Girl and City

This morning I went to the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Museum. It was quite an eye-opener. The details of the Nanjing Massacre are particularly gruesome, and I can’t believe that this hasn’t received more attention.

Did you know that 300,000 people were slaughtered by invading Japanese soldiers? This started before World War II but ended with the Japanese’s surrender. Although the official position of the Chinese government is that the Chinese people “won” an Anti-Japanese movement that lasted for 14 years, my position is that the Japanese had to surrender to the U.S. and China was just lucky.

Did you know that in addition to mass slaughters of soldiers, they indiscriminately included civilians in these mass slaughters? According to the correspondence of certain Japanese generals, the “invasion” of Japan into China wasn’t an official war, and therefore, the soldiers that surrendered were not protected under international treaties (with regards to captives). Moreover, they murdered cilivians on the basis that soldiers could hide themselves among the civilians. But really, is that justification for hauling out ALL the men in a town and bayoneting them into the Yangtze? Were the four year-old civilian boys also suspected of being soldiers?

Did you know that thousands of women in Nanjing were raped? As one journalist put it, “No woman in Nanjing is safe.” They raped the ugly, the pretty, the old, and the young, all the same. There was evidence that they cut off the vaginas of some women, or pierced their pelvic area with a bayonet. The Japanese soldiers were no longer acting like soldiers, but beasts.

Did you know that there is evidence in the dug-up bodies that people were being used for bacterial and toxic experiments?

Did you know that entire cities were looted and many cities burned for days, weeks, or even months? There are a few cities that burned for so long that nothing remained whatsoever except the bodies of the dead. The burnings were to hide the evidence of the mass slaughters and other atrocities that took place. Meanwhile, Japanese newspapers were heavily censored and no real images from Nanjing ever reached the public. Instead, Japanese newspapers said that Nanjing was a peaceful and even calm place. To this day, the Japanese government claims that the Nanjing Massacre never happened and it is left out of Japanese textbooks. All the Japanese people I’ve met have never heard of it.

Did you know that even in the “Safe Zone” established by foreign missionaries, Japanese soldiers came and killed and raped as they pleased?

Did you know that after the war was over, only one Japanese general was given the death sentence as a war criminal? ONE. (more…)

Part of 30 Days of Me

A week ago today, I packed my life’s belongings into two suitcases and left Toronto, with the song “Leaving on a jet plane” fittingly stuck in my head.

Although I’ve only been in China for a week, it feels a lot longer than that. I’ve already adjusted to the rhythm of life here, the heat, the horrible traffic, the delicious (but often salty) food, and so on. Usually on my visits to China, I regard everything with a somewhat temporal indifference, knowing I’ll return to Canada sooner or later, as if I expect to be awoken from a dream at any moment. This time it’s different. Sure, Singapore and China are vastly different, but they are also quite alike, and I am getting myself ready (for Asia in general) through these similarities: the heat, the fact that the population is a homogenous sea of black hair, the intensely flavoured food, and so on.

In light of my more permanent outlook, I have tried more consciously to adopt the new culture, which means opening myself up for new experiences. Thus, this past week has contained a lot of firsts for me.
It was my first time moving, permanently, away from home. It was my first time having to say goodbye to all the important people in my life. It was my first time eating (and actually stomaching) lamb hot pot and tofu soup and freshwater lobsters. It was my first time taking cold showers. It was my first time exploring Nanjing on my own. And tomorrow, it will be my first time traveling in China alone¹. (more…)

1. Tomorrow I go to Shanghai by train, a few days later, I’ll be flying to Hong Kong. [↩]

I’ve been eating extremely well in China, which isn’t difficult given that everything¹ here is better than anything I’ve had in Canada times ten.

Let’s walk through a typical day of eating for me in Nanjing.

Breakfast starts at 5am² and is usually at a xiao chi dian which is kind of like a dim sum stand with road-side aluminum furniture. Sketchy? Yes, a little. Delicious? Definitely. Luckily, I’m not someone with a sensitive stomach and I have never gotten sick from eating in China.

In the last four days, I’ve had quite a variety of breakfast items: plain steamed buns (man tou), veggie or pork-filling steamed buns (bao zi), glutinous rice buns (shao mai), fried dough sticks (you tiao), soy milk or tofu soup (dou jiang, dou nao), congee (xi fan).

Some xiao chi items can be repeated for lunch, such as steamed buns. Nanjing has the best xiao long bao in the country, many would argue.

(more…)

1. When I say ‘everything’, I’m mostly referring to all Chinese food. [↩]
2. Everyone gets up really early here because mid-day and early afternoon is too hot to function, so that’s usually nap-time. [↩]

Part of 30 Days of Me

I woke up at 5am for the second day in a row, although today it was on purpose. My aunt and uncle had told me they always go hiking on the early mornings of weekends, so I got up early and dressed in my “most casual” clothes. I honestly didn’t bring any shorts or t-shirts, other than my fitness clothes which are a little bit awkward to wear on a hike (most people in China just wear shorts and a white t-shirt when they exercise). I ended up wearing an Esprit t-shirt and a pair of khaki capris.

We went to Purple Mountain, which also has a lake that my uncle normally goes swimming in every morning. I saw enough wrinkly old men in tight swimming trunks to last me a lifetime. The sad thing is, most of these seniors are in better shape than I am. I saw one old lady on the bridge who looked to be at least 70, and she could lift her leg all the way up to touch her head! I don’t think I’ve been able to do that since I was six years old.

We didn’t hike to the top because my uncle said we had a lot more to see, so I still had plenty of energy and was in the lead the whole time. Little did I know how much more climbing and walking we’d be doing the rest of the day.

We then went to the tomb of the first Ming dynasty emporer, Ming Kang Xi, which had been recently restored and was quite colourful. In China, when you say you’re going to see a tomb, most of the time, it doesn’t mean you actually see the tomb (although sometimes it does). Usually, it means you’re going to see the palace built to house the tomb, which is what we did. These palaces are stunning, with thick outer walls and colourful inner walls, with big arched gates and red doors with gold handles, with stone lions and dragons carved on bridges and stone fences. Everything had a fanciful name like “Heavenly Peace Gate” and “Stone Phoenix Bridge”. (more…)

We stood on my front porch, facing each other in semi-darkness. It was the moment we’d both been dreading.
“I’m sure I’ll come visit you within the next two years. After all, I haven’t been to Malaysia yet, and Malaysia is right next to Singapore.”
I nodded, “I’m sure we’ll see each other.”

And then he kissed me. Or I kissed him. Our lips came together in the most natural way, as if they were two pieces of a puzzle, meant to fit side-by-side. Our kisses became urgent, as if we were cheating time. Four years of suppressed emotion spilled out of me into that kiss. The moment felt like an eternity and a millisecond all at once. (more…)