The Consul wrote:My wife used to work for a pro audio company that relocated its production facility to China. One of the carrots was that the officials there said they would call the complex a city and name it after guy (an egomaniacal genius) who owned company. Three hundred people worked in the facility and stayed at the facility. A visitor from the company who went there said it was surreal. On sunday they had a day off. Mgt rolled a big sheet down the side of the building. Employees were marched out and stood in formation to watch some cheap old movie. A form of relaxation. They stood. Watching a shitty movie on a sheet hung on the side of the prison, er production facility.
I hope this wasn't near the Xinjiang Province or in Shanghai. I might have bumped into some of these workers. It disgusts me. I lived in Shanghai for over 4 months and worked in a hotel with many exceptional girls that were contracted out of Xinjiang. Although we couldn't speak each other's native tongue, we had some of the best conversations. I truly lived in that city and got myself lost in it, literally. It's a culture that is so unlike the west. They are curious, not suspicious of one another. Unfortunately western business interests have grown since I've been there but I still saw pockets of it. You can head on down the yellow brick road called Ha Mi Lu towards the gated community of Westerners who isolate themselves off from the locals. It's probably grown in numbers by now. I stayed away from them as I shied away from most of the americans I worked with too. Some of them had what I call the "red carpet syndrome". They looked down on the "ignorant locals". Expected english to be understood in a foreign country and always searched for the westernized bars and food joints (ie: fast food). They really missed out on the experience and education I had. I had many deja vus and felt a sense of peace that was lacking in my life. I sincerely hope all the best for them. The people of Shanghai deserve it. And so do the girls from Xinjiang.
Before I left, I wrote letters to two of the girls that I was closest with (one girl was from Tachen) expressing my deepest affections for them and their people that treated me with so much love and kindness. We had so many laughs together. Our translator graciously wrote it in mandarin and handed them both copies english/mandarin. We cried together. (as I am right now thinking back). And they wrote me back in return. I still have the letters. I think I left a part of my heart there and maybe some day I'll get the chance to see the city again.
