Chinese Confession – Xitang – A City of Contrast

To say that a certain country or city is “a place of contrast” is one of the biggest clichés out there. That doesn’t mean, however, that it is not true or is a superficial description of a place. China has more contrast than any place I have ever seen in my life. From the brand new BMWs and Mercedes that share the roads with rusty bikes that are barely even holding together to the transition that nearly every city here undergoes as the sun sets and the lights come on. I think the city of Xitang is quite possibly the best example of this exact phenomenon. We had the chance to see the city first at night, with the traditional Chinese lighting complimenting the amazing Chinese charm that it has maintained, even despite the explosive growth occurring almost everywhere in this country. The following day we had the chance again to go back and see the same area by day, and it was hard to believe that we were even in the same place as the night before.

To start off, here are some of the pictures I took.

http://picasaweb.google.com/joeechols/Xitang

Xitang, much like Suzhou, has a canal running through the city, which gives it a Chinese-Venice feel. It’s just a whole lot less expensive and, in the humble opinion of one who has not personally been to Venice but has heard about it and seen pictures, not overpriced and certainly not overrated. It wasn’t without its array of tourist trap shops, but the people were very friendly. They are also huge fans of fireworks. All along the canal, there were people shooting off fireworks and playing with sparklers. There were also people who sold origami boats with candles for about 13 cents. I bought one and sent it off into the water. Of course, you are supposed to wish for something while you send it off, so I tried to think of something, but in all honesty, I had a tough time thinking of something to wish for. I guess that’s a good sign that I’m really happy with my life and where I am going.

We also got to take a ride in a small boat up and down the canal and see the city by night. It was quite beautiful, actually, but impossible to capture fully with a camera. Since night shots require that a camera be held completely still to keep from blurring, it was virtually impossible to do so in a rocking boat. I tried as I could, and I also discovered that blurry pictures bear an uncanny resemblance to impressionist paintings. This, of course, can easily be illustrated with the use of some basic Photoshop skills.

The reflections in the water were amazing though. The whole scene was surprisingly calm and pleasant, even if it was a bit crowded. I finished the night in a local bar where I played drinking games with some friendly Chinese locals. They had beear, I had Coke. I obviously did much better since I was able to do statistical analysis in my head, whereas he was probably just doing random guessing. But we got some great shots and discovered, yet again, how amazingly friendly the Chinese people are. We also played some Jenga, and even had those hand-held plastic hand clapper things to try to mess people up. I tell you – the Chinese people are the best kept secret in China.

When we came back the next morning, it really was hard to believe that it was the same place we had been before. For starters, the buildings were generally pasty white with dark grey, traditional roofs. The bright reds and other colored lights of the night had all vanished. The water, which by night looked so beautiful and reflective, suddenly looked absolutely filthy and stagnant. Its bright reflections were replaced by a homogenous hue of a pale brownish green. It was a wonder that it didn’t fill the air with an undescribable, putrid odor. It didn’t mean the city was not pleasant. In fact, it made it feel even more calm and relaxing than before. We walked around the area, saw an old but very large traditional Chinese home that had been converted into a button museum. They even had what must be the biggest button in the world, considering it was probably 5 feet in diameter.

Along the canal, the tourist trap shops all had their doors open again and were doing business, which was one of the few things that actually remained the same. The bright lights were gone, but seemed to have been replaced by helplessly cute animals. I am not joking. I am quite sure that some of the shop owners would just get tiny kittens or puppies and put them on the ground in front of the store. They always drew the attention of the people walking by, which would allow the store owners to try to lure them in to buy things. I came across one ginger kitten who was so tiny and young that it couldn’t even really move. It just sat there curled up against the step, hoping to not get stepped on or something. Another store owner had a tiny puppy who was trying to stand up, but its legs were so wobbly that it could hardly maintain its position for more than a few seconds before it would collapse against the wall. I saw another puppy, which was at least old enough and strong enough to stand up and wander around a bit.

I saw a few rusty Chinese bikes, which I just had to take pictures of even though they honestly can be found on almost every street in the country.

I guess it’s a token tribute to one of the most overdone subjects in art school, aside from naked people, which – for obvious reasons – were not as readily found. And on the topic of art, there were several shops selling traditional Chinese ink paintings. At one in particular there was a man actually doing one of the paintings at a table in front of the shop. I shot a picture and found that the prices were actually very reasonable, so I bought one. They obviously are not all unique compositions, because the man was sitting there painting a scene of the city without even looking up. But it still had its charm, and I still appreciate it as art, so I bought it. Aside from the art shops, there were also a bunch of art students all along the canal that had setup their easels and were painting the scenes around them.

After exploring for a couple of hours, I found a small staircase leading down to the surface of the canal, and I just sat down. I sat there for one hour and just enjoyed the whole scene. I watched the people walking by – the tourists, the locals, an occasional dog. Shelly, a friend of mine, came along and sat down as well and we just people-watched. People watching is a great pastime, and it is especially enjoyable in China because it is so lively and unique. There is always something going on, whether it is 9am, 3pm, 9pm, or 3am. We watched people come to the water and wash their clothing and sheets. We saw a father and his young son, who had gotten sticky, sweet goo all over his clothing, stop at the canal and attempt to wash it off.

It was honestly one of the best hours I have spent in China. I loved just being able to see everything that is going on. You don’t need TV or movies for entertainment here. You can just stop and watch and appreciate the things all around you. You can try, somewhat in vain, to try to capture it all in pictures or on video, but you really only capture a miniscule portion of the true beauty that lies underneath, that lies in the moment.