backdating 1 - comments fom changsha

so once upon a lifetime when i briefly attempted to be a corporate attorney in a big, bad firm i worked on a case related to the backdating of stock options. i therefore know what i am about to do is dubious. nonetheless, i want to include my first two beijing briefings on this blog. so please excuse the backdating.

from april 23:

it's 11:31 on a wednesday night & i've just returned from an evening at a changsha hotspot called song-song. i ended up there after having dinner w/ a woman we work with from the hunan provincial all china women's federation (fu lian), peng di, at a bustling local restaurant inside a rebuilt old palace. changsha is most famous for 1 - being mao's hometown & 2 - burning itself down. during the japanese invasion of china, in an effort to prevent the japanese from getting anything from changsha / making any profit from the city, the city leadership decided to burn everything before the japanese arrived. so 3,000 years of history went up in smoke. and the japanese never made it to changsha. [remember this story if you ever feel as though you've made a really big mistake.] so anyway, we ate in a reconstructed version of one of the ancient palaces. we then met up with some representatives from the national fu lian and some local police from the sex crimes unit to drink whiskey-mixed-with-iced-tea, eat fruit, play dice, listen to hiphop and enjoy a variety of performances (i found the covers of 'hotel californ' and 'country road' charming, the canto-pop sufficiently cheesy, and i was thankfully leaving as the 'naughty nurse and doctor' dance performance act was beginning). this was the end of a long day.

i'm in changsha to connect with a few members of the chinese anti-domestic violence movement / partners of ours, to observe a judicial training sponsored by the australian human rights commission, and to see some of the work being done locally in relation to DV / protection orders (this is probably the most progressive province in the country on DV issues). [another changsha story i can't resist sharing: when chairman mao was making a trip back to changsha during the cultural revolution, the local officials had to chose a place for him to be photographed at the train station when he arrived. this was deeply problematic. if he was to the west, that was problematic because it showed support for capitalism. if he was to the north, that was problematic because relations w/ the soviet union were bad. if he was to the south, that was problematic, that was bad because relations w/ vietnam were bad. if he was to the east, that was problematic because it showed respect for beijing over the countryside. there was no politically tolerable place for the chairman to stand. so he didn't move in any direction once he got off the train for the picture & was photographed in front of stalls selling chilies in the main hall.] it's been good to be here - our women's rights work, which is currently focused on combating domestic violence, is now one of the areas i'm responsible for. we had a really successful training program for chinese police in february, and are in the process of developing a training program for judges. being at a local court today was incredibly moving as i was able to see the impact of our february training program. there is a bit of a revolution brewing in china vis-a-vis the public security response to DV and it is humbling, overwhelming, inspiring to play some small part in supporting that..... (i could go on in more detail about this, but will spare you in the interest of space. glad to share more if you're interested!)

aside from women's rights, we also work on environmental rights, criminal justice, promoting public interest lawyering, civil society capacity building, social policy advocacy, and have a few other projects here & there. (i was meant to be returning to beijing to attend a meeting we're co-sponsoring on representing child victims of domestic violence / sex crimes, but the local partners have decided to discuss a recent, horrific case from southern china where a group of government officials are charged w/ sexually abusing little girls and it would stifle the conversation if a foreigner were there. this happens not infrequently (i can't attend our programs because i look foreign). i sometimes find it frustrating, but i also understand.) so anyway, that's what's occupying my time in beijing. the work is challenging, my colleagues are fantastic. i feel this type of work is the reason i went to law school and i am so happy to be back in beijing. (my inner scripts are more wholly my own there than anywhere else, really. even after all the changes in the city.) it's also nice to be speaking chinese again. though i learned the hard way that i am not quite up to giving articulate speeches on the fly. or at least not at 9:00 am on saturday mornings when the 2 minute welcoming remarks from the chinese partner become an eloquent speech about the importance of volunteerism & NGOs festooned with stories about his daughter's positive experiences volunteering during the olympics. yes, i was tempted to try to make a joke and talk about my daughter's positive experiences volunteering during the olympics, but i sensed the assembled govt officials and NGO leaders weren't the right crowd for that sort of humour. instead i expressed what an honour it was for us to support this work and our thanks and said i couldn't possibly have anything more to say on substance because director huang had already said it all.... from now on when i have to speak formally, i prepare in advance. it's also been nice having shaphan in beijing. things with us are wonderful. i feel very lucky to have ended up once again in the northern capital.

for now, back to changsha. after leaving the court teary and thoughtful about how a group of thoughtful, committed individuals really can make a difference, we travelled across town to a community services center. the woman leading our tour of the center was more hip than i could ever hope to be - short, crimped hair, skin-tight black plaid trousers tucked into high-heeled, tall black leather boots with leather blows and sequins on the sides, a pale pink, slightly wrinkled (untucked) blouse. the outfit was completed by the headset she was wearing to guide us. it was all fairly straightforward until we arrived on the floor that was meant to provide services for pregnant women and educate them about being healthy during pregnancy. my buoyant mood was abruptly shattered by the site of a large, clear jar with a fetus inside floating in formaldehyde (or some sort of preservative). i thought i was going to be sick. until i saw the larger jar with a larger fetus - 32 weeks i found out. it was just so awful and confusing ("they came from the hospital" whatever that means and were there for "education purposes" whatever they could be). i left that room quickly. we saw the arts center and then there was a presentation about their anti-DV work which included a performance of the small play they'd developed as an educational tool. and the day moved on....

the jarring moment i describe is something that is simply part of life here. one minute you're walking to work enjoying the morning sunshine and some (relatively) clean air, happily eating a redbean bread, smiling at dogs and babies and loving china, and the next moment you're stepping in a filthy puddle of restaurant slop that splashes all over you and cursing china. one minute you're moved by the immense will of one local court to effectively combat violence against women in the community, the next you're somehow staring at a decaying fetus in a jar. one minute you're trying to avoid the pig's blood dish at dinner, the next you're being encouraged to climb on the stage and dance to jay-z in between acts at a chinese club.

those moments are always little opportunities for reflection, growth, discovery, inspiration. or laughter. or tears. or both. oh the unbearable lightness of it all. ; ). ok, with that it's clear that it is too late for me to try to say anything further.