Book Review of Mao's Last Dancer

Book review of Mao’s Last Dancer by Li Cuinxin

Review by Marc Breault

I had never heard of Li Cuinxin. I have never attended a ballet in my life. Nevertheless, this book, about the life of a Chinese ballet dancer born under the rule of Chairman Mao, was fascinating in so many respects, it is difficult to know where to begin. Li describes his life under Chairman Mao, a life of abject poverty but also of family loyalty and closeness despite the grinding poverty in which they lived. Honestly, when I read the description of his childhood, I could almost believe Cuinxin was born in 1761 instead of 1961. I could not help compare his childhood to mine. I had good food to eat, good water to drink, flushing toilets, and so many things to take for granted such as TV, radio, a good car and an endless selection of toys from which to choose.

Brainwashing under Mao’s China started at an early age. It was fascinating to read that when Cuinxin was old enough to attend school, the first words he learned to read and write were “Long, long live Chairman Mao.” When I went to school, I learned such non political words as dog and cat. The book tells of how Cuinxin was forced into learning ballet and how this necessitated a long separation from his parents while still at a young age. Li tells of his first exposure to Beijing, China’s capital and what a culture shock it was for him. After enduring an amazingly hard training regime that would do any army’s boot camp proud, The teenage Cuinxin develops an appreciation for ballet and through a one in a million chance, is given the opportunity to travel to the great capitalist enemy country of the United States to study ballet for a few months. If Beijing was a culture shock, the United States was like another planet.

In addition to his physical journey from rural China to the United States, the book describes his spiritual journey from complete acceptance of Communism to a realization that things are not as he learned under Mao’s brainwashing.

There are over a billion Chinese and we Americans tend to sometimes look at China as a series of numbers and statistics. “There are too many people there,” we say. Or we might say: “China’s one child policy is the only way forward.” I suppose in one sense, we cannot help but look at China from a distance and with some level of detachment. Li’s book, however, shows an insignificant peasant family, the Li family, a family of no consequence in the eyes of their own government or in our eyes, and turns them into real living human beings, with hopes, dreams, aspirations, times of anguish, and with perceptions of the world and of the people in it. Li shatters our from-a-distance perspective and reminds us that but for an accident of birth, we could have been born in a village just like his, suffering poverty just like he did. The contrast between the average American of the 60’s and 70’s, and the average Chinese is so pronounced as to be almost beyond belief.

Mao’s Last Dancer is about a well know ballet star. But it is much more than that. This book shows the dance of life which exists between two different worlds and how neither world can live without the other. The United States and countries like it can offer material prosperity and a framework to achieve a decent life. The world of Li’s village teaches us the importance of family togetherness and the importance of helping and relying upon one another through hardships which we can barely even imagine. These spiritual values are just as essential to a good life as material comfort.

Mao’s Last Dancer is one of the most fascinating and insightful books I have read in a long time and it receives my highest recommendation.

Raviolo Ramblings - The Plane Trip

Raviolo Ramblings

The Plane Trip

Tuesday 3 April 2007

I suppose a plane trip that lasts for about 34 hours can be boring and this one certainly had some boring stretches. Nevertheless, airports are interesting places because you see the best and worst in people, and you have to be creative as well in order to preserve your sanity. Aside from sitting in cramped quarters for hours while on the plane itself, you have to find a way to amuse yourself in the airport itself between or before flights.

Fortunately for us, the airport part wasn’t that bad. I flew quite a lot last year so I’m a member of Singapore Airlines Gold Elite club. That means I can go into the premier lounge at a number of airports. I thought this would just be a place with some chairs, coffee and tea and maybe a TV. I was wrong. When we arrived at Melbourne Airport and got ourselves checked in, we went to the gold lounge. They had an abundance of free food, consisting of party pies, sandwiches and a number of other surprises. What really surprised me, however, was the range of free drinks. They had everything from various kinds of beer, to fruit juices. The chairs were ok, much more comfortable than the normal gate waiting area and it was a pleasant stay. We were in for an even bigger surprise. They called our name in the lounge and when we got to the counter in front, the lady tore our boarding passes up and gave us new ones. We were upgraded to business class from Melbourne to Singapore.

Business Class

I have never flown business class before on a long trip or leg of a trip so this was quite a novel experience. Of course, it was nearly 2:00 in the morning by the time we left Melbourne so my primary wish was to get some sleep. Getting sleep in business class is much easier than it is in cattle class. The reclining chair goes nearly all the way horizontal and the foot rest extends both upward and outward. The outward extension makes life easier for tall people like myself. A bed is better, but this is the next best thing. The seats are also wider. I could virtually turn on my side which is how I normally sleep so it was lights out in no time.

Because of the late departure of the flight, we only got one meal on this seven hour leg and we got to choose whether we ate right away, or waited for breakfast. Both Elizabeth and I opted for breakfast.

When we did get breakfast the tray table was much wider than cattle class tables so it gave us plenty of room to eat. Breakfast was served in courses. It was roughly the same as the cattle class meal, but the meal was slightly of a higher quality. For instance, Singapore Airlines serves chicken noodles as a breakfast option. The dish in cattle class is pretty good, but the dish in business class, although technically the same dish, was much nicer. And there was more of it as well. Otherwise, though, the food is pretty much the same. Food in business class is served on nicer dishes and you can drink pretty much whatever you want. We both opted for a couple of Singapore Slings, a nice refreshing cocktail.

They also give you a bottle of water in business class and the movie screen at your seat is slightly larger than the cattle class version. All in all, the ride was very comfortable and I wished the upgrade was for the whole way, but alas, it was back to cattle class for the second and longer leg. Still, it was nice to experience the high life if only for 7.25 hours.

Shopping in Singapore

This time we had a long layover in Singapore, about seven hours. Because our flight out of Melbourne was delayed for about an hour, this reduced our stop to six hours. Singapore airport is my favorite airport and one does not get bored there.

A must have if you have time at the airport is a massage. The place moved to the new third floor area. At My Foot Reflexology you can get just that, a 40 minute foot massage. Elizabeth opted for this. Normally, her ankles are quite swollen after even the first leg of the trip, but this time they were not. I think it was because of the business class and her ability to recline and elevate her feet. I opted for the upper body massage which lasted for 30 minutes and it was fantastic! The guy employed a Taiwanese technique that made me feel relaxed and loose, just what you want for a long trip from Australia. I highly recommend either or both. You spend some money but for long, long trips like those from Australia to Europe, they are well worth it. It costs about US$25 for the upper body massage and about US$30 for the 40 minute foot massage. These people know reflexology quite well and they will find the sore spots. Nevertheless the experience is quite a pleasant one and you get as much tea as you want as well.

After our massages, we started to shop. I looked for a plug which would work in Switzerland. I went all around Australia, ok, well, around the CBD in Melbourne to find one that would work. I kept getting told any European plug works in Switzerland. Trust me, they do not. People in Australia do not know what they are doing with respect to the Swiss power plug. Switzerland has the same plug as Europe, but the wall socket is different, so the plug has to be the right shape and the stock standard round European plugs you get at Dick Smith do not work. They never will work. Liz found two European plugs, one that said it worked everywhere except Switzerland, and one that said it worked everywhere. We got the latter and sure enough, we discovered it works fine in Switzerland.

I was surprised to see prices for electronics higher than some online prices in Australia. Normally, Singapore is much cheaper. The advantage of Singapore is you get to see the item first and you get it right away. The prices are still pretty good but we did not get any electronics.

After some shopping we went to the gold lounge and there we were in for quite a nice surprise. For one thing, you get free showers. These are not cramped showers, but the bathrooms are just like you would have at home, only probably larger. The shower I had was twice the size of mine at home. They supply the towels and after an all night flight, the shower was bliss personified. After a massage, there is nothing like hot water coursing down one’s back and shoulders.

And then lunch was served in the lounge. They had sandwiches some really nice fish, roasted potatoes and soup. They also had a huge range of free drinks. I had a Heineken and a Carlsberg. After all this, we were ready for the long 12.5 hour leg to Milan. We did not get upgraded so it was cattle class once more.

Nothing of note happened during the second leg. I slept well despite being a herd animal once more. We arrived in Milan at about 11:00 only to find no one waiting for us. It turned out our wait was a short one. Emilio and his wife Debora assumed we would be delayed so came about ten minutes later.