So I'm legal for another year. Well, a year and a bit, actually. The whole residence permit extension process went through without a hitch.... for my two colleagues. For me, well...

I arrived just before lunch time this morning with colleague K to collect our shiny, new residence permits. We saw M on his way out, all newly legal again. He'd had to go in earlier than I could, but as it turns out, not that much earlier. Anyway, he was pretty happy and assured us there was no problem. So in we go. K gets her passport back just fine, but the cashier tells me that although my yellow slip says I have to pay 400 kuai, the computer wants 800, and so I have to go find the duty officer to find out why. The duty officer, of course, is out to lunch, as is the officer who approved my application last Friday, and neither will be back till one. 

So K and I trundle off in search of a restaurant. I mean, what else can you do? Anyway, getting a feed sure beats sitting in the police station. After lunch I put K in a taxi and send her off home- she had her residence permit, so there's no sense in her hanging around any longer than necessary. Then I go back in search of the duty officer.

Well, it's not that big a deal, as it turns out, just that the residence I was requesting was for more than a year, and therefore twice as expensive. See, even though my current contract runs until July 15, my residence permit expired June 29, and my new contract, and therefore the residence I was applying for, go through to July 15, 2009, putting me over a year..... So obviously my boss decided to save a bit of money last year and perhaps didn't think things through quite so far as he might've. Oh well, he's supposed to reimburse me, anyway.

So with all this talk of a visa crackdown and people being kicked out of China or not being able to renew past this July 1, I was a little nervous about the whole process. As it turns out, apart from that [ahem] minor oversight of explaining how much extra my new residence permit would cost unless I wanted to chop a couple of weeks off the application (understandable when you're handling three applications at once, with only one applicant able to speak enough Chinese to handle things, and therefore having to translate for the other two), it was all good. Oh, there was one small hiccup with residence registrations from our local copshop, but that was solved quickly and easily. Actually, I have to say I was impressed with the police officers involved- they were good, courteous, professional, and totally upfront about what we needed, when, where and why- apart from, of course, obvious exception that I've already mentioned. 

So bright and early last Friday morning I take colleagues M and K in to the PSB Entry-Exit Bureau at Xiaojie Qiao with the materials provided by gk, the secretary of our programme. There's almost nobody inside, just the cops waiting for visa and residence permit applicants to clear off last night's Sanlitun and get in to the copshop, a group of apparently German students, a few others, and ourselves. No queue, so we go straight up to the desk. The cop looks through our materials and tells me that if M wants his residence to go through till July 15, it'll cost him 800, but if he changes it to July 14, it'll be only 400. M says, well, change it then, we move on. Where's the residence registration from your local copshop? she asks, holding up an example. They didn't give us any. Well, call them up and get them to fax it to the desk downstairs, then photocopy it, photocopy all the necessary pages of your experts' certificates, bring that all up here. Don't queue up, just come straight to me when you have it all. 

Well, it took a bit of explaining to gk, but she figured out what we needed, got it, faxed it over, we got everything photocopied, back up stairs. Oh, says the cop, your school is supposed to stamp the residence registrations here. Nevermind, I've checked you on the network, you're all good, just tell them next time they need to make sure they've stamped the forms. Then she zaps us through the computer, prints off our yellow slips, tells us come back next Friday. I ask morning or afternoon? She says it's all good. I say sweet, and thanks very much. Off we go. 

Then today's minor hassle. 

But that's ok, I'm good for another year and a bit, through till July 15 next year. That's a huge weight off my shoulders. Now I can relax.

All I've got to do is mark exams, fill in the paperwork, then I'm on holiday. And it looks like it'll be a longer holiday than usual- which should be obvious, but until recently, the boss has been working under the assumption that we'd start back as per usual on September 1. We'll see.

As for this visa crackdown, much has been written and vented about it already. There's not a lot more that could be added. All I can say is that apart from today's hassle with the cost of my permit, the police were totally professional and very good about everything. 

Oh, and I can say that it is very hard, if not impossible, to sympathise with anybody who's been caught working on an L visa. I can't think of any country that allows people to work on a tourist visa- and no, I'm not counting working holiday visas, they're a kind of work visa. As for Fs, I don't know. The system certainly has been abused by some, but plenty of others have used that former grey area to do good, and even necessary jobs. I can see the need for a "freelancer" or "entrepeneur" visa- with the appropriate checks in place to prevent it being abused, of course. 

The only thing that really concerns me is these rumours- and the best I can manage is "a friend of a friend", and although I trust the friend who told me this story, it's still a "friend of a friend" story- of people married to a Chinese citizen, with a child and perhaps even a house, who've been kicked out. In that "friend of a friend" case, he was given 24 hours to leave Shenzhen. Now, without knowing the full story you can't pass judgement, and I certainly won't. Even if you're married to a Chinese citizen and have a child here, if you've been working (or otherwise) illegally, you've still been working illegally. Having said that, I do think all countries need to tread a little more carefully when families are involved. 

Oh, and the crackdown seems to have been rather clumsy, and although it certainly has gotten rid of some who were assets to China (although, most of those who claim that status probably were not), I doubt whether it's gotten rid of the people who really need to be gotten rid of.  

Anyway, I'm good for another year and a bit.

Not looking forward to the next round, though- my passport expires next September. I'm going to have to find out whether I can renew it through the embassy here (past experience suggests that the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade does as little as is humanly possible for New Zealand citizens) or whether it has to be done in New Zealand.

And so it seems Chinese people are making themselves heard in France. But two little things stuck out at me, a little comparison suggests itself. In the second article, the one about Chinese protesting in Paris, we have this:

Un rassemblement pour réaffirmer le soutien de la population chinoise aux JO de Pékin, «contre l’injustice médiatique» , afin, disent-ils, de «rétablir la vérité sur le T1b3t». «Après les émeutes de Lh@ss@, tous les journaux ont adopté une voix unique, contre la Chine, sans se soucier de la vérité. C’est ce qui a monté la population française contre nous le 7 avril, lors du passage de la flamme à Paris» , explique-t-elle. «Nous étions tellement fiers que ces Jeux aient lieu en Chine, poursuit Joanna. Le 7 avril, nous voulions faire plaisir aux Français. Mais la fête n’a pas eu lieu. Après les incidents lors du parcours de la flamme, nous étions tous écœurés et profondément blessés. L’idée de ce rassemblement est née quelques jours après.»

A gathering to reaffirm the support of the Chinese people for the Beijing Olympics, "against media injustice," and, they say, to "reestablish the truth of T1b3t." "After the Lh@s@ riots, all the papers adopted one single voice, against China, without bothering about the truth. This is what put the French people against us on the 7th of April, when the flame passed through Paris", she explains. "We were so proud that these Games would take place in China," continues Joanna, "On April 7th, we wanted to please the French. But the party didn't happen. After the incidents around the passage of the flame, we were all sickened and deeply hurt. The idea for this gathering was born a few days later."

Sounds perfectly reasonable to me, and the article suggests that the resulting demonstration was entirely reasonable and that the aim of this group is to increase dialogue between French and Chinese people and restore China's image. Fair enough.

Then from the article about the anti-French demonstrations in China, we have:

Des photos publiées sur des forums internet confirmaient la présence d'une large foule défilant à Wuhan. Des manifestants portaient un drapeau français maculé de croix gammées et traitant Jeanne d'Arc de "prostituée".

Photos published on internet forums confirmed the presence of a large crowd marching in Wuhan. The demonstrators carried a French flag defiled with swastikas and calling Joan of Arc a "prostitute".

Oh dear. Perhaps not the best way of communicating your ideas to the French people. It's not hard to imagine how Chinese people would react to having symbols of their World War 2 occupier added to China's national flag or the moral integrity of China's national heros slandered. Somebody needs to relearn that "do unto others" principle- and no, it does not end with "....before they do unto you".

And I really shouldn't post so quickly: Both Le Monde and Le Figaro have articles about the anti-French protests in China. Le Monde includes a photo of the protest in Wuhan, in which plenty of five star red flags and banners are visible, but no French flags, let alone defiled French flags. Can't see the banners clearly enough to read what they may or may not have to say about any of France's national heros or heroines. Interesting, though, that Le Monde's article says nothing about swastikas or prostitutes. Le Figaro has a picture of protesters blocking the entrance to the Hefei Carrefour, but you wouldn't know they were protesters unless the caption said so- no banners, flags, or any of the accoutrements of protest are visible at all. In fact, it looks like a snap of any regular weekend Carrefour crowd- these people could just as easily be shopping as protesting. But:

Des manifestants portaient un drapeau français maculé de croix gammées et traitant Jeanne d'Arc de «prostituée».

Ah, so Libé was right.

Alright, enough of the French media. 

So we picked up a few DVDs yesterday afternoon, among which was 李杨/Li Yang's 《盲山》/Blind Mountain.

I'm wondering if this is going to turn into a "Blind" series, each film exploring another of modern China's social ills. If Li Yang is not careful, he might end up like Zhang Yimou, being criticised by the more narrow-minded of China's people for making films to show foreigners the bad sides of China. Yes, I've heard that criticism before.

Anyway, it goes like this: A young, university-educated, but naïve, very naïve, woman by the name of Bai Xuemei is kidnapped- but through trickery, not violence- and sold as a wife to a man in a remote mountain village. She continuously tries to escape, at one stage managing to get on a bus from the county town into the city, but never succeeds. She tries to get a message out to her family, and eventually succeeds, thanks to a child she takes on as a student, and her father comes with two cops to rescue her, but.....

The ending is very sudden, very brutal, very sharp, yet leaves you hanging. You're left with absolutely no idea how the story actually ends.

And why can't she escape? Well, all the wives in the village were bought in against their will, and all the villagers see this as perfectly normal. The older wives have even reached some kind of accomodation with, if not acceptance of their situation, to the point where they even help the village men keep the younger women in line and in the village.

Blind Mountain is filmed almost like a documentary. Li Yang makes no judgement about the villagers, he simply presents the village as it is, warts and all.

And there's no Hollywood melodramatics. Not even any background music. We are left to respond simply as we respond. And it's a good thing too- I can't stand how so many filmmakers insist on telling us when we must laugh or cry or whatever. I hate being emotionally manipulated by a soundtrack.

And the result is a quietly brutal film. It doesn't smack you in the face like the battle scenes in 《集结号》/Assembly. It simply, quietly presents the facts of life in this village, the horrific situation Bai Xuemei finds herself in. And it is subtly infuriating. And it's not just the men of the village you find yourself hating- actually, you don't find yourself hating or even really angry with anyone in the film. Your rage and anger are at the situation, not any of the people. How can you hate the people when for each and every one of them, this is simply the way life is and always has been? And yet, you can't really sympathise with Bai Xuemei, either. Her naïveté is just too frustrating. You want to be on her side, you want to sympathise with her, but she just keeps cocking it up.

Horrible, I know, but that's how it is. lzh spent a fair bit of the film telling Bai Xuemei how she should go about escaping and getting frustrated with her when she got it all wrong. Again.

And yet, I can't help but suspect Li Yang of sneaking a few subtle value-judgements into the film. Books, for example. Books and education seem to set up a hierarchy of, ummm, "humanness", with the villagers being little better than animals, the village school teacher and village chief (both of whom are locals, but with a slightly higher level of education) being a step above, and Bai Xuemei the only character shown as fully "human". 

In a way, Li Yang has a point: Ignorance does tend to keep people stuck in the rut of "the way things have always been"; education does tend to lift people out of that rut and give them the tools to explore other possibilities. However, those are only tendencies and don't necessarily apply to real people in the real world. I mean, some of the stupidest people I've ever met have PhDs. Some of the brightest people I've ever met never finished high school.

And having said that, better education would be one key to ending the buying of kidnapped brides in this village, but only one key. You can't change "time-honoured" traditions so easily. 

About halfway through the film, lzh pointed out that all the village children were boys. Not a girl in sight. And then, of course, there was a scene in which the village chief had to fish an abandoned baby out of the river. One of the dimmer village wives said, "Oh, it's a girl!"

    "Of course it's a girl," chimed in an older, wiser wife, "Who'd throw away a boy?"

And then Bai Xuemei, who had been gotten pregnant by then (pregnancy and babies were not just about producing a son and heir; they were also about control of the wives), was, naturally, worried about what kind of child she'd produce. "Don't worry," says a lesser-educated wife she'd made friends with, "Your belly's so pointy, it must be a boy." And fortunately, it was a boy. Another sneaky little value judgement?

lzh said, "Well, of course they have to get wives in from outside if they throw away all their girls." Yeah, sure, but if they produced enough girls to satisfy the local men, the result would be terrible inbreeding.

And the ending? This is not confusion, an explosion and 王宝强/Wang Baoqiang walking away with a big grin on his face à la 《盲井》/Blind Shaft. No, there's not even the suggestion of a resolution, let alone a happy ending. You're left hanging, wondering what happens next to Bai Xuemei, her husband and her father.

And always in the back of your mind is the knowledge that this story could well be all too true.

It's not a film that has much positive to say. It tells a horrific story, and the quiet, non-judgemental, documentary style- and the knowledge that this sort of thing actually does go on in some of China's more remote regions even today- just adds to the horror. It is very well made, though. I won't say I liked the film, but I would recommend it- not as a "must-see", but as a "worth-seeing".