Postcards from China

Another “follow-up” post, this time to the tale of our visit to Anhai’s Wu Li Qiao, or Five Mile Bridge.

I went back not long ago with my Mother-In-Law and two daughters, and this time we walked further down the bridge than I’ve ever gone before–perhaps 3/4 of the length and back. This time I learned a bit more about the bridge from my Mother-In-Law, such as:

• Half the bridge is in the jurisdiction (and under the care of) Jinjiang County (i.e. the Anhai side), the other half by another county, Nan’an County. The structure of these two halves is different. The Jinjiang/Anhai side has six stones across the breadth of the bridge. The other half has seven.
• The supports on the Nan’an side are boat-shaped, as seen in this picture. On the Jinjiang side, they’re square.
• In the 50’s and 60’s, water around the bridge was clean enough to swim in. Now it looks like it could melt steel.
• Last year, people stole a pair of statues (pictures below) from the mid-point temple during the night, with several people required to carry each one away to a waiting boat, with the ultimate plan of smuggling them to a buyer outside the country. The “kidnappers” were captured before making the shipment out of the country, though, and the statues returned, however. (This wasn’t the first kidnap attempt, just the first time they actually got them away from the temple. On an attempt some years back, the thieves dislodged the statues, but apparently didn’t bring enough helpers to carry them. Darned heavy mo-fo’s, I’ll wager.)

Some photos from our outing:

My Mother-In-Law and 4-Year-Old Daughter in front of the Anhai-side bridge gate:

My two daughters in front of the mid-bridge temple altar:

The mid-bridge temple ceiling:

Detail of a stone inscription on the mid-bridge temple wall:

Stone inscription at the mid-bridge temple:

The view out the front door of the mid-bridge temple
(Those are the stolen-but-rescued statues dressed in red):

Halfway between the mid-bridge temple and the Nan’an end of the bridge, you’ll find this small kiosk-sized temple. The old man inside is telling one girl’s fortune while her friend waits to the right.

Just a couple follow-up notes on the “Chinese Adoption, the Jinjiang Orphanage, and the One-Child Policy” story:

• I heard from another parent whose adopted child was cared for in this orphanage, and–I’m sharing this just to provide an even broader view of these children’s stories–this youngster was born in need of medical attention that the parents couldn’t afford and was therefore left with “a heartbreaking letter” explaining that they hoped the government could provide the child with the care she needed. They did, and she’s now a healthy 4 1/2 year old in the USA.
• Earlier I commented that “It’s not easy to hide an ‘unauthorized pregnancy’ to term in China, and some of these young women probably went to great lengths with some personal risk to carry their pregnancies to term, and then they or probably some close relative left their children somewhere they were sure to be found safely.” It may be easier, I gleaned in a conversation with another townsperson, if the expectant mother is the daughter or other close relative of someone in a position of power or authority. Now, I’m not saying that any of these adopted girls are biological granchildren of the town’s mayor or province’s governor or anything like that…but I am saying that there may be some “unauthorized pregnancies” that have an easier time of going to term because of who the family is. I don’t have details or names or numbers–and wouldn’t share them if I did–but there it is: word on the street is, it happens.

I wrote about Anhai’s Soon-To-Be-Extinct “Taxis” awhile back, but now it seems we won’t have to hoof it all the way across town when July 1st comes.

The government here has already started phasing in a new low-cost transportation system. No, not a monorail (”low cost,” I sez), but a small “shuttle bus” system with vehicles that look like what you might ride around in for a tour of Universal Studios:

The cost per ride is still fairly low, and it’s a bit slower–you have to wait for one to show up along a regular route (instead of hail a now ubiquitous “Anhai Taxi”) and then stop a few times en route to wherever you’re going for other riders to get on and off. But they’re a heckuvalot safer. You can see more, too, making them an decent option for just touring around town to see what’s what.

The view from inside a cramped “Anhai Taxi,” on the other hand, typically looks like this:

Of course in the new vehicles, foreigners are more visible than in an Anhai taxi, but riding in these with (1) a whole bunch of people on the streets who (2) are all looking your way, you sort of feel like the grand marshal in a parade. At least I did. I just started waving to everyone like I was running for re-election or something, and lots of them started waving back.