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Wuhan

I spent Chinese New Year's in the central city of Wuhan, about 30 hours by train to the South. I felt that it had a more genuine feel. Although highly industrialized and productive, it had a coziness that Shenyang lacked. The streets were narrower and there were more motorcycle taxis, but it had the same gaudy socialist architecture.

My friend's father spent most of the time in the kitchen, cooking up a dizzying variety of food that had to be consumed. Like many families, they had no refrigerator, so leftovers were re-served until eaten. New Year's in China isn't really a specific date, it's more of a period of a couple weeks when school is out, firecrackers are in, and food and family is everywhere. For the actual date of New Year's Eve (usually sometime in February), the Jiaozi (dumplings) are the traditional food. This is because of a play on words; its other meaning had something to do with leaving the old and bringing in the new. I got to hone my dumpling-making abilities that night by helping manufacture the snack.

Part of my time in Wuhan, I spent in a Plexiglas factory, owned by my friend's uncle. He produced signs and phone booths for clients in the area. The factory was hidden in meandering back streets and narrow alleys and was overlooked on all sides by compact apartments. There were beds for his workers above the workshop, and a small apartment attached to the factory. The bedrooms were upstairs and they had the thinnest floor I have ever dared walk on. I had the distinct feeling that a good jump would send me through the floor and into the kitchen below; gently walking across the room sent ripples through the floor that made the couch bob like a skiff in a storm.

The views from the factory windows showed the narrow alley that held overstock and any food that did not fit into the kitchen.

Because Wuhan has a warmer climate, the streets look more like living rooms. This pool table held displays of fruit and liquor by day and hosted billiard battles by night. Many times I saw television sets on a small folding chairs in the street, attracting moth-like spectators from the surrounding neighborhood darkness.

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