CHENGDU - I met with Prof. Chen Guojie this morning and we fumbled our way through an interview without the help of an interpreter. I had wanted to have an interpreter with me, but because this is the first day back after the May Day holiday, everyone had to go to work. My classmate Han Yi back at Carleton University is actually from Chengdu and knew several journalists here that I could use to help with translation but, again, they had to go to work.
I got Prof. Chen to explain how to get to his office to one of the Chinese women who run the hostel that I'm staying at. She was able to write it down in Chinese so I could just show the directions to taxi drivers and people on the street ? a useful trick for finding places in China. I followed the directions through a neighbourhood near the Computer City area of town and ended up in front of a brand-spanking new building that houses the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment ? a satellite campus of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.
Prof. Chen is a greying, bespectacled man with a truly warm personality. He was happy to see me, but a bit nervous about conducting an interview in English. He was also a bit nervous about going on the record for something that might end up in the media ? he wasn't exactly clear on his reasons why. We came to an agreement: first, I would ask him my questions in English and he could respond in Chinese and follow-up with a rudimentary explanation in English (I'll get it properly translated later on). He also agreed to go on the record since I'm not a professional journalist. Nevertheless, I made it clear that it might be freelanced at some point. In the end everything worked out fine and he proved to be very useful, particularly since he's had such a long history dealing with environmental issues in China.
While the week-long May Day holiday made it difficult to get much work done, I was able to relax a bit and spend some time checking out Chengdu. I really think this is my favourite Chinese city. There is very little air pollution here and the city is a manageable size. Also, for many, the city acts as a main gateway to Tibet. Because of the politically sensitive nature of the Tibetan political status within People's Republic of China, foreigners have to get a special permit ? in addition to their Chinese visa ? if they want to enter the province. Normally, Chengdu is a great place to get your hands on the permit, but in the past week a protest at the Chinese Mt. Everest Base Camp by some American activists caused the Chinese government to stop issuing permits all together. As a result, Tibet-bound foreigners are starting to pile up around here ? nobody's sure when or if they'll be able to make it to Lhasa.
I took a Sichuan cooking course a few days ago with a woman named Corey from Texas. She and her husband are here waiting for their permit so they can continue their 14 month backpacking trip through Tibet and into Nepal. Now they think they might have to change their plans. I've spent the last few days hanging out with a guy named Dan from New York City and Victoria from a small island off the coast of Sweden. Dan is a Manhattan firefighter (and yes he was on the scene during 9-11) and part time mountaineer. He just arrived here after spending about a month in Tibet and he arrived at Everest Base Camp shortly after the protest. He said that there were police all over the mountain asking to see his permit ? I suppose they were particularly suspicious of Americans.
My time here in China is quickly coming to a close. On Thursday I head back to Chongqing, where I will board a boat for a four-day cruise down the Yangtze River. While my documentary has shifted its focus away from the controversy surrounding the Three Gorges Dam to the emergence of grassroots environmentalism here in the Middle Kingdom, I still plan on using the Dam as a means to illustrate Beijing's softening approach. Thus, it's important to get a first-hand look at what everyone's been talking about. After four days on the Yangtze, I'll arrive in the town of Yichang and then fly back to Shanghai where I'm trying to set up one last interview with a young environmentalist. I fly to San Francisco a few days later.
A.
I got Prof. Chen to explain how to get to his office to one of the Chinese women who run the hostel that I'm staying at. She was able to write it down in Chinese so I could just show the directions to taxi drivers and people on the street ? a useful trick for finding places in China. I followed the directions through a neighbourhood near the Computer City area of town and ended up in front of a brand-spanking new building that houses the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment ? a satellite campus of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.
Prof. Chen is a greying, bespectacled man with a truly warm personality. He was happy to see me, but a bit nervous about conducting an interview in English. He was also a bit nervous about going on the record for something that might end up in the media ? he wasn't exactly clear on his reasons why. We came to an agreement: first, I would ask him my questions in English and he could respond in Chinese and follow-up with a rudimentary explanation in English (I'll get it properly translated later on). He also agreed to go on the record since I'm not a professional journalist. Nevertheless, I made it clear that it might be freelanced at some point. In the end everything worked out fine and he proved to be very useful, particularly since he's had such a long history dealing with environmental issues in China.
While the week-long May Day holiday made it difficult to get much work done, I was able to relax a bit and spend some time checking out Chengdu. I really think this is my favourite Chinese city. There is very little air pollution here and the city is a manageable size. Also, for many, the city acts as a main gateway to Tibet. Because of the politically sensitive nature of the Tibetan political status within People's Republic of China, foreigners have to get a special permit ? in addition to their Chinese visa ? if they want to enter the province. Normally, Chengdu is a great place to get your hands on the permit, but in the past week a protest at the Chinese Mt. Everest Base Camp by some American activists caused the Chinese government to stop issuing permits all together. As a result, Tibet-bound foreigners are starting to pile up around here ? nobody's sure when or if they'll be able to make it to Lhasa.
I took a Sichuan cooking course a few days ago with a woman named Corey from Texas. She and her husband are here waiting for their permit so they can continue their 14 month backpacking trip through Tibet and into Nepal. Now they think they might have to change their plans. I've spent the last few days hanging out with a guy named Dan from New York City and Victoria from a small island off the coast of Sweden. Dan is a Manhattan firefighter (and yes he was on the scene during 9-11) and part time mountaineer. He just arrived here after spending about a month in Tibet and he arrived at Everest Base Camp shortly after the protest. He said that there were police all over the mountain asking to see his permit ? I suppose they were particularly suspicious of Americans.
My time here in China is quickly coming to a close. On Thursday I head back to Chongqing, where I will board a boat for a four-day cruise down the Yangtze River. While my documentary has shifted its focus away from the controversy surrounding the Three Gorges Dam to the emergence of grassroots environmentalism here in the Middle Kingdom, I still plan on using the Dam as a means to illustrate Beijing's softening approach. Thus, it's important to get a first-hand look at what everyone's been talking about. After four days on the Yangtze, I'll arrive in the town of Yichang and then fly back to Shanghai where I'm trying to set up one last interview with a young environmentalist. I fly to San Francisco a few days later.
A.
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