the policy', Shi said. "You pay, or you let the government take care of the baby," he was quoted by the newspaper on Wednesday.

"But instead of being raised as promised, the girl was taken to the Zhenyuan orphanage and later adopted out to a foreign family, at a reported price of $3,000...

"It's believed authorities forged documents stating the babies were orphans and adoption fees were split between the orphanage and officials.

One law expert explained that "local family planning officials and the orphanage had committed a crime because nobody had the right to exploit a parent's right of guardianship over their children. The fact that babies had been removed to make a profit meant it was also abduction"

Now, allow me to be clear. As a potential adoptive parent, I by no means advocate the stealing and selling of children. This is an abhorrent practice - clear and simple.

However, I feel disgust at the Chinese press for reporting this as if it is news, or should come as a surprise. The Chinese government keeps and strictly enforces a One Child Policy. Under this policy, a women who delivers a second child must pay a fine. Children are not given up for adoption as they are in the U.S. - they are abandoned, in the hopes that they will soon be found. Infanticide is rampant. Abortion is frequently forced on a mother by her government in late stages of pregnancy. All of these horrible practices occur as a direct consequence of the One Child Policy. It comes as absolutely no surprise to me that children would also be removed from their homes after birth, if the family could not pay the fine. Why would families not choose to have second children, if they could so easily get away with breaking this law?

I have a problem with the policy. I think it degrades basic human freedoms and forces good people to do horrible things to their own children. I have a problem with every negative consequence that comes as a result of this law - infanticide, abortion, abandonment, institutionalization. But I fail to see how this article states anything worth becoming stirred up about, when it refuses to criticize the policy itself.

As an additional point, the article states that each child was sold into adoption at a fee of $3,000. This fee is a required part of the adoption process for every international family, and although I first saw it as extortion, it has been explained to me many times as a simple payment for the care of the child - and to continue the care of children after my child leaves. If this sum is payment rather than a cost of service, than the magazine missed a much bigger story - as all international families paying for children is against international law, and contrary to all publications and communications by the Chinese government.

SW China: Baby girls taken and sold for adoption
By Wang Jingqiong (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-03 08:06

About 80 newborn baby girls from a county of Guizhou Province in southwest China have been removed from their families by local officials since 2001, and most have been handed over to foreign adoptive parents as orphans at a price of $3,000 each, the Southern Metropolis News reported on Wednesday.

Among the 80 families are Lu Xiande and Yang Shuiying, a poor farming couple whose fifth daughter was removed by local family planning officials when they didn't pay the appropriate fine, it reported.

Like every other father in Zhenyuan, Lu wanted a boy, who finally arrived after three daughters. His wife then gave birth to another girl, and the couple had to support five children with a yearly income of about 5,000 yuan ($732).

Shi Guangying, a local family planning official, gave them an ultimatum: Give away their little daughter or pay fines of about 20,000 yuan ($2,928).

"This is the policy", Shi said. "You pay, or you let the government take care of the baby," he was quoted by the newspaper on Wednesday.

But instead of being raised as promised, the girl was taken to the Zhenyuan orphanage and later adopted out to a foreign family, at a reported price of $3,000.

At least 78 girls have been handed over to foreign families in the past eight years. Two children with disabilities remain at the orphanage.

It's believed authorities forged documents stating the babies were orphans and adoption fees were split between the orphanage and officials.

The practice of making farmers who break the two-child policy and then fail to pay fines hand over their baby girls is now under investigation by the local public security bureau in Zhenyuan county.

Zhou Ze, a lawyer and professor with China Youth College for Political Sciences, said local family planning officials and the orphanage had committed a crime because nobody had the right to exploit a parent's right of guardianship over their children.

The fact that babies had been removed to make a profit meant it was also abduction, Zhou said.

"It is legal that they can charge fines, as the parents did violate the law by giving birth to more than one child. But that doesn't mean they can take away the child. The fines can be paid later or reduced", he said.

Tang Jian, an official of the Zhenyuan family planning bureau, said: "According to our investigation, it is true that babies who have parents were forced into the orphanage and then abroad".

Under Chinese adoption law, abandoned babies whose parents cannot be found can be registered for adoption.

"The most important thing is that we need so many other government departments, so many, to help us in the investigation," Liang Honghao, director of the Zhenyuan police bureau, was quoted by the Guangdong-based Time Weekly yesterday.

Not for Public Consideration

One does not rent movies in Shanghai.

The option simply does not exist. If one wishes to watch a movie, three options exist.
1: Buy a ticket, and watch in the theatres
2: Buy an authentic DVD from a reputable distributor, such as Best Buy. This, of course, at full price plus an import premium.
3: Buy a pirated DVD from the little shop on the corner, or the man selling them out of a suitcase in front of your building.

Pirated DVDs cost between 5 and 12 RMB, depending on where you purchase and how well you negotiate. At most, the movie costs less than $2.

I must assume that sales of movies at legitimate distributors are low.

Pirating movies is big business in China, employing loads of people in factories and distribution centers. This is a well organized machine, making plenty of people loads of illegal money. And although China voices a firm stand against piracy, they take little action against it. I believe that the official stance is that the problem is too large and underground for the government to efficiently root out. Of course, that has not stopped them from rooting out dissent of any form against the government or the prominent way of life.

Either way, pirated DVDs are everywhere - and often make their way into our DVD player. Generally the piracy is obvious. Words play a few beats after the lips move. The picture is just slightly fuzzy - or, in fact, extremely fuzzy. You can see the heads of those sitting in front of the camcorder within the movie theatre, watch them stand as the credits roll.

But here was the best. Tonight we watched MILK, and did notice what a good copy we had acquired. And then the little white letters scrolled along the bottom of the page:

THIS VIEWING COPY IS PROVIDED FOR AWARDS CONSIDERATION ONLY AND IS NOT FOR SALE OR PUBLIC CONSIDERATION.

I love contemplating the trail this followed, out of a member of the academy's DVD player and into mine.