All about Ba Yi (August 1st)

Not too long ago I was afraid that I might run out of things to do during the Spring Festival break. But that hasn't come true yet!

Yesterday I hung out with one of my students, Karen. A while ago she had invited me to her grandparents' apartment in Nanchang. When I returned from Xiamen, I text messaged her that I was back. So apparently she hopped on a train yesterday morning in her hometown that is 3 hours away, just so she could take me to her grandparents' house.

Early yesterday afternoon Karen escorted me to her grandparents' very humble dwelling. They are 80 and they live on the 5th floor of an apartment, which of course they have to hike up and down every day. They also own one bicycle for transportation. Anyway, they are pretty precious. Since we couldn't communicate very well, they mostly paced around their freezing cold apartment, which is about half the size of my own apartment I share with Rachael here in Nanchang.

Before we left, I wanted to take a picture of them with Karen. The grandparents immediately went to their little room to put on "nicer" jackets. It was so cute. The grandpa took off his old navy blue Mao jacket and replaced it with one that looked exactly identical. The grandma replaced her own navy blue Mao jacket with a typical Chinese grandmother quilted jacket.

Afterward, we wandered around the housing complex grounds in the cold and wind. Then we walked for nearly a mile to Karen's cousin's high school. We got to her cousin's classroom, but class was in session. We didn't want to create scene, so I left without meeting her. Then we just trekked back to old campus.

This morning I got to hang out with Karen again. Jonathan and I met her at Ba Yi Square, which is the center of downtown. She took us to Ba Yi Park and then the supposedly famous Ba Yi museum. It was a very scenic and educational outing that managed to stretch into 7.5 hours, but it was a good experience.

The Ba Yi ("August 1st") museum celebrates Nanchang's role in the start of the communist revolution, which techinally began in this city on August 1st in 1927. There is even something called the "August 1st" spirit, which is this: "Resolute Conviction, Unbending Perseverance, Courageous Pioneering, and Setting the Precedent," whatever that means.

Perhaps you can ask me more about it when I return to America. Jonathan and I both tried to be respectful. Everything was certainly idealistic and full of propaganda, but that is an accepted part of Chinese society. It was essentially a museum dedicated to Chinese communism.

Here's one plaque (that was luckily translated into English) that summed up the tone of the museum:

"The Spinning Stars and Universe Witnessing the Ultimate Cause, The Monumental Accomplishments Marking the Grand History. Whereas the shots and smoke vanished with the lapse of time and the outcry of battle faded into history, The "August 1st" Military Banner that was hoisted above the city wall of Nanchang have still been fluttering in height and might, and will flutter onward for ever and ever. So let's take over and give full play to the August 1st spirit in a big way and under the leadership of the Communist Party of China keep abreast of the times, forging ahead with force and innovation so as to build our country into a great modernized and powerful one and achieve the great revival of the Chinese nation."

After gazing at all the huge murals and gigantic statues of heroic men, we left the museum grounds, and walked straight onto Nanchang's busiest shopping street. I felt like I was in two different worlds. There is still obviously political communism, but not in the economy, that's for sure.

So after this excursion, we headed for the bus stop. But first we had to hike across the huge expanse of Ba Yi Square, under the shadows of a massive "monument to the sacrifices of those soldiers who sacrificed for the revolution," all starting on August 1st, 1927 right here in this city.

And I decided to leave you with some pictures of the past couple days. The first is of my student, Karen, and her grandparents. The second is at the museum. It is a gigantic hand firing the "first shot of the revolution." The third is of Karen in front of one of many statues depicting that unique August 1st spirit.