What does that middle finger mean?
What are the consequences if you do this in China? Ever wondered? Am I banned from China? We walked from our hostel to Tiananmen square. At a certain point you have to go through a checkpoint. You need have you and your luggage checkt to be able to walk on the street and walk on the square. That sums up China. A normal public area and you have to be in line, get checkt, follow the rules. If I think about this square, I think of the first english book I have ever read: it is about this square and lots of dead students, killed for fighting for their rights, shut up by the government. But If you actually walk on the square, nothing is here to remember this event. You see a big poster with the face of Mao, some statues for the communist war and struggle, and people waiting in line for a visit to the forbidden city. We wait in line for the national museum. The entrance is free. There are multiple lines, one before you can wait in the actual line for a free ticket and a third one for entering the building. We get out of the first line and just walk passed all these people and skip a lot of people in the second one as well. The people in charge of the lines don’t say anything and just let us pass. We do the same with the last one. Although we have our expectations of nationalism and propaganda, the museum is worse then imagined. Their are a few exhibitions you have to pay for, paintings about the Louvre for example. We go in an African art exhibition, full of statues, modern and old mixed, no artist names, no origine dates, and bad naming of the tribes, but it does have the dimensions mentioned. I can’t see myself how big the statues are? What year is it from? This is more for Chinese people to say “oeehhh” and “aaaah”, not very educative, nothing explained. We just walk in the exhibition of the Louvre without paying. The people at the entrance look mad, and ask for our ticket. Jeff give the free ticket we have. The guy rips it in pieces out of anger and goes back to his post. We continue our visit. Everything in the museum is not educative, but simple propaganda. Even this exhibition is just to make an association with the Louvre and Europe, but does not show much. In the end we visit ‘The road to rejuvenation. The afterword: “Over the past one hundred years and more, the Chinese people have written a magnificent epic of solidarity, struggle, self-improvement and resilience. Since the founding of the Communist Party of China ninety years ago, under the strong leadership of the CPC, our great nation has successively achieved many historic changes: from a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society to a brand new society of national independence and rule of the people; […] History has proven that without CPC, the people’s Republic of China would never have come into being, nor would socialism with Chinese characteristics; socialism is the only way to save China, and reform and opening-up is the only way to develop China, develop socialism and develop Marxism.” To develop a moderately prosperous society. Don’t forget to mention the smog and brainless people that lost their identity, their history and religion and fill up the emptiness with gadgets and stuff by spending money and consuming endlessly. This is there national museum, in their capital, this is how they educate their people. We walk on the square and the streets around it, it is very hard to find a way to walk normal in this place. Lines and checks everywhere, certain obligated circulations and so on. We are done and want to go back to the hostel. We have to go over the square again and can’t simply do that. There is a line for a check and we think it goes to the forbidden city and are getting very annoyed. We want to go straight and a police lady stops us and says we have to go trough that security check. She takes Jeff’s arm and sends him the other direction. We go around and towards the security check but Jeff shows his middle finger to the woman. The woman looks angry at us and shows off her camera while walking with a walky-talky towards the security check. It makes us laugh very hard. We are testing Chinese authority a lot lately, because they are everywhere and constantly. It is ridiculous. The train stations are blocked, just like this square, so that you have to go through a lot of security and in certain circulations, everything in the country is to maintain control over the people, but they have actually no power, no gun. But everybody simply follows the rules and is drilled. Another security guy goes on a platform and looks around. We wave at him, knowing his looking for us. He pulls out his baton and starts threatening us. I am very angry when he does that on me. This guy does not even know what happened and that I actually did not do anything. If I ask if he speaks English he shouts angry: “No English”. All of the sudden a women starts shouting at us: it is very rude what you did, what does that middle finger mean? She screams and shouts over and over. It makes us laugh. Who is this lady? A guy does the same. When I respond to him, he starts his shouting at me. Sir, who are you? I don’t have to talk to a stranger! These people are very bad at their job, and have very long toes. He did not even identify himself. I don’t let a stranger randomly scream at me. He accuses me of things I obviously did not do. His forehead curls and he is so angry, but barely knows what happened. If the police lady did her job, she would fully explained who did what. I did not show my middle finger. They scream about disrespect, and say we offended them, and keep asking us what that middle finger means. Jeff says it does not even mean anything in China, since it is an American thing, and that is just a finger. We annoy these people a little more by not excusing ourselves and responding with logic, they only talk with anger. All of them are police, the ones that did not identify themselves are police officers without uniform. Like little kids they are so offended by this that they are not thinking reasonable. After a while Jeff makes them shut up and makes them handle this step by step. Otherwise we would just keep shouting at each other for another half an hour. He asks the police lady who pulled a middle finger at her. Ok, Jeff did. Did Tatiana do something? No? Ok. Can she go? Yes. Now how do we proceed? These police guys have not a clue wat to do with people that don’t follow the rules. Eventually it takes another half an hour of everybody just shouting and standing there, in front of the security check. I join them again and Jeff tells me how stupid these people are, and that he made their boss come. We are just simply talking in front of these people and their camera how ridiculous they are and annoy them some more. Apparently the one guy that did not even identify himself as police before shouting also said to Jeff he should go back to Africa. This is very rude and ignorant as well, since he is an American, born and raised in America because of his ancestors brought there by slavery. And dumb since he holds his American passport in his hand. He keeps on saying things like this is China, not America, do you know what that middle finger means (is that not an American hand signal? But he is African?). They keep on saying and asking open questions and sentences, that not mean anything. I ask him very specific questions back. Is that signal illegal? What is the consequence of doing this in China? He does not give me actual answers. They made so many mistakes, and act out of anger, except the lady they did not even witness anything. This is NOT illegal and we did nothing illegal. When the boss arrives, a lady who acts as childish as the others, also she starts yelling. Not well informed that I did not do anything. The police lady, our victim, is even twisting the story and makes it all of the sudden about not going through security instead of making it about the middle finger as they all did for the last hour. All of the sudden they come up to us telling we did not followed the rules by not going through security. Wait people, you stopped us in front of the security check. Do you want us to go through the security? We don’t mind… The lady knows now I did not do anything, the security check is also not a real thing to bother us with, since we did not disobey that either. She looks angry at me and Jeff and says: “You know what you did.” Again not really useful. Is it illegal? What did we do wrong then? They know they can actually not do a single thing to us. And have to let us go. The only real thing that happened is them loosing face by making a big scene for showing a middle finger. She blames me for being his girlfriend and therefor being also responsible. I tell her that I have no responsibility over his actions and words, just as I have no power over her actions and that she is acting ridiculous. What she says does not even make sense. Again I ask. Did we do something illegal? What now? Keep on standing here, you guys being offended, but without any power? She threatens me with saying she will look at the footage. I don’t care very much, but I say: “lets do that, I am done with standing here in the cold.” When we demand on looking at the footage and proceed with all of this, they decide to let us go. I ask what if we did do something illegal and you see it on the footage. Not going through security and therefor breaking in, for example. What will happen? Will you send us out of the country? Cancel our visas? The only thing they would be able to do is not let us get in the country the next time, with our next visa. Who looses face? We can just walk away. Interesting! We walk away laughing, and meet in front of our hostel two funny police guys that want a picture with us, we want a picture with them and their sticks. Most of the time police officers are just standing everywhere for the show, litterely on a small platform, not moving all day, no smile, no talking, no moving at all. A dominant presence. This is enforcing power… Or just faking it? Where is your gun? Something to write about, something to remember and something to laugh with.
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