Day 10: Yaxi-Gaochun, Thursday, June 26, 2012

 

Today we are going to write about the government. The last few days we had the great opportunity to meet several high level representatives of local government agencies like the mayor of the Slow City Yaxi, the mayor of Gaochun, or the town`s planner. This would – as we expected – give us the chance to ask a lot of questions. Unfortunately they were not always interested to answer and because you never say ‘no’ in China, they had their own way to get out of inconvenient situations like answering a seemingly imaginary question or pointing out a fantastic building or scenery we have to see: “Have a look! I’ll show you”. Our lovely guide Cherry was already introduced yesterday. Also today she was with us and because she was very friendly we started to ask her the questions the others didn’t answer and so sometimes we slowly got the information we’d like to have. Through Cherry we got the chance for many meetings, lunches and dinners – a lot of Chinese food and habits like not finishing a dish we like and making Gānbēi.

Dinner with the vice mayor of Gaochun the night before (Photo: Heike Mayer)

Before we said goodbye to her and her colleges she invited us for the most luxurious lunch we had so far – and I guess it will stay the most luxurious one for this journey. Those were the positive effects of being accompanied by the government. The other side is to be – or feel – watched all the time and follow their schedules, no matter if it matches with yours or not. They have their plans and they may not absolutely don’t have to fit with yours. A little example is the workshop witch was mentioned yesterday. We thought it will be a real interaction and learning from each other – because it was called a WORKSHOP – but no, they presented us their plans. Well at least later at the famous dinner they asked about our opinion. If they still know Prof. Mayer’s input after all the Gānbēi is, however, unknown. What we want to point out is in Chinese politics nothing goes straight and direct but everything is implemented; as does the 5-year plan. The local government is free in action but because the representatives are chosen by the central government and they make sure the plan gets followed. You can feel this in every interaction we had. One example illustrates this: After the lunch we mentioned that we visited the Gaochun Incubator Park. So far there is just the main building and an elaborate model (as usual) illustrates what is planned: a park, twice or even triple the size of already existing Gaochun (but always keep in mind; it’s a Chinese plan. You never know what it will be in the end). Second, as we understand an incubator is a park or institution that offers facilities to start-ups or small firms which makes it easier for them to set a foot into the market. Usually after several years they are either too big, too successful or they failed so that they have to leave the park. In Gaochun’s Incubator Park they do select their firms by sector but not by type of business. Most of the eighteen firms in the incubator are linked to the government. Either the government brought them there or at least the firm is working for it like the GIS company we met.

View from the incubator building in Gaochun (Photo: Heike Mayer)

Model of Goachun`s development plans (Photo: Heike Mayer)

On the other hand we visited the ceramics factory in Gaochun in the morning. As Cherry told us this firm - formerly a TVE (township and village enterprise) - today is independent of the government (so-called listed). They have a sales strategy that covers on the one hand the domestic market and on the other the market abroad (easily recognized by design: totally different styles!! Chinese People obviously love ‘kitsch’ like the wedding dishes and a lot of colors while American companies like Target or Walmart buy dishes that are much larger than their Chinese counterparts). The ceramics company also is engaged in industry-tourism by offering tours through their factory. After we saw how they ‘paint’ the ceramics we knew why we stopped first at the shop with the expensive pieces. After you have seen how they make the patterns you would not pay these prices anymore. A lot of Chinese women glue pre-plotted patterns on the ceramics. A bit of IKEA-feeling came up. But to be fair: the very special pieces like for example the vases are handmade. We got to see one of the artists making one: BREATHTAKING. He was sitting on a little stage with a block of clay and formed a wonderful vase. There was no chance to know what it would look like in the end because every other second the shape was changing. This kind of ceramics are hand-painted and worth its price (> 2’000 CHF). We think the influence of the government in the case of the ceramics company retains to monitoring and promoting this type of business.

Ceramics factory in Gaochun (Photo: Heike Mayer)

Upon leaving Gaochun/Yaxi-Region we left our friendly and very hospitable host Cherry and boarded our 7*-golden-bus. Funny to watch that by now we are conditioned to fall asleep as soon as the engine starts. While napping or playing Jass we drove back to Nanjing for another night before heading to Beijing. This time we checked into a lovely hostel in Nanjing: full of colors, stuff from all over the world, fantastic terrace and after three days finally internet access again J. As we had a lot of Chinese lunches and dinners, once again Pizza Hut and McDonalds were the most favorite places for dinner. With playing Jass, drinking beer and chatting we enjoyed the evening, relaxed and at least tired enough to go to bed a little bit earlier than the other nights, which was good because a ride with the taxis awaited us for 7 am the next morning. And so we’d like to say Gānbēi and good night.

Shopping mall in Nanjing (Photo: Heike Mayer)

"Fast" development in Nanjing (Photo: Heike Mayer)

Step count on our pedometer: 13 700

Gierina Cathomas, Sarah Leuthold