Soon after China had its best time at the Opening, which it expected billions to watch in awe, stories behind are rendering this proud presentation into a magnificent joke. The Giant Footprints over Beijing surely deserves a place in the Guinness World Records, and the mimed solo by the cute starlet Miaoke Lin is bringing this comedy to another height. What else? Deserted “Olympic Protest Parks” where Beijing shows its hospitality for human right activists, or the “Volunteer Cheerleaders” that fill the seats? Not to mention those empty Olympic promises. Beijing is surely full of wonders, but no truth.
Welcome to China, where everything is possible! Possibility is always the main ingredient of dreams, but what is the “One Dream” mantra they have been chanting? The spectacular Opening, where numerous individual performers are used to mimic display pixels (at fine resolutions!), is nothing more than a reprise of ancient imperial ceremonies where all barbarian tribes come to pay homage to the Heavenly Dynasty (in Chinese: “萬國來朝，四夷賓服”). So exactly whose dream is it? This great country may have many hands, but still only one collective mind that can think and dream. That is why they have only one dream: the dream of nationalism fevers. Dreams of a free Tibet, a free Eastern Turkestan, and an undisturbed Taiwan are simply not cherished here. Dreams of speech freedom, a viable civil society and open elections are not cherished here. Dreams of displaced Darfur refugees are certainly not cherished here either. Only the “One Dream” can be dreamt of, and now all the imperial subjects, and all the envoys from “barbarian tribes” are also chanting about that “One Dream” in Beijing.
And “One World”? Try traveling to rural areas in Hunan, Henan or even Tibet yourself to see if you really find people living in the same world as Beijingers do. “Equality” is a foul language in this country. If you are not impressed with the alerting Gini Coefficient of 46.9, you might want to take a look at the this picture of a little Tibetan girl who kept begging for candies for her friends:
I got this from a forwarded email (please kindly let me know if you are the original owner) with many beautiful pictures of Tibetan children. I am astonished by their poverty, especially when the PRC Government keeps telling us how quick Tibet’s economy has been expanding, and how China conquistadors have improved Tibetans’ life.
Tibetans are too far away and thus is not a good example? OK, try googling for “petitioners’ village” and see what you will find (better google for pictures, so that you can see what it actually looks like). Many Chinese still cherish fictional belief of imperial intervention in local injustice as a final relief (Yes, I really think such belief comes directly from classic novels and theater plays), so wronged people have a natural tendency to flock to Beijing for help. They lived in terrible condition in urban slums, not very far away from the masterpiece Birds’ Nest Stadium and Water Cubic Swimming Gym, spent years on their fruitless petitions and were consistently harassed by policemen and gangsters. Of course, Beijing got rid of such nasties just in time to greet the World in her prime. Now Beijing is one world, while those displaced petitioners live in another.
So, after we put back the truth in it, it is the one world in which many do not live in, and one dream that many cannot share. So celebrate, envoys of barbarian tribes! You ought to bow in awe of the imperial grandeur, and pretend you see nothing behind. The only truth about China is there is no truth.
