koolthing

As strange as it may seem, I wished I was able to witness the information revolution happening in China right now. My visit a few years ago saw a government very foreign to me, and a culture struggling with its identity within the context of more modern emerging China. I was in Beijing, the capital and a very conservative city. The US president was coming to visit, and there were rumors of arrests and crackdowns on what could be deemed as dissidents by the government. The city was being "cleaned up", and areas near silk row where rampant piracy is on public display were being shut down and bulldozed. Internet access was not very widespread, and the great firewall of China was in place to protect the people from information unacceptable in the country from outside sources. When we wanted to get online Desmond would take me to this (ghetto) on the outskirts of town where a group of expatriates had set up an internet caf. The nearest toilet was an old concrete bunker that looked like it had been there for hundreds of years, with a simple hole in the floor of the rank smelling little room and a pig living below. The computers were old and the internet connection slow, but there was free access to information, which was an exciting thing. I have heard that during the SARS epidemic, people are text messaging information about outbreaks and the virus - information that would normally be completely unavailable...that is amazing and exciting.
I need some little distraction fantasies right now, I am cold and alone.
I think a really hot bath is in order.