Here's what the British Consular Alex Hosie writes on his journey up in Northern Yunnan in 1885. The journey is written to the Royal Geographic Society, and can be obtained through the Internet:

As we entered the "Upper Fortress" we thought of tne members of the French Commission, who, in 1868, narrowly escaped from it with their lives, and of the stollt-hearted missionary who braved the anger of the Sultan on their lehalf. Pere Leguilcher still lives he no longer hides in caves and woods, but spends a peaceful life within the very walls of Ta-li itself.



    What this entry will be about, is about the rising nationalism in China that has taken place recently. Theres a lot of growing tensions, something the Western media yet has to report about. The thing is, you dont see it in the daytime really, you have to be around in the nighttime to get the idea. Each day now, if coming home in the night, crossing a nightlife area feels like rowing a small boat over a stormy ocean. While stting outside a bar last night, with a German friend of mine, we compared all these drunken agressive nationalists passing by with Formula 1. Each one of them passing by, was like making a risky turn in a Formula 1 car. Fights have obvisously escalated too, a few days ago I had to lock myself up in the toilet to avoid the hassle.


     I wouldnt be surprised if fragments from the White Lotus society would start to organise some activity again - and if there will be more problems with the Olympics and Tibet, it will naturally affect the foreigner scene too. But as usual, things are relative. In fact, I was going to write about a historical relic we stumbled upon, but lets do that later. I have contacted some buddhists and we are going to the scene later, and I will likely make a report about it too.
 

      So about the nationalism. The "Real Indiana Jones" so to say, R.C Andrews who was around back in history has described the Chinese so, that in the depth of the heart of every Chinese there lies an antipathy against every foreigner. In fact, he might even have used the word "hatred" if I remember it correctly. Whether his words are justified or not, in my opinion, there lies a certain truth in them. Theres a lot of foreigners now complaining about the rising nationalism, however putting that in comparsion with history, makes it all pretty ironic actually. Now how was it back those days when even escaping was no option? How did it feel to be Samuel Pollars up in a small Miao Village when fifty men on horses came and painted the God of War on his door? There are hundreds of foreigners who have lost their lives by bandits and anti-foreigner uprisings only in Yunnan. Lets have a look at a few of the cases.


      Actually lets start from Hunan Province, which is traditionally said to be the most hostile province. A few weeks ago we could hear about anti-French demonstrations and calls for boycotting goods, from some cities in China. Indeed they were nothing new. Heres what the American Newspaper Penny Illustrated wrote back in 1913:

"Vile and malicious anti-foreign pamphlets have recently been distributed broadcast amongst the people by the various secret societies, who are behind the scenes of the "China for the Chinese" movement, and it is these undoubtedly which have led to the outbreak.

For some time attempts have been made to boycott all foreign goods by "loyal" Chinese in the same manner that the recent boycott of British goods was carried out in Calcutta and other parts of India, by the sedition mongers of the Congress Party." 

    Stories about some mobs that would have been screaming outside a French school "Kill, Kill!" is indeed nothing compared to, lets say what happened back a hundred years ago. heres one report:

"The mission stations, warehouses, and other buildings occupied by foreigners have been looted and destroyed. The city itself has been burnt to the ground.  Six thousand troops stationed have joined the rioters, 24,000 of whom are engaged in looting. The Governor's residence was attacked, and he and his son killed.  All foreigners have left, many of them seeking refuge in vessels on the river." 


(2 months later)

OK, .....the point is made clear anyway, back in the old days it was far more lethal to stay around in China when anti-foreign phenomenas took place. The Boxer-uprising is just one fragment of examples, there are thousands of stories enough to put things in perspective. What actually happened in 2008 when the anti-foreigner phenomenas started to take place, was an earthquake. This devastating earthquake in Sichuan that changed the whole scenario. No more stories about the Olympics were to be found in the media, it was all - day and night - about the earthquake. This was also made in to a huge propaganda tool - fair or not.

I have uploaded a clip on what it sounded and looked like one week after the earthquake at the historical Jin Ma Bi Ji area. The wooden archways are gone soon 20 years ago, replaced by some modern stone archways. Theres a pic too what it looked like in the old days.

1 . www.thoughts.com/blog/videos/earthquakememory-2508/uid/22191 /
2. www.thoughts.com/blog/photos/jinmabiji-41042/