Traditions, Modernity, and Shamian

Shamian Island is a sheltered place, its name means "sandy surface" in Cantonese and that is just what it is. In the concessions that followed in the wake of the Opium Wars, half of the island was given to the British and the other half was given to the French. A fence was built along the canal separating the island and kept the rift raft that lived outside the city walls from entering the island. For inside was a sheltered world, in fact, it was the only area in all of Canton that foreigners were allowed to set up their trading posts.

Today the now decaying colonial architecture remains. The restored Catholic church sits perched along the main boulevard, the American consulate resides at one end and the White Swan hotel (probably the most famous hotel in Guangzhou if not Guangdong) rises above the .3 sq km island. Two one-way roads, which really are more like pedestrian avenues are flanked by trees and run down the center of the island on either side of playgrounds, gardens, and walkways.

Bronze statues depicting the island's history stand motionless in front of historical buildings in various states of upkeep and amongst the activity that is many Chinese people playing badminton in the park and foreigners pushing their adopted Chinese babies in strollers. Only the occasional neon sign glowing from the cross-streets, alert the traveler that it is the 20th century and not the 18th. Today Shamian Island remains much like it was one-hundred and fifty years ago, a sequestration from Guangzhou. It remains a sleepy southern town in the middle of a growing dragon.

But Guangzhou is not the completely modernized city that the Chinese government would have you believe it is. Yes, walking off the island you are immediately met with a six lane highway, but if the dilapidation of the island shows times past, than the ordure of decreption on the other side of the freeway will make you wonder is indoor plumping was ever really invented.

I first ventured into this area on Sunday, when the island's pharmacy was closed and I was minutes from tearing my legs off due to the 40 or so bug bites that covered my calves. Today, I walked through this area again and this time I really looked as I walked. I wondered about these people's lives, I wondered if the earthquake had hit Guangzhou instead of Chendgu would these building still be standing. I wondered about the filth and grim, the fact that there were children not wearing shoes, and windows with no glass. I wondered if this was really poverty, and then I realized that this was not as bad as it gets in China.

Guangzhou can quite easily be classified as the economic center of the Pearl River Delta and combined with Shenzhen creates the heart of China's leading commercial and manufacturing region. The 2007 GDP was over $100 billion US dollars and per capita with approx. 6 million urban dwellers this factors out to bt the sixth highest (among 695 cities) in China at about $12,00/year. This success is attributed to the reforms of Deng Xiaoping, who came to power in the late 1970s, which led to rapid economic growth due to the city's close proximity to Hong Kong and access to the Pearl River. If this is "rough" here (and I do believe that other places in the city have it worse) then I wonder how it is in cities and towns who have not experienced as much economic growth.

To be honest, these sights have shocked me and I have found myself not wanting to leave the security of Shamian. Instead I find myself reading Three Kingdoms at Starbucks and watching Chinese in the park. I have found myself without words for posting to this blog. I don't think I have ever had an idealistic view of China, but something about the raw pain of this country has struck me over the last couple of days while staying in Guangzhou.

A week ago I set out to see the "real China" and for me, I thought that meant seeing the "traditional China," which hadn't yet been touched by the modernity of the west. But today I am conscious that maybe "traditional" isn't all that it is cracked up to be after all. Just maybe I am starting to see the arguements about modernity differently.