Autumn in Beijing

During my four years at Stanford, I tried to appreciate how lucky I was weather-wise, even while biking back to the dorm on a chilly, rainy winter evening. I never had to trek through the snow to class and rarely wore gloves and a hat. The one season I did miss, however, was the autumn. And now I finally have my autumn weather back in Beijing. The feel, the smell, the sight of autumn weather makes commuting in the city at least slightly more pleasant. The hints of colder weather to come, however, are making me anxious about the winter to come. As is the cold I caught that kept me at home drowsy and sneezing at the end of last week.

But for the most part, I'm enjoying my autumn - the weather, Mid-Autumn Festival and the yummy (though horribly fattening) mooncakes it brought with it, national week and Camille's visit, teaching, which is at the same time entertaining, frustrating, rewarding, and a headache. Though I'd like to say i'm getting the hang of it. Kind of.

This autumn also brings with it the 17th CCP Party Congress, which means hundreds of party delegates have descended upon Beijing to meet and discuss the party's trajectory, most importantly its hierarchy that will eventually determine Hu Jintao's successor. Hundreds, maybe thousands - i dont know the number - come; few make the decisions.

For the record, I find the whole thing as ridiculous as the next person. I have no idea where they found the people I heard quoted on the news saying the party congress would bring prosperity and harmony, as if the party bigwigs sitting around talking and spending the people's money on travel to Beijing and expensive food and drink will do that. But I also find the NY Times report (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/15/world/asia/16china.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin) on the meeting a bit excessive. First of all, the title is flat out deceiving. Yes, Hu Jintao did rule out any political reform that would undermine the party's grip on power, but first of all, did this actually surprise anyone? Please raise your hand if you were expecting earth-shattering reforms that made it not only legal to form new political parties but also legal to compete with the CCP for power. Yeah, I didn't think so. He did *not* rule out smaller reforms, including intra-party democracy, which, as Joseph Kahn so bluntly points out, does not do much to promote real democracy, but it is a step in the right direction. No one should be expecting the PRC to reform overnight. Baby steps, people.

On another note: I can now read my own blog online legally. The whim of whoever has his hand on the buzzer, censoring subversive sites such as wikipedia and blogspot, has now decided that blogspot is not a threat to harmony and order in the PRC.