The Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) was a tragic period of recent history for people throughout China. Some (like Melvyn Goldstein) contend that it was experienced differently, or perhaps even more tragically in some ethnic populations than in others because of the differing emphases placed on religion or culture or language in different populations.
In 2012, a hotpot restaurant chain based out of Xining arrived in Xining. The Great Team Leader (da dui zhang 大队长) restaurant is distinguished by its Cultural Revolution-themed aesthetic with posters on the wall, and old artifacts in the lobby. The servers shout Cultural Revolution-era slogans as they run past, and when you leave the restaurant they welcome you to come back down to the country-side. My brother-in-law has mats on his dashboard, that ironically modernize Maoist period/Cultural Revolution era slogans as well. One says: I'm not the offspring of a rich family, but I want to be the ancestor of a rich family. A man wearing PLA clothing, with right arm raised in a fist and looking simultaneously confident and aggressive stands next to the phrase. These are two examples of many.It's not only foreigners who purchase courier bags with images of Mao, and revolutionary memorabilia can and is bought in almost every city in China. This is more than just the cult of Mao, it seems to be a new way of remembering the events of the past through consumption. Ironic isn't? But what is driving behind the popularity of consuming Cultural Revolution-era things? The Great Team Leader is one of the most popular restaurants in Xining. The space is enormous, and yet there is frequently a wit and a line out the door. A number of the people who go to the restaurant personally experienced the upheaval of the Cultural Revolution. I think this is an interesting phenomenon. Unfortunately, I have neither the time nor the desire to give this a full analysis a la Geremie Barmé, so i'll have to leave it in blog format, but perhaps one of my three readers would like to add comment?
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I"ve recently had the opportunity to be struck by how different a doctor's recommendations are in China from the treatment, advice, and medication one might get in the West. Xining has many hospitals, and going to two different hospitals may well garner two different opinions on one's condition, but that's not entirely surprising (going for a second opinion is not uncommon in the West). The real difference seems to me in common peoples' differing knowledge of how to lead life under certain circumstances. Without analysis, I'd like to give two examples (though there are undoubtedly more):
1) A person with asthma grows up in the United States, and is encouraged to exercise more, play musical instruments, and generally strengthen his lungs. He goes to a Chinese doctor, who tells him the exact opposite: that he should immediately stop playing musical instruments, that he should not exercise, at the risk of having an asthma attack. 2) A pregnant woman in the West is told that she can exercise, eat almost anything she wants, and generally live life without too many restrictions (with the exception of tobacco and alcohol). In China, the same woman will be told that she mustn't drink soft drinks or coffee, mustn't eat spicy foods, mustn't exercise, mustn't use regular make-up, cannot wear tight clothes or high-heeled shoes, must always be very warm, and more. A Tbtn woman mustn't eat meat from outside. These radical differences seem to be a more recent phenomenon as in the past women in the countryside may work in the fields until the day they gave birth. This does not include the many dietary discrepancies I've seen and heard of (i.e. you should eat X because it's good for t. Then again, we're talking about Western China, where milk is frequently not pasteurized, and where you can never be completely sure that what you're buying is real, and even "natural" or "organic" products may well not be. So, I suppose that may play a role. |
About TimAs you can see elsewhere on this webpage, I conduct research on ethnic minorities in western China. This blog offers semi-academic musings on the minutiae of daily life out here--the sort of information otherwise destined for footnotes. Categories |