“Míngbai Hěn Yīdiǎn/I Understand Very Little”

Míngbai Hěn Yīdiǎn

November 1, 2019

The Chinese have a similar version of the American colloquialism saying “Cheese” when posing for a photograph.  Their rendition is done by utilizing a word that sounds similar, “Qiézi” (the pronunciation is something along the lines of “Chee-ez-za”), which translates to “eggplant.”  I wish Americans said “Eggplant” when they posed for photographs.

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The visit happened to overlap with the public holiday, “National Day,” which in 2019 commemorated the 70th anniversary of the formation of the People’s Republic of China.  The national celebration was in full effect, though parades conducted by the government in communist China work a little differently, as it turns out, with the general public kept many blocks away from the main processions held in Red Square.  From that distance, the public was able to observe a dazzling flyover displaying China’s most advanced instruments of aerial warfare, while barricaded between an NBA store, a Tiffany & Co and a Pizza Hut. The rest of the parade was well covered on state television.

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For many reasons, the American perception of China is likely the most negative it has been in decades and, arguably, many of those feelings are not unreasonable.  But I think it is important to be able to separate a people and a culture from a government in power, especially when those people have historically been the most common victims of their government’s repression.  I hope the rest of the world is currently giving the American people that same benefit of the doubt.