The introspective train home

It's 3:00am in the morning. My ass is so sore...(mind out the gutter) It's only been six hours on this train. Another 42 to go. Non-stop. Urumqi to Shenzhen. The moon is out and the window, glazed with dust. I sit near the toilet on a hard seat, no bed and all because I wanted to be a stingy Indian and not pay extra for a bed. Strangely enough, I'm satisfied with my decision to take the seat, eventhough the air is thick with cigarette smoke and the toilet laden with human feaces. The communist concoction of human waste with wasted humans creeps up into my nostrils as the constant buzz of tik tok and everybody not using earphones as per usual in China, drums my ears.

The man next to me has offered me some dried chick peas after he, just minutes ago, farted silently, but firmly against my leg. It's almost as hard as rocks, but still I chew away. The people next to me, a mixture of Han, Hui and Uyghur are gambling, which is illegal in China. The man opposite me can't take his eyes off my beard and keeps commenting on it. The reality is, I have absolutely no clue what he is saying. It strikes me that perhaps he might be Uyghur and is so intrigued because it has become illegal for him to grow one as China cracks down on them and their religious freedoms. I'm reminded of the Uyghur girl I met in Turpan who gave me cakes (actual sponge cakes, no other type of cake) the moment she met me. We had a brief conversation about our origins and then parted ways. The following day, I was heading to a mosque, which wasn't there because it had been destroyed and low and behold, I passed the same girl cleaning a home. She called me in and introduced me to her dad. There it was, I was going to get married. Nah, the man was quite chilled and was more intrigued in the repairs he was making to his toilet than the hairy Indian at his door. After a small tour of her home, I asked her why the mosque had been demolished. She replied by saying, "Xinjiang is very strict." I didn't know what to think. As a South African, freedom is one of our founding principles, but to her, it seemed, the freedom of her religion was just a case of symantics.

The gamblers. 

Back on the train, I try and use Google translate to communicate with the locals, but the direct translation doesn't always seem to make sense. In that moment I can't help but feel a sense of justification for China's stance towards the, 'lowai' or, 'foreigner'. You see, this country treats foreigners very differently to SA. What would be called racial profiling in SA, is just a case of procedure here. To stay at a hotel, they have to be certified to handle the foreigner. When you you travel somewhere, they sometimes expect the foreigner to travel separately from the locals. I always think of some Chinese politician high up in the CPC producing a documentary on the foreigner and narrating it like David Attenborough does then teaching it to all the ministers and faculties that are certified to handle foreigners in this country. The reality is that I am strange to these folk. I'm so different. I sit here eating Oreos whilst they eat Chicken feet and bread. I mean where in SA would I see people eating Chicken feet on the train and regularly at that? They take their shoes off and dig their toes and it's normal here whereas in SA, I wouldn't wait a second before someone gave a look of disgust or a comment of barbarity. Perhaps when you are 1 person in 1.6billion, there is case for David Attenborough narration. 

It's amazing how we look at disability as being a physical or mental condition. We forget that even the environment around us can be an enabler or disabler. Something as simple as language or in my case, a lack of mandarin has reduced the foreigner to nothing more than a baby making strange sounds to Chinese. As they continue to ask me questions that I don't understand after I have repeatedly told them, "Timbadong Jongwen" which means, "I don't understand Chinese." they seem to thing that slowing it down and yelling it at me will somehow make me understand it. Nevertheless, in this time of hear no evil, see no evil, a Uyghur man next to me offers to teach me to play a simple card game. I decline, saying it will be impossible as I don't understand the language, but he insists and with no speaking at all, just a simple laying of cards on top of one another and tossing the odd card every now and then, he pulls it off and teaches me the game. It's so strange how much we learn from the things that aren't said. It almost feels like the time I spent at school, University and teacher training has taught me something so different about the simple transferring of knowledge that a mere pigeon racer seated beside me has. Perhaps the words unsaid, say they most. 

The train keeps going... Long into the starless night. The seats are extremely small and hard - made to suit the Chinese physiology, not the stiff foreigner. Many people laugh as I continuously riggle around trying to get into a comfortable position. Suddenly I hear a voice from behind me. It's a standing passenger. (On Chinese trains, there are 4 types of tickets sold: first class, sleeper, hard seat and standing) An old, wrinkled, soot-nailed man and his little wife had been sleeping on an opened, flattened, cardboard  box just a little way behind me. They too, were making the journey from Urumqi to Shenzhen and had taken an even cheaper, but less convenient option than I had. Over the entire trip, the only thing I saw this man and wife eat, were sunflower seeds and the odd piece of bread. He called me with a mere lifting of his palm toward his wrinkly face. It was so wrinkled, it reminded me of the pages of an old book. He rose of the cardboard and tapped on it, offering me his bed - the only spot on the train that I could actually fully stretch horizontally without pressing on my tender glutes. I was, for the second time in China, struck by the pure willingness to share when one has so little, yet so much to give. With tear-filled eyes, I lay upon his tattered, brown bed and slept for the night. 

The man, his wife and bed I didn't know of yet. 

The elusive Chinese Moon Cake

Having been placed in mandatory quarantine by the Coronese (I said I would stop doing this!) government in Guangzhou for nothing more than bearing an African passport, on day 9, I was suddenly released! I believe this sudden release was as a result of African nations and others putting foreign Chinese diplomats on the spot with regards to the issues. However, there are still a few issues that seem to bother me:

Firstly, that clown assistant, whom I mentioned in the previous blog, who 'gifted me sausage' (take your mind out of the gutters!) didn't want to release me after the government order came through as she said that it was too late and nobody was available to pick me up. She expected me to pay for another night. Secondly, after marching down and my company representative fetching me, they continued to spray me as well as my luggage because apparently, even after being in quarantine for 9 days and 4 tests later, you and your luggage still pose a threat... Thirdly, on the first morning of my release, I was told to come downstairs to collect a gift from the local officials. It included, two boxes of cookies and a tray of the elusive Chinese Moon cake - the moistest of all cakes. (head out the gutters!)  For those who don't know, Chinese Moon cake is traditionally made during the mid-autumn festival. It fetches a very high price, up to $10 a slice as a result of its seasonal appearance and expensive lotus paste. This little cake is amazing and I last tasted one about 15 years ago from a lady in my hometown. How I longed for this sticky, moist, petite, little cake (no pun intended). Perhaps my 9 day quarantine was destiny...

The cookies I received from the local officials (Mooncakes in the center).

What a load of crap! Of course it wasn't destiny apart from the fact that everything is. No one, sticky cake can make up for the discrimination and utter close-mindedness of the Guangzhou government. On receiving the gift, I was told by my company that it was a way of apologizing to me... Something that Chinese people never seem to do, which apparently stems from their cultural revolution! To me, It was one whole big media ploy of how the Chinese government has a 'good relationship with its expats'.  On handing me the gifts, they kept trying to take pictures of me. I turned away, signed their forms and took the cookies. A few days later, they were back with two policemen, a security guard, a local official and more gifts. They kept telling me to strike a peace sign whilst holding up one of their bags with a heart on it and every time I refused, they called the security guard to speak to me (they still don't seem to understand that the native African cannot speak Morse code (Ok! it's Mandarin, but I'm angry)). They gave me masks, soap, hand sanitizer, a stretch band and a hoola-hoop which proceeded with a full demonstration of how to wash my hands, put on the mask and use the fitness equipment. 

Before they left, the official said, "Thank you for supporting us." I replied, "There is a difference between support and duress." He smiled and left. My experience was absolutely humiliating but brings me a tenth closer to those South Africans who were detained under the 90 day detention law -  Imagine you were a black South African in 1963 and walking around the local shops. All of a sudden, you are detained and locked away in prison for no reason for 90 days without a lawyer under the 90 day detention law. Then, after you were released you were to stand outside the prison and take a picture with the people that locked you away so that they could show the world how great they are and how much you, the detainee, support their discriminatory and unjust system. I can honestly say how lucky I am to not have experienced this and I do empathize with the many South Africans that did - my little experience has given me a mere taste of what you must have gone through.

What angers me most is how the Chinese government is lying to the rest of the world: There are still Africans being involuntarily tested, not allowed into places and being kicked out of their accommodation. What hurt me most, was not the alien sentiment I felt from the locals or the turning away of people as they walk past you but instead,  as a Muslim myself, it was not being allowed into a local Muslim restaurant, during Ramadaan, whilst other local non-muslims were. I was always taught that Islam means "Peace" and to view other Muslims as brothers and sister before Sunis, Shias, Tabliquees, Soofies and Hanafees etc.  The government gives us foreigners a phone number to call if we face discrimination and I have called many a time, but again, it seems to be one big media ploy - Nothing is ever done, we are still discriminated against. It's all a ploy to make their image look good. I urge you to go onto booking.com and try to find a place to stay in China, book it and see how many of the places will only offer rooms to Chinese mainland nationals or in some cases, after offering it to you, call you once you have booked to tell you that they do not offer it to foreigners as per the order of the Chinese government. How can they be telling the world that there is no discrimination when one can see this on an international platform and they themselves have agreed to testing African people, exclusively?

Whilst my experience thus far has only been in Guangzhou. I have recently been moved out to a smaller city, called Huizhou so that I can commence with  my work. Hopefully the small town sense of community is present here and people look beyond their masks.

Whilst most people are upset at this country for its discriminatory and unjust laws, we should not allow it to consume our thoughts and guide our actions for we cannot be free if our thoughts aren't. "Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better." - Albert Camus      

The curious case of the open minded Halaali

As a traveler, one of the most important features that one should have is to have an open mind. I am all for this, but there are some boundaries that I just cannot cross as a Muslim especially with regards to my diet. However, Asia seems to have other plans for me.

As a Muslim, I often get asked what it means for food to be Halaal. So let's get to the bottom of it. Firstly, the word doesn't necessarily refer to food, but rather to ideas of the Islamic faith. For something to be Halaal, is for it to be permissible or lawful in Islam. Secondly, with regards to food, a bit of explanation is needed and I have to say that most South African's and central Asians have a pretty good to brilliant understanding of this, in my experience at least. East Asians (Koreans, Japanese, Coronese(Chinese) (I should stop doing this!)) tend to suffer a bit in this department and you'll soon read why.

For meat to be Halaal, it must be slaughtered in a specified way: The animal may not be stunned before slaughter nor may it see another animal being slaughtered. It should be slaughtered with a single swipe through the carotid artery, jugular vein and windpipe and allowed to bleed out after being prayed for. That being said, a pig can never be Halaal even if slaughtered in this manner. In addition, if non-halaal food comes into contact with Halaal food, the Halaal food is no longer Halaal. We say it is Haraam (Forbidden, not permissible, contaminated - you get the idea.)

Sounds pretty simple and to be honest, it is! So why then has the following happened:

My time in Korea was absolutely amazing, from the Cherry blossoms to the never sleeping city of Seoul, the adventure kept growing...Just like my hunger! Korean's absolutely love meat, pork in particular and fried chicken as well. Both of these I could not have...(Why couldn't they find Muslim man to slaughter the damn chickens) I could tell you about the number of times I ordered vegetable soup and it came in pork stock or how Korean's don't consider ham to be meat (the Korean word for stupid is babo) but instead I will tell you about the cheese pizza I once ordered.

The Koreans don't mess around with chicken  

It was during the month of Ramadaan in which Muslims do the mandatory fast from sunrise to sunset. It was time to break fast, so a couple of Muslims friends of mine and I went to a nearby pizza place. We ordered one seafood pizza and another margarita. I still remember asking the cashier if the pizza had any meat on and he said no. Why then was I surprised when that cheese pizza had 15 of the pinkest slices of filthy pig (pigs aren't really filthy, I was upset) ham on it? What's more, a single medium pizza in Korea is about R130 and frugal Indian here was not about to lose.  I proceeded back to cashier and asked why there was ham on the pizza after he had told us there was no meat and his reply was, "Ham no meat."  After telling him that I couldn't eat it, he said OK and took the pizza back. He then took a pair tweezers and removed each peace of ham from that pizza with such precision as though he was diffusing a bomb! I decided to cut my losses and eventually said thank you and took the pizza, which I later gave to a homeless man not far away.

In hindsight, I think that I was meant to get that ham pizza. Ramadaan is also the month of charity -  because I received a ham pizza that day, some homeless man had a meal...

One of the perks of being a teacher in Korea is that you get a well balanced lunch at school everyday. On the very first day, I had informed the cook that I cannot eat any meat apart from fish and eggs. So not to inconvenience the kitchen staff, on days when there were meat options, I would just eat rice and have fruit. There was one day when I was given 5 rice balls beautifully wrapped in seaweed. They seemed to have a dark purpley brown colour to them, so I assumed it was brown and red rice that was used. I was about 4 down when I asked the local teacher next to me how these were made. She replied, "Oh, is very easy! We take a rice, we add a blud (blood...yes blood), a pigs blud. Then we boil until rice good. Then we put in seaweed."

I started a new paragraph here to indicate the pause I took just as I did in Korea as the 4th bloody rice ball was in my mouth as she was telling me it's makeup. I spat it out and told that I could not have it and her reply was,"Don worry, is not meat. Is blud, you can have!" I decided to leave it there and give the 5th ball to Onyu, a third grade student of mine....(lose is lose) (I have to admit, sadly, bloody rice ball was tasty!)

On day 4 of my 14 day lockdown here in China, I ordered supper as I am not allowed to leave my room. I have to order through a lady downstairs as all the ordering apps are all in Mandarin which I cannot understand. I had previously ordered the same meal, fried eggs and tomato, as I did today ,except that today, I wanted it with rice instead of noodles. I paid the lady R45 for my meal and within 30minutes, my meal arrived. It was stir fried rice with a lovely fat pork sausage running through the middle...ie not what I had ordered. I messaged the lady:

Me: I think someone else's food has come to my room by mistake.

Lady: No, it's yours.

Me: This is has meat in it and I have previously told you that I can't eat meat.

Lady: You ordered that last time

Me: I didn't. I had tomato and fried egg with noodles. This meal has a sausage.

Lady: The sausage was a gift.

Me: There are no tomatoes here.

Lady: Take sausage out and eat it!

Me: I can't. It's contaminated.

Lady: No no. No virus in food!

Me: (hehehehe)Can I please have another meal or a refund, I can't eat meat?

Lady: Sausage is not meat. Take the sausage out and eat it! I made mistake. Order from someone else next time.

Me: I can't eat from animal flesh. Please can I have a refund or and egg at least (I was hungry at this point)

Lady: (Blue ticks)

Asia: 3

Naadir: 0

Remember that open mind thing I wrote about in the first paragraph? Well, this is one such case where it definitely applies. As angry I was, there was no point at taking it out on her. Whilst China has over 10 million Muslims, it has 1.39Billion people, and practices a very rigid way of life with no religious freedoms and teachings. To be specific, there was a 0.7% chance that she could have ever seen a Muslim let alone engaged with one. I realized at that point how fortunate I was to be a South African: to have had the opportunity to meet an learn about so many different types of people, their culture and heritage and moreover to celebrate our diversity instead of treat it like it is some kind of evil. 

To be an open minded traveler is more than just to accept. "It is to release with every exhalation the barriers, boundaries, expectations and attachments you carry with you. It is to praise life with every inhalation, to welcome new thoughts and ideas. It is to leave nothing on your path but grace. To listen to the birds, the waves and the insects. To smell what the breeze brings you. To see every colour, every angle of light, every beetle. To taste and touch what is presented to you with mindfulness to what you are tasting and touching. To allow the natural environment to speak to you and for you to listen as you go in peace." - Camino  

A case of close-minded communism

The PRC, also know as the People's Republic of Corona formerly called China and my new home for one year boasts a population of 1.39 billion people, the fastest train, most skyscrapers, longest wall in the world and has recently been praised by the World Health Organization for its response to the Corona pandemic, is currently checking "all foreigners" for the virus and placing us "all" under lockdown.

At first, you might be reading this and thinking that it is a very good measure and precaution to prevent further spread of the virus and to the extent that my statement is true, I would agree, especially since we have seen the numbers in China stabilize whilst the rest of the world continues to increase in general, thus it does make sense to check incoming foreigners. Before I begin to share my evidence and experience for the contradiction of the point above, I have to give credit where it is due: Now, given the current propaganda in the Chinese media, my points hereafter should be taken with a grain of salt, but having been in China for almost two months I can say that what I have seen from both the Chinese people and government has been exemplary. 

The government dealt with each province differently, locking down the Hubei province in which the epicenter, Wuhan, is situated and keeping other provinces semi-operational whilst others in full lockdown. Down in the Guangdong province, where I am situated, public transport was still operational, but businesses were closed, however, they could still function via the large network of delivery services and ease of online payment schemes. If we walked around, we were policed by citizens as well as officials to wear our masks. Our temperature was tested at every entrance and we could not enter without a mask. It was compulsory for us to wear masks wherever we went and we were tracked via our cellphones to ensure that we had not been in high risk zones. We were also given an app to show to officials that indicated our health and were given hand sanitizer before entering any building. When receiving food, we were always given plastic gloves to eat with, that came wrapped in a condom-like enclosure!

However, I remember things being a little strange when I asked a man how many religions there were in China and he replied, "Only Wun! Buddhism." And then proceeded to take me to a traditional Uyghur Muslim restaurant where we were served by a Muslim man wearing a thopi (Muslim head gear) . Things got worse after a man asked me if South Africa and Africa were different countries...Yes, countries... (In Mandarin the word for stupid man is Dum Fuk). However, I didn't know these peoples'stories, hence my judgment is from my bias and not theirs. 

The real pain of my stay came just within the last two weeks:

Firstly, the damn cleaning lady! Every, single, day at 7:30am, eventhough I had put the 'Do not disturb' sign on the door  "Ni Hao pu dien! pu dien!" and she would continue to open the door then close it as if she was soooo shocked and could not believe to see I was still asleep. This happened for 8 days straight. What made it worse was by the time she had left and not cleaned my room, I was wide awake... May her legs break (joking) in many pieces (not joking)

Secondly, policemen and guards in China are extremely rude. They don't understand how to talk. Everything is SHOUT so that the common person remains extremely fearful. Well, they never thought about the Indian foreigner they'd be shouting at that cannot understand a word they are saying.  I recall a day that I went into the passage of my hotel to quietly do some stretches as my room was too small. After 15 minutes the guard came up to me and spoke abruptly in mandarin. I told him that I couldn't understand him, but I think he thought that I couldn't hear him so he shouted out the same phrase! I decided to take this convo to Google translate and tell him that my room is too small so I came out to do some stretches. He nodded and proceeded into my room to the aircon control, which he turned to as low as possible. He then physically pushed my into the room and closed the door... I hope his legs...

Thirdly, whilst sleeping one morning, I was awakened by my old friends: the cleaning lady and guard only to find them already in my room snooping around, taking pictures of everything... I mean, how rude could she be? She didn't even greet this time!

The real bane of my time in China came 3 days ago. Whilst exploring the 300 or so channels on my hotel room TV. After hearing a loud knock on my door, I opened and was firmly spoken to in English by a well-dresses Chinese man in black. He was accompanied by two policemen and 5 hotel staff fully clothed in protective gear. He proceeded to ask me a bunch of questions including my name, passport number, age, where I have been, how long I have been in China for, what flight I arrived on, my seat number and the number of the vessel. The look of disappointment on his face when I could not answer the last two questions made me feel so bad for being Asian... How could I dare forget the seat and plane I had been in over 2 months ago?

He later told me that they are testing all foreigners for the virus and that they need to test me. I showed them a test I had received 5 days prior during my visit to the local dentist. He insisted so I complied as it was free #frugalIndian and done via a throat swab which is much better than the nose test my family back in South Africa had taken. 

Two days later, the Guangzhou government apparently released a press statement indicating that some African men had been found with the virus, but were asymptomatic and had been in the country longer than two months. The local government then issued a statement saying that ''all foreigners'' should be checked. Almost immediately, this lead to an anti-foreigner sentiment by some locals. I recall sitting on the bus next to a local lady, she got up and moved away from me as soon as I sat down. Being the stubborn Indian that I am, I followed her and sat next to her and pretended to cough symptomatically - She almost threw herself out the window! In hindsight, this was wrong and could be likened to a man reading Arabic words in a flight from the US...mmm I wonder if I could get away doing that on an Emirates flight in the US. Nevertheless, I wasn't allowed into some of the local places and received strange looks from locals.

The next day, I was woken up at around 12:05am by my favourite guard. He took a picture of me after shouting some Mandarin and then left. The next morning, I woke up to many Facebook messages like the one below:

Anti foreigner sentiment taken from a local Chinese foreigner Face Book page 

There were so many arguments going on regarding how African people are being kicked out onto the street with no place to go or being involuntarily taken into quarantine even though they don't have the virus. I continued my day by going to pick up my results from the previous days test...Negative again. I was then told by my company's manager that I should not go out again as Chinese authorities have become very strict towards foreigners. He said that he would come and see me later that evening to sign my new contract as my employment would commence within a few days.

At roughly around 12:30pm. Three gentlemen came to my door: My good old guard friend, a policeman dressed in civilian clothing with a hat that had written on it, "Police" and a translator. The translator informed be that I cannot leave my room for 14 days and that twice everyday, I should record my temperature and send them a pic. (because I'm going to put my actual temperature on the paper they gave to me) I told them that my two sets of results show that I cannot have the virus and the fact that that I haven't left China aids my argument. But, I was speaking to walls... 2 hours later, I again opened my door to a translator, policeman and 3 fully kitted medical workers. They told me that I have to move to a quarantine hotel and I must pay for it as well as my meals (That's like going to jail and then paying cash for your meals and stay in jail)What's more, is that these guys quarantine in a 4-star hotel. 

I asked about my test results and they said that they were just following orders and if I did not comply, my visa would be cancelled. I asked if this is for African's only and the interpreter kept saying, "We are checking foreigners." So I asked how come my New Zealander neighbour isn't being checked or my colleague from Canada and I was told, "That only my name came up on the system." It was clear what or who the system was targeting. That being said, I was made aware of some cases where other foreigners were checked. I was then taken and placed into a police van waiting for me downstairs. In that moment, I had felt what those suspect murderers, who put their jacket over their heads as they leave the Johannesburg high court, feel. You know, the ones we see on the news all the time back in South Africa. The street had stopped and for a brief moment, time itself. I watched as the local bread man, whom I had bought my breakfast from every morning, looked at me with shame... I was innocent, virus-free, healthy, but it meant nothing. I couldn't be angry at them because they are merely pawns in their governments game.

Sirens on,I was placed into the back of the police van and taken to my current venue, where as I left the vehicle, I was bombarded with flashes by the press as if I was a celebrity, or a convicted felon. Nevertheless, it was all part of the adventure, so I posed for them and gave them my picture to take. I met three other Black African men who gave me the traditional heads up, I replied with traditional Indian head bobble - both of us unable to fathom why we were here.

Two of the medical staff  (front), interpreter (left back) and police van I was placed in(back) as seen on my arrival

Now, I understand that China is taking the necessary precautions to prevent the spread, but logically, rationally and all the other words that can indicate some kind of academic brain function, why am I here in quarantine? I have proof that I have been in China for more than two months as well as two sets of results taken within a space of two weeks that show I don't have the virus. I am all for "Flattening the curve" but then why aren't ALL Chinese and foreigners being quarantined. There are various sources indicating that China only started reporting asymptomatic cases from the beginning of April. If my math is correct, that's 10 days, which is enough time for anyone (like my African brothers) in China to contract the virus from China and possibly still remain asymptomatic. I have to admit though that my case is not the worst. Some Africans were removed from their local residence to the streets whilst some were apparently deported.

In times like this, I am reminded: how small and insignificant we are; how fragile freedom is, how naive innocence can be in the face of corruption and just how vulnerable we are as humans. "We are not necessary. The air, earth, water and sky without us, will be fine. When we come back, remember that we are guests, not masters."