It was always a long journey by coach from Chengde to Beijing. But diversions around what would be the route of a major road was going to add another hour to the journey. Even the prospect of using the old, picturesque road to cross the lake by the dam, rather than skirting around it with just a tantalising glimpse, was not enough to prevent weary anticipation of the 5 hour ride ahead of us. Once we had left the old city of Chengde and its summer palace and gardens behind, we settled into our seats, staring out at the Chinese countryside and occasional village, ready to doze when we could and count the miles to the promised one stop mid-journey where we would be able to stretch our legs and perhaps have a cup of the fragrant Chinese tea. After a while the chatting slowed and almost stopped and only the sound of the coach changing gears and the engine labouring up and down the slopes broke the silence. The guide’s intercom clicked on and, still sitting in his seat, without turning to us, Leo began to tell us his story.

“I would like to tell you a little of my life… it is almost like a history of modern China...

I am 44 years old now, but when I was just 6 months old my parents gave me to my grandparents. I can not understand how they could do that and for a long time I hated them for giving me away. Once I asked them why they had done it, and they told me they were too busy to look after a child, that I was better with my grandparents. I have a daughter myself now who is very precious to me and I would never give her up, never, however hard things might be. I made her and I would never abandon her. It still makes me angry to know how they so easily left me. So I lived with my grandparents. It was a country area; I was poorly nourished, very thin, and always hungry. I attended school until I was 13 and learned nothing.

Chairman Mao came to power. Previously, four families had effectively ruled China. Chairman Mao changed all that. He took away their power and said everything would be for the poor; so at first he was very popular. But Chairman Mao wanted to keep everyone ignorant. If the people are ignorant you can control them easier.

But we did not realise that then, and between the ages of 13 and 17, I belonged to the Red Guards and went to the city. It was not the army, but for ‘politically-correct’ students. I am ashamed now of some of the things we did. We were angry, resentful and with little to look forward to. We were poor and had nothing;

Red Guards

gave us a feeling of belonging, a kind of power through fear. It was an illusion; we were used, manipulated. If the leaders told us that a man was bad, we would go and beat him up; if told certain books were bad, we burned them; gardens, churches, temples, mosques were destroyed. Many, many people were shamed in public, paraded through the streets with humiliating placards around their necks. People were afraid of us and it gave us a false sense of having some worth; but that was not true…. We were a tool being used, being promised something, anything rather than what we had- it had to be better. When there are many of you, you feel strong, powerful, worth something.

But there were many of us and Mao realised that things had become out of control; he had formed us and when he saw what he had made he had to finish us, disband the Red Guards. There was not enough work in the cities for the young and he knew that if the Red Guards became bored they could get out of control and cause trouble for him. So he sent us to the countryside away from the cities, from each other, to break apart the numbers, to prevent the re-emergence of the Red Guards. It was supposed to be to learn about the land and responsibility from the farmers; but to work on a farm was to remain ignorant, to be too tired to cause trouble, to think. It was very hard on the farms. We were given free train tickets, but then had to walk many, many miles across the country to reach the places we were told to go to. Once there we worked long hours and were poorly fed. Every meal was corn bread. Once a week corn bread is delicious – every meal, every day, all year … it is torture. Girls and boys alike, we worked mainly digging fields, moving rocks from one field to the next. We slept on earth floors. We had no clothes but what we wore and had to try and keep them clean. In the summer it was hot; in the winter very cold. To make us work harder they would have competitions – to win a Red flag; the symbol of our cultural revolution. Every boy and every girl overworked became exhausted, collapsed- all to win that stupid, stupid flag. When I was 17 I left and walked home.

Things began to improve after 1978. Admission to higher schools was by examination. I studied hard to enable me to take the test. I was lucky and passed so went to college to learn and major in English. I thought that If I learned English maybe I could travel or be a translator. At this time I also married a fellow student.

Then suddenly, after all this time, my parents decided they wanted me back to help them in their old age. I had to return to Chengde with my wife and our 3 year old daughter to look after them. My English was useful and I became a tour guide…. This is how I came to meet you today! It has been an interesting job and I have been able to travel. I have travelled to Europe, but not to England. I would like to visit England but it is very difficult to get a Visa – perhaps there is a fear that once we visit we will not leave! Once I took a party of 153 Chinese tourists to South Korea on holiday. On the first day three of them disappeared, on the next four more. They did not want to return to China. But being a tour guide is not a reliable job any more. Since November this is only the second tour I have had. People are afraid to travel since September 11, and now the war in Iraq as well…. I think I am too old to be a guide any longer; younger men have more energy, are cuter! Instead I would like to be a teacher….”

Half Way There

The coach was approaching our half-way stop and Leo reminded us that the toilets were not as good as we were used to but it was important to use them …there was no where else we could stop, this was the best there was en route; it would be a long time before we reached Beijing and we just couldn’t hang on that long! One passenger sniffed, hunched her shoulders and muttered “wanna bet!” There was an old kettle steaming on an open fire in the front of the long, low building. Two large rocks were at the side and on seeing us the kettle was moved on a long stick to the large teapot. We filed out of the coach for our break and Leo pointed out the toilets, the tea and the inevitable shop area before lighting a cigarette, leaning against the wall and staring out over the countryside, lost in his thoughts or maybe memories revived from talking to us.

The journey resumed and after a while and with a few questions about how things are now in China, Leo began his story again….

Today farmers are given a house and land of their own, according to the size of the family. They work the land and pay taxes on what they earn, like everyone. Before there was the commune system, but this did not work; everyone was paid the same and for lazy ones there was no incentive to work. There is no irrigation for most, so crops are dependent upon the weather and rain. In the South it tends to flood, so they grow rice. In the North it is dry, they grow mainly corn and Soya bean. There are coal mines as well, but these are not modern and often there are accidents- gas escapes and many die- last year around 993 in one accident.

Nowadays people want their own house, but this is very expensive for us, so we must work and save hard. Most try and buy a flat first. The Government encourages this and so Banks are allowed to give loans for the purchase. Everyone must work. Everyone has training; they can choose to train as a hairdresser, a cook, whatever. Most want to be a doctor or a banker because they earn the most! If you fail to pass your exam for your skill then you must train again and try again. If you still fail then you must get a job doing something like cleaning the streets or such. No one can be lazy now. If you do not work you go hungry- there is no government money unless you are disabled or such.

One Child fits all...

You asked about the one-child policy in China. It began in 1979/80…. Couples in cities were allowed only one child, and only in a few country areas could families have a second child if they had permission. Local officials sometimes forced people to have abortions or sterilization and sometimes made families pay for extra babies. At first there was strong reluctance to this because in China in the past people wanted many children; it was a sign of prosperity and fatality. Sometimes 3 generations would live in one house. There was no pension so they old depended on the children for support. Today the Government still encourages people in the cities to have one child, unless both parents are single children themselves, or divorced and re-marrying. But in country areas people can have two, ethnic minorities can have three, and Tibetans can have as many as they like. Now I think it is a good policy…. 1 child is enough! If you have one child and one apple to give, you can give it all, if you have two children then you must cut it in half. If I am told tomorrow that I can have another child I would say ‘No thank you!’

Today we do not have free pension or doctors or schools, so children are very expensive. A woman has 6 months off after the birth of a child when she gets some money. Then the child is looked after by grandparents or goes to a nursery until it is 3 years old. Most prefer the nursery because they are good and the child learns a lot, but they are expensive. For some families in the country, the child stays at the nursery from Monday to Friday. It is not sad! Both parents have to work hard to pay the cost…the child is happy and has friends to play with. After nursery comes pre-school for 1 year, then Junior school from 5-7, and High School from 7 to17. Sometimes they board at school, especially if they are from farming areas.

Being a father is very hard, especially with girls. My daughter is 17 and I worry about where she is and who with and what she is doing when she goes out; about her education and future; about boys – being a man I know what there is to worry about with boys! If the phone goes she races to it first. It is the same everywhere. I worry about boys, about getting pregnant. Contraception is free but if an unmarried girl is pregnant then she must have an abortion. If it is too late then she must give up the child. The child must go to an orphanage. The Government pays for everything at the orphanage, education, training for work....

Colleges are not free. For me I pay around £400 a year for my daughter, which is a lot. Lessons start at 8am until 6pm. In winter there is a 2-hour lunch break, in summer 3 hours because it is so hot. After school there is 2 hours of homework from the college and then the parents’ homework. For example I tell her she must read a book I give her and write a paper on it within a few days. There is very little free time…. Do not think I am very hard!! All parents are the same. To get a good job, she must go to University and the competition is very fierce. I am hard on my daughter now because I want her to have a good future.

The Han Chinese is the biggest ethnic group in China; over 90%. Then there are Mongolian and Tibetan (who want independence) and lots of smaller groups, more than 50 ethnic minorities. I am a Han Chinese. The majority of the Han people do not believe in any organized religion, although there are still some traditional superstitious practices such as Taoism and Confucianism. As well there is Buddhism and some Muslims. Although government forbiddances of religious practices have now been removed and temples re-opened, most people are atheists… Sometimes old people will go to a temple because they are superstitious or something has gone wrong and they want any help they can get!
“So, you must remember, there are three important dates for China:

• 
  1911 - China became a republic. The last Emperor became one of the people.
  
• 
  1949 – Mao Zedong proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China Communist Revolution
  
• 
  1978 – The old Communist system is finished – China opens up to the world….”
  

He was quiet for a while after this, staring out of the window watching the Chinese countryside drift past. Then he said softly, "I think that there will be another revolution."

There was no more to say after that.

In Beijing, our guide Charlie was very different. He was the younger, ‘cuter’ type of guide that Leo mentioned. He was full of enthusiasm and pride in his country; he was born after the Cultural Revolution, so all the damage it seemed to have visited on Leo had passed before he arrived. His thoughts for the future revolved around pride at the coming Olympic Games in 2008, the modern apartments that could be bought, the theatres, pop music and his manic driving lessons! He spoke of Imperial history and pandas, but not a word of modern history. He frantically waved his tour-guide flag, told jokes and even sang us a song when we arrived too early at Silk Alley to do some shopping… for him there was no communism, no Taoism or Buddhism, no ‘isms’ at all - only optimism!