November is election time

This will be the first time in my entire life that I won’t be in the U.S. for the Presidential Elections. I remember staying up watching TV as the U.S. map was filled by red and blue chunks, laughing at silly election humor displayed on bumper stickers, and of course seeing an absurd number of Bush Cheney signs in my too-conservative-for-California hometown.

Living abroad gives you a window into another country’s elections and political process. For example, I was around for last year’s elections in Spain when Rajoy was elected. The Spanish elections didn’t make a huge impact on me since the level of campaigning and media hype were nothing compared to the U.S. (Or perhaps I should say that the U.S. elections are considered the most important in the world, so obviously Spain's will have less visibility.) In general, my Spanish peers were disappointed by all the candidates and didn’t see a point in voting since they felt that all the politicians were disconnected from the people.

These past weeks in China have been quite different from anything before. I’m far from an expert and am definitely not going into the details of the 18^th Party Congress (in China, simply called 十八大 or "eighteenth big"). From speaking to locals, it’s clear that they find it all a huge show. Party members vote for their representatives, who then elect party leaders. Everybody has accepted that their voice will not be heard and that the elections are fixed anyways. I wouldn’t describe the overall attitude as completely apathetic, because obviously they would like a say; however, if people are able to live comfortably and have enough freedom opportunities, then between work/school/trying to get the new iphone5, it’s not exactly in their immediate plans to overthrow the government.

So, how has life in the capital been affected by the Congress? Internet speeds have slowed down considerably for sites that are overseas. On a bad day, the connection fails every few minutes. Sites hosted by google still work but are so slow that they’re useless. Security all around the city has been amped up, and especially in the Tiananmen area. I went there yesterday and all the visitors went through security before entering the square. If you look suspicious or like you’re an outsider, the guards question you about who you’re with and what your motives are. I guess I look innocent or from the city enough that they didn’t question me at all, but for others it was pretty intense. I also went to the National Museum yesterday, and the security there gave LAX a run for its money. My bag was scanned twice and everybody was given a very thorough pat-down. And of course, on the highways and streets, there's always a little reminder of the all-important Congress.

Chaoyang welcoming the 18th Congress

A snow-covered Tiananmen Square