Well, I'm back.
Ephemeral: You know that Doctor Who S3 episode "Blink"? The one where people keep getting pulled back in time and cross paths with a stranded Doctor, and have to live their way back towards the latter days from which they were pulled?
Yeah... you get the idea.

This article on the Chinese Wikipedia in the International Herald Tribune caught my eye.

Just who was Mao Zedong?

According to the English-language version of Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia, he was a victorious military and political leader who founded China's modern Communist state. He was also a man many saw as "a mass murderer, holding his leadership accountable for the deaths of tens of millions of innocent Chinese."

Switch to Wikipedia in Chinese, and one discovers a very different man. There, Mao Zedong's reputation is unsullied by any mention of a death toll in the great purges of the 1950s and 1960s, or for what many historians call the greatest famine in human history.

Andrew Lih comments here on a blow-by-blow comparison done by New York Times correspondent Howard French. For that, make no mistake about it, is what this is: an information war. Fought not with bullets but with electrons, granting history not to the physical victors but those who operate the Wikipedia server that your browser goes to by default, the Chinese Wikipedia stakes a claim for the 99% of Chinese users who don't bother to tunnel out from behind the Great Firewall using a proxy.

On 10 Jun 2006, I brought up a photo of Tank Man in the heart of Beijing, courtesy of English Wikipedia and the timely assistance of taiji_jian and his desktop Linux box. What did this accomplish, other than the thrill of the illicit? Well, to hear tell of Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales' first attempts to get a foothold in China, it was really an all-or-nothing proposition. The whole (English) site, as some of you may know, is domain-level IP-blocked in China. The People's Republic of China (PRC) wanted Wales to voluntarily self-censor about 1% of Wikipedia's content, as Yahoo and Microsoft (and to a lesser, albeit more notorious extent, Google) already do. Wales said "nothing doing", and so the status quo of the Golden Shield (jing₁ dun₁, the PRC's propagandistic euphemism for Internet censorship) stayed in place. Replace "Shield" with "Curtain" and you get the idea.

Fast-forward ahead a few months: there is now a growing awareness of the dichotomy between the Chinese and English Wikipedias. Is it censorship? A Potemkin village kind of syndrome? Yes and yes, but only for that pesky 1%. You see, there are just a few articles, such as those concerning dissidents such as Wang Dan and the Tiananmen Square Massacre, that are touchy for the PRC. 1% of the content for 1% of the readership - the proxy users - doesn't pose an issue. The PRC government knows that there are people who tunnel out of curiosity or just to buck the trends. They know that there are closet dissidents who tunnel, and you can be sure that the subversives they view as more dangerous than the casual college student wanting a taste of free information are surveilled. If, however, the readership expanded to, say, 10%, it might be a problem. You see, the PRC pulls down news articles about every would-be coup - every strike against a state-run facility, from an aircraft factory to a provincial university. The government knows that the information has been seen by that 1% already; it doesn't mind that it circulates within the infosphere of people who have self-selected out of the complacent infoproletariat. It is what happens to the 99% that the PRC government cares about, because when the information that it is possible to overthrow the state becomes common, then the state will be overthrown.

Napoleon Bonaparte said: "The art of the police is not to see what it is useless that it should see." That, too, is the art of the modern Chinese internet user... for the moment. Happily, we are reminded that Albert Einstein said: "Politics is for the moment; an equation is for eternity." The equation we are looking at is perhaps a limit theorem, counting the days to a convergence that cannot be willed, or edited, away.

--
Banazir

(Cross-posted to found_objects. You may have seen some of these already, if you followed my travellogue.)

Click any image to enlarge.


I really didn't know that Peking University was founded by Magneto.

( At Hongqiao Market, 17 Jun 2006 )
( At our family reunion dinner, 17 Jun 2006 )
( Coming home from Tiananmen Square, 18 Jun 2006 )
( At the Great Wall, 20 Jun 2006 )
( English Pub and Texas Grill at Holiday Inn Lido Plaza Beijing, 21 Jun 2006 )
( World Cup for Women poster at Mister Pizza, 24 Jun 2006 )
( Seals and stamps at Hongqiao Market, 26 Jun 2006 )
( Lee-Hom Wang water bottles, 28 Jun 2006 )
( Family emblems, 28 Jun 2006 )
( DVD shop, 28 Jun 2006 )

--
Banazir

(Cross-posted to engrish and found_objects. You may have seen some of these already, if you followed my travellogue.)

Let me tell you, we Chinese folks are as good with the Engrish as the Japanese! Don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
Click any image to enlarge.


At Yuanmingyuan (the Garden of Perfect Brightness), one of the Imperial gardens, taken 12 Jun 2006.
The words corresponding to "depicting" are actually "etching pictures" (diao₁hua₄), so I think it's probably meant to be "defacing".

( From TV, 16 Jun 2006 )
( Bag of snacks covered in curse words, 16 Jun 2006 )
( Hongqiao Market, 17 Jun 2006 )
( The Forbidden City and a Tibetan Buddhist Temple, 19 Jun 2006 )
( The Tombs of the Ming Emperors and the Great Wall, 20 Jun 2006 )

Hope you enjoyed these,
Banazir

I forgot to show you all what renminbi (People's Currency) looks like:


Left: Obverse (front) side of the 5, 10, and 20 RMB note. At the current exchange rate of about 8 RMB to 1 USD, these are worth $0.625, $1.25, and $2.50, respectively.
Right: Reverse (back) side.

( The 5 jiao, or 0.5 RMB, note )

--
Banazir

Happy Fourth of July!

Here it is: an index to the compleat travellogue of my trip to Beijing, China, for your convenience. Comments appreciated!

Day 0 (Wed 07 Jun 2006) - Manhattan, Kansas, USA to Beijing, China
Day 1 (Thu 08 Jun 2006) - Arrival in Beijing, China
Day 2 (Fri 09 Jun 2006) - Dinner at Fragrant Palace: on Chinese food
Day 3 (Sat 10 Jun 2006) - Google and the Internet in China; Tiananmen Square and the Great Hall of the People
Day 4 (Sun 11 Jun 2006) - Shopping in Beijing
Day 5 (Mon 12 Jun 2006) - Yuanmingyuan (the Gardens of Perfect Brightness), Beijing and Tsinghua Universities, and Yiheyuan (the Garden of Nurtured Harmony)
Day 6 (Tue 13 Jun 2006) - A day at home: my cousins' golden retriever pups and Chinese movies and TV
Day 7 (Wed 14 Jun 2006) - Photos of the city; Internet outage begins; dinner at the Jade Garden
Day 8 (Thu 15 Jun 2006) - The Night of Bel Canto, Peking University
Day 9 (Fri 16 Jun 2006) - Dinner at Sichuanese restaurant: on hot and spicy food in China; on service industries in China (particularly airlines and high-speed Internet)
Day 10 (Sat 17 Jun 2006) - The Temple of Heaven (Tiantan) and Hongqiao Market
Day 11 (Sun 18 Jun 2006) - Tiananmen Square and Dazhaimen Dinner Theatre
Day 12 (Mon 19 Jun 2006) - The Forbidden City and Yong He Temple (Yong He Gong)
Day 13 (Tue 20 Jun 2006) - The Tombs of the Ming Emperors and the Great Wall of China
Day 14 (Wed 21 Jun 2006) - Dim sum (brunch) and shopping at Lido Plaza
Day 15 (Thu 22 Jun 2006) - Family day-trips and dinner visitors
Day 16 (Fri 23 Jun 2006) - Supergirl, the Chinese Pop Idol clone
Day 17 (Sat 24 Jun 2006) - Lunch and shopping at the Oriental Plaza Mall in downtown Beijing
Day 18 (Sun 25 Jun 2006) - On Communism in China
Day 19 (Mon 26 Jun 2006) - On the developing Chinese economy, foreigners and religious practice in Beijing, and shopping in Chinese marketplaces
Day 20 (Tue 27 Jun 2006) - On China's 20th and 21st century progress
Day 21 (Wed 28 Jun 2006) - DVD shopping; the return flight

In other news: Eep, it seems that NIST needed one more form from me for the 2006 NIST Machine Translation Evaluation. pnvtejaswi told me this when I was in China, but I had already faxed four forms, so I didn't realize there was one more. Aaaargh. Well, I've faxed it, so we should get all of the DVDs by next week. comptranslation ho!

--
Banazir

Lee Family Reunion 2006: China
A Tronkie Travellogue
Day 21: En Route (Beijing, China - Manhattan, KS)


Beijing International Airport - one of my usual "farewell" snapshots.
Click any image to enlarge.

( China, all the way to New York )
( Morning: DVD shopping )
( Early afternoon: getting ready to go )
( Movies on a plane )

--
Banazir

Lee Family Reunion 2006: China
A Tronkie Travellogue
Day 20: Beijing International Airport and Da Dong Roast Duck Restaurant

"I fear we have awakened the sleeping giant, and filled him with a terrible resolve."
    -Admiral Isokoru Yamamoto (1884-1943), in 1941, of the United States of America, when asked about the Japanese navy's prospects after Pearl Harbor

"When China awakes the world will tremble."
    -Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), in 1809

( China's long sleep and slow awakening )
( Photographs of the city )

--
Banazir

Lee Family Reunion 2006: China
A Tronkie Travellogue
Day 19: Hongqiao Market


Hand-carved seals and stamps at Hongqiao Market.
Click any image to enlarge.

( Hongqiao Market: buyer's advice )
( The developing Chinese economy )
( Foreigners in Beijing )
( Religious practice in China )
( The Silk Road )
( Images of Hongqiao )
( Banazir Galbasi's Excellent Haircut )

--
Banazir

Lee Family Reunion 2006: China
A Tronkie Travellogue
Day 18: Beijing, China


The entrance to City Golf Greenery at Jiangzhuanghu, the community where my uncle's family lives. "Fifty-five North American villas" reads the street-facing side of the above arch. The contrast in architectural styles makes this development a microcosm of Westernization, an enclave set apart from the surrounding city - but not as sharply as you might think.

( Communism in China )
( A digression on dinner and state-owned wineries )

--
Banazir

Lee Family Reunion 2006: China
A Tronkie Travellogue
Day 17: Beijing, China


A Dairy Queen (DQ) at the Oriental Plaza Mall in downtown Beijing.
Click on any image to enlarge.

( Computer problems update )
( Desperately Seeking Drivers )
( Burned DVD-Rs failing data validation )
( Crashes on shutdown )

( Departures )
( The Legend of Barbecque Pork )
( Many photos )

--
Banazir

Lee Family Reunion 2006: China
A Tronkie Travellogue
Day 16: Beijing, China


The Hangzhou finals of Chao Nu (Supergirl), the female analogue of Chinese Idol or Pop Idol.
The uniformed pair are Reborn, a twin sister duo. The girls are former soldiers based in Hangzhou but were born, and grew up very poor, in Xinjiang Province.

( Xiaotianbao meets the TEUNCs )
( Many Toons )
( The Visitors )
( Supergirl )
( Many Returns )

--
Banazir

Lee Family Reunion 2006: China
A Tronkie Travellogue
Day 15: Beijing, China


My fifth aunt (Kai-Ming), uncle (Kai-Fu), grandmother, mother, and cousin Melody, at the Temple of Heaven.
Click any image to enlarge.

( Ten Below: family whereabouts )
( Dinner visitors )
( Farewells )

--
Banazir

Lee Family Reunion 2006: China
A Tronkie Travellogue
Day 14: Lido Plaza, Beijing, China


My cousin Jennifer, my fourth aunt, Jennifer's little sister Cynthia, and Banamum, shopping at Lido Plaza.
Click any image to enlarge.

( Lunch: dim sum )
( Afternoon: shopping at Lido Plaza )

--
Banazir

Lee Family Reunion 2006: China
A Tronkie Travellogue
Day 13: The Tombs of the Ming Emperors and the Great Wall of China



( Morning: The Tombs of the Ming Emperors )
( Afternoon: The Great Wall of China )

--
Banazir

Lee Family Reunion 2006: China
A Tronkie Travellogue
Day 12: The Forbidden City and Yong He Temple (Yong He Gong)



( Morning: The Forbidden City )
( Afternoon: Yonghe Lama Temple )

--
Banazir

Lee Family Reunion 2006: China
A Tronkie Travellogue
Day 11: Tian An Men Square and Da Zhai Men Dinner Theatre


A face dancer at Dazhaimen, an immersive dinner theatre in Beijing.

( Morning: The Gate of Heavenly Peace )
( Evening: Bianlian and Chinese Opera Dinner Theatre )

--
Banazir

Lee Family Reunion 2006: China
A Tronkie Travellogue
Day 10: The Temple of Heaven (Tiantan) and Hong Qiao Market



Upper left: My cousin Jon, his girlfriend Michelle, my cousin Emily, her husband Minki, and me in the courtyard of the Temple of Heaven.
Upper right: A closeup of the main pagoda.
Lower left: A row of lamps near the outer gate.
Lower right: Stone carvings on the stairs leading down from the main pagoda.
Click any image to enlarge.

( Morning at home )
( Early afternoon: The Temple of Heaven )
( Late afternoon: Hong Qiao Market )
( Evening: Lee family reunion dinner at the Jade Garden )
( Chinese kinship relations )

--
Banazir

Lee Family Reunion 2006: China
A Tronkie Travellogue
Day 9: Beijing, China



( A day at home )
( Memento )
( Caveat emptor: airlines and ISPs in China )

Lee Family Reunion 2006: China
A Tronkie Travellogue
Day 8: The Night of Bel Canto, Peking (Beijing) University



( A day at home )
( Evening: opera at Beijing University )

--
Banazir

Lee Family Reunion 2006: China
A Tronkie Travellogue
Day 7: Beijing, China



( Another day at home )
( Dinner at the Jade Garden )

--
Banazir