Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
chapter one
Fear, Loathing, Eco-Desire:
Chinese Pollution in a
Transnational World
In 1983, when I visited China, I was an obnoxious American saddled with a
bowl haircut. I was also the literal embodiment of my parents' triumphant
return to a country they had long ago left, since everyone approvingly told
my parents that I was a good “Fai Zai” (fat boy). Everyone was wearing
communist outfi ts—blue jackets, hats, and dark pants. I had little interest
in the endless parade of extended family or the historic sites and instead
obsessively played with my handheld video game. At Tiananmen Square,
I turned the game on for the umpteenth time. In it, Mickey Mouse carried
a basket. He was supposed to catch eggs rolling down four chutes—the
eggs came down faster and faster, until three broken eggs ended the
game. Slowly, a crowd of a hundred curious people gathered round—
they had never seen a video game. Someone said (in wonder) that in America
they can even waste eggs in a game! Nothing about the lives of these specta-
tors seemed to connect with my own existence in the United States,
especially not that someone thought those rolling eggs were real , a symbol
of a< uence and waste. Nowadays, that video game would be made in
China, and not a single stylish person (much less a crowd) would bat an
eyelash.
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