Nine-headed Bird, the Nickname of Hubei People

The people of Hubei are called “nine-headed birds (九头鸟)” by other Chinese people, with the saying of “天上九头鸟，地上湖北佬。”which, in wikipedia, is translated as "In the sky live nine-headed birds. On the earth live cunning Hubei people." (See Hubei in Wikipedia.) But the Chinese sentence does not have any word that means “cunning”. So the emotion of this sentence is rather vague. It can be both complimentary and derogatory.

On the positive side, the nine-headed bird stands for aggressive, acumen and competent, and on the other side, it has the sense of cunning. Some Chinese use “nine-headed birds” to show their dissatisfaction to Hubeiness, however, some Hubeiness are very proud to call themselves that name.

The character of Hubei people is thought to be the outcome of Hubei’s geographical position. Hubei is called “The Thoroughfare to Nine Provinces (九省通衢)”, and here gathers people from all over the country. Wuhan used to be a center of politics and commerce of China half a century ago. And the city character is shaped by the flourishing small business.

See Nine-headed Bird inWikipedia

P.S. Blogspot is unblocked in China. Bingo!

11.11, Single Guys' Day

In just a few years, this day becomes a hot festival in China, especially in campus. In the Chinese language, a single man is called "光棍", which literally means "bare stick", and the Arabic number "1" is very much like a bare stick in shape. As 11.11 has 4 “bare sticks”, the day becomes single guys' day.

In this day, single guys would like to eat out together, and some guys are encouraged to say "I love you" to girls of there hearts. Now this is not a day just for guys, sometimes single girls would also do some thing for fun.

This day has no traditions. It's a day of youth, a day for students.

"Ma Mu",A Word in History

If you refer to a dictionary, ma mu(麻木) means numbness, torpor, stupor, and something like that. But strangely enough, Wuhaness use this word to call “tricycles for hire”. Tens of thousands of ma mu used to be a distinctive feature of the city. But in the year of 2003, all these ma mu disappeared.

There are some tales about how the name “ma mu” came out. A relative credible one is that early rickshaw drivers (more than half a century ago) loved to drink, and often got “ma mu”, so both the vehicles and the drivers were called “ma mu”. This word once disappeared with the extinction of rickshaws, but revived about 20 years ago as tricycles emerged in the city in the late 1980s. And because of cheap fare and the very convenience, the number of ma mu increased swiftly in the 1990s.

There were two types of ma mu in Wuhan: the engine-powered auto rickshaw (dian ma mu 电麻木) and the man-powered pedicab (tu ma mu 土麻木).

Usually, ma mu drivers were either laid-off workers or city immigrants from rural places. The job could never be easy. Wuhan climate often go extremes: the temperature can be higher than 40C in summer and lower than 0C in winter. The drivers had to work in streets all day long, only to earn a basic living.

Most ma mu drivers were not well-educated and do not quite follow traffic rules, (in fact, large numbers of Wuhaness do not quite follow traffic rules), and many of them couldn’t afford, or for some, were not willing, to pay for a license, and had to play the game of hide and seek with traffic cops.

The government always wanted those numerous ma mu to be regulated. Though new documents for regulating ma mu came out almost every year, the effect was little. In 2003, the government finally resolved to completely ban ma mu. All ma mu must be handed in by a deadline, with some compensation in return. Only those with disabilities could own tricycles, and business not permitted. The flag-fall price of taxis was lowered to 3 yuan, so that taking a taxi in a short distance became much cheaper.

Just in a few weeks, not a single ma mu could be found in streets. “Ma mu” once again became a word in history.

A Vanished Custom in Wuhan

Chongqing, Wuhan and Nanjing are called "Three Furnaces" in China for their scorching days in summer. In Wuhan, the highest temperature of a year is usually above forty degrees centigrade. In the past, there was no air-conditioner, no electronic fan, so it was unbearable hot in a chamber. People in Wuhan would like to go out of their chamber, staying outside overnight.

I'm the last generation that still have such experience. I was only a little boy at that time. In summer when twilight came , dwellers of the community would splash several basins of water onto some vacant ground in front of their home, and then move bamboo beds there. The bamboo bed was a kind of necessary furniture of every family. The water would soon be vaporized, taking away some heat. People then sat or lay on bamboo beds, chatting with family members and neighbors, playing cards or Chinese chess (as the copper sculpture in the upper image shows), completely relaxed and forgetting the hot weather. After dark, the community turned silent. People fell asleep and they would take their things home the next morning. Non-Wuhanness would often feel odd by the sight of bamboo beds arrays.

But these scenes now stay only in my memory. I can't remember at what time air-conditioners slipped into every family while bamboo beds were discarded and people no longer stay outside in summer. I haven't seen the scene for maybe more than ten years. And now sleeping outside will somewhat be considered improper.

Bamboo Beds, together with an old custom, disappeared.

Mid-Autumn Festival Becomes Mooncake Festival

Mid-Autumn Festival, originated in China, is widely celebrated in Asia. But here in my living city Wuhan, I guess it’s also the same case in the whole China, the atmosphere of the festival seems to fade away. The traditional culture behind the festival is forgotten. The only thing left is the mooncake. And the main purpose of the mooncake is neither for eating, nor to enjoy the full round moon, but used as gifts for connections. The price of the mooncake is much higher than its real value as manufactures tried their best to make glorious packaging, catering to consumers who want their gifts to be better-looking.

Now, I’m spending this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival in my dormitory. This day is never a special day for me. I may eat some mooncakes, well, I don’t care.