Some of Gifford’s experiences I find myself living and experiencing them daily. An experience that I’ve encountered is an experience between Gifford and his driver. While they are driving one of the trucks has tipped on it’s side. The driver says, “The driver must have fallen asleep. The two truck drivers are squatting in the shadow of the stricken truck, presumably waiting for assistance.”Rob asks “Shouldn’t we stop and see if they need help?”His taxi driver then replies ” No. They probably have someone coming already to rescue them.” A lot of situation in China are like this. Rob makes a great point, “Don’t get involved, is the first rule of life in China.”
Last year I was driving on a free way in a car full of locals. We hit traffic because someone had hit a man. He lay there on the freeway bloody and not moving and everyone just passed by him. I told them to stop but they just kept going. The next instance was when a friend got in a motorcycle accident and broke his helmet. Everyone walked passed him and around him on the pavement. He got himself up and had to walk his motorcycle all the way home and then went to the hospital. Then my husband and I got in an argument with a rickshaw lady. She wanted more money for our ride and she ended up pulling our clothes not letting us escape from her and then throwing a rock at Ramon. Everyone stood their watching us and even the guard stood their not helping us or opening the gate. There are a lot of instances that make me think negatively about China. And this event added more fuel to the fire. A town in Xinjiang is best known for it’s freshwater. There is a tiny cafe in the town that Rob eats at. While the cooking Gifford asks how life is in this small town. The cook replies, “How is life? How is life? Life is not good. Do you know why? Because the officials have sealed up our well. The well that has given water to Xingxingxia for centuries has been sealed up with concrete. The officials here are so evil, so incredibly immoral, it almost defies belief. They run the local water company, and they want to force everyone to buy their water. They said that if I kept on protesting, they would arrest me as a terrorist.” A terrorist! He is doing nothing to put his country in turmoil. He is only voicing his opinion. He probably can’t afford to buy water and yet his government will make him. The cook says to Gifford, ” Endure, that is all we can do. Ren shou. We can and must endure. That is all we have ever been able to do.”
The cook’s statement is nothing new it has been said before about China Mildred Cable and Francesca French’s book Through Jade Gate and Central Asia states, “The Chinese are a long-suffering people; they bear the tyrannies of their oppressors, and the dominion of rapacious officialdom, with a pathetic resignation, but the hour is at hand when they will rise and avenge the wrongs of generations. In such an hour, no violence is regarded as an excess, and they will deal with their oppressors in their own way.” Chinese people have endured only because they have to. They are still enduring and will keep enduring until a change is made.