China Update #1

How is my mandarin coming along? I can now argue with a taxi driver if he's taking me for a spin, tell the lady at the local market that she's got to be kidding for trying to rip me off, order food at a decent pace, and, most importantly, people on the phone no longer hang up on me after 10 seconds. Can you say that I've assimilated with Shanghainese culture? Hell no. Have I made a difference in the environment? Not really. Every morning I say hello to a couple that collects recyclable materials from the six buildings in my apartment complex. Out of habit, I still separate my recyclables from my trash and set it aside for them. My impact on Chinese social progress? Perhaps 0.00000000000000000000000001% change.

Sometimes when I'm spacing out in my taxi ride I wonder what would happen if I launched a campaign to end child begging. Hell, I wonder what would happen if I threw a really insane sex party. I'd probably get a call from the Chinese government for doing either.

It's a doggy dog world out here. 4 am and people are still trying to sell flowers in the cold, cold weather to four very lonely, very straight men on the bund. Child-beggars and their supposed mothers greet you the minute you step outside your taxi, pushing, begging and sometimes stealing. There are four sex parlors (oops, I meant "hair salons"- they aren't just massage parlors, they're also "hair salons") within a 5 minute walk from my apartment. And somehow, this all has become very "normal" in just four months of living in China. What drives you? What make you passionate? What brings tears to your eyes? I guess these are question that are hard to answer when all these people around us are just trying to make it to see another day. I live in a place where the meaning of "social justice" is allowing the pedestrian in front of your car to pass first. I recently solicited some strange looks by mentioning the word "non-profit." What the hell is that? Did you just say corporate awareness? Social enterprise? Strategic corporate responsibility? Recycling??

A recent search on Google for NGO's in China yielded this article about philanthropic organizations in China. Although all organizations need to be registered with the Ministry of Civil Affairs of China, China has still come a really long way since its cultural revolution days. From a time when the handicapped were disregarded and deemed useless, China will soon host the next Special Olympics World Game in 2007. Non-profit corporate relationship? Not anytime soon, but it is a start for the country that will soon become the most influential power that will shape the future of this earth I call home. But until then, I'll continue working on the Mandarin.