WHAT A DIFFERENCE A GENERATION MAKES
John Luzader, CILH Chair

In 1974 I was privileged to be in a college singing group that was invited to the mainland of China. We were one of the first groups to be allowed into the People's Republic of China after President Nixon's 1972 "Opening the Door" visit. Needless to say, we were more than excited. Long negotiations and logistical meetings ensued with Chinese diplomats, United States authorities, and with our families. Official dinners were organized, sponsors were found and itineraries were designed. And finally the day came when we left for our adventure. After two days of travel by air, we arrived in Beijing.

To be blunt, it was a culture shock. The Cultural Revolution was just winding down, everyone was in Mao jackets and hats, there were few facilities, hotels or restaurants open to foreigners and we were 'escorted' everywhere we went. The group was ushered on prearranged tours and any photos we were allowed to take had to be approved by our translators. Little or no contact was allowed with the general population or local students and many of the sites we were taken to seemed to be for PR effect only. For example, we were taken by bus to the Forbidden City, posed in front of the South Gate, put back on the buses and driven away. I came away with little cultural or historic knowledge of the country and far less from the journey than I had hoped. I felt that I would never be able to afford or be offered an opportunity to ever go back to China.

Twenty-seven years passed. Then, last fall, I filled in at Colorado State University for Tim Merriman while he was traveling to China to work with an international organization to assist in developing a cooperative effort to work with Chinese interpretive sites. I was more than envious. Upon Tim's return, he gave a presentation on the possibilities of working with the Chinese Parks. Tim stated that NAI and its members might have an opportunity to work with this organization and that the park administrators in China wanted a U.S.-China partnership. At the NIW in Tucson, I was approached by the US-CEF (U.S.-China Environmental Fund) to explore the possibility of traveling to China as a member of NAI's work with the US-CEF. I jumped at the chance. When I told the US-CEF president, Marc Brody, of my past trip and its restrictions, I was informed that much had changed in twenty-seven years.

This was an understatement!

The China of the 1970s is gone in all but the most remote areas. Western clothing, music, attitudes and lifestyles are everywhere. Americanization has jumped into almost every aspect of Chinese urban culture. There were restaurants, hotels and facilities of every sort open and catering to the European and American needs. And while I was officially aware of these changes, it truly took my experiencing the changes for the full impact to sink into my poor old brain. The China that I had envisioned for over twenty-five years was gone. In its place was a land that, while still exotic, was also all too familiar. I could travel anywhere with little or no difficulty. Many people spoke English. Most were will and wanting to talk with me, discussions could and did cover every gambit from home life, to entertainment and to politics. (Something we were told specifically not to broach in 1974. . . ) It was an amazing experience.

And it was also a sad feeling. In my lifetime I had witnessed a total change of a culture. Now, granted, I have witnessed much of the same in the United States, Canada and Europe in my travels, but nothing that was so quick and drastic as I observed in China. There seemed to be little "left-over" cultural remnants of the Beijing I visited in 1974. There were a few older men and women in Mao jackets and hats, but they were decidedly a minority. Most of the Beijing population I encountered were Westernized in dress, manners, behavior, and for the young people, also in entertainment and dining. Movies have replaced theater, television fills the need of home entertainment, commercials sell computers, cell phones, bust enhancement, dental products, beauty aids and food. (Oddly, I saw no car commercials or lawyer ads on television.) One of the most popular and growing restaurant chains is McDonalds (over 60 in Beijing) each accompanied by a Kentucky Fried Chicken. A&W's are regularly seen in the streets along with Starbucks, Pizza Huts, Burger King, and even Outback restaurants. Many of the younger Chinese, teens and younger, love the stuff! The older population, meaning 30 and above, are deploring the "loss of their culture and the old ways." It is a major change in Chinese culture influenced by American input. Granted, there are Chinese aspects in our culture, but nothing is a franchised chain as I saw in Beijing.

Not to say that China has lost all its exotic appeal. Far from it. The people, the historic materials, the cultural attitudes, and lands offer more than I can recount. But, as an historian and a cultural anthropologist, I am amazed by what I have personally witnessed in the changes to China and its people.

The message to all this is, cultures regularly change, often very quickly. The difficulty is to retain the past in a present setting and it is the task of the interpreter to help preserve and conserve the past for the present and future audience. One of the most difficult assignments for an interpreter is to stand back and look at our own time and realize that it is the future's history and to ask, "How do we want to be remembered and represented?" What are our themes and messages and do we honor the past as we want ourselves honored?

I look forward to traveling back to China. I feel there is much NAI can offer as well as gain from a partnership between our countries, and I feel the US-CEF has a great mission. I just hope it will not take another twenty-seven years. I am getting too old for such culture shocks.