Raufers in Datong

Four Raufer siblings – yes, four of them! – recently made the trip to Nanjing to visit their older brother…. and it was really wonderful having them here at HNC! Of course they took in many Nanjing sites – but also took the opportunity to travel around China for several weeks, heading to Shanghai, Suzhou, Xi’an and Beijing amongst other cities. I managed to join them on a part of their journey, arriving in Hohhot in Inner Mongolia & taking the train down to Datong in Shanxi Province.

Those of you who know China know that Shanxi is a coal-mining area, undergoing tremendous change as the country tries to shift from that polluting fuel to something offering a brighter & cleaner future. Datong in particular has attempted something quite radical, trying to shift from a fossil-fuel-based supplier to a “cultural city” – relying on its 5th Century history as capital of the Northern Wei dynasty and nearby Buddhist attractions built at that time. A key development, however, was the displacement of hundreds of thousands of city residents so that a new, reconstructed city wall could be built – reminiscent of a long-ago Ming dynasty era in the city’s past, when threats of invasion from the north were a constant worry.

The mayor who brought about this reconstruction, Geng Yanbo, is the subject of a fascinating film, The Chinese Mayor. That film, which won an award at the Sundance Film Festival, begins with a seemingly harsh view of Geng…. but by the end, as you watch him try to revitalize a city that otherwise faces severe economic hardship, the lesson is less clear. Even so, there were problems: he was promoted (to the provincial capital of Taiyuan) half-way through the project – leaving behind a city with billions of dollars of debt. The city’s Party chief was also investigated on corruption charges, indicted for bribery, and expelled from the CCP.

We had a chance to see it all – paying particular attention to the 45 caves in the Yungang Grottoes, and the incredible Buddhist carvings and statues found there. My brother Mark also somehow managed to find Datong’s only churrascaria (i.e., Brazilian grilled meat restaurant) – reminiscent of the family’s days living in Sao Paulo — & so he treated us to a very fine Brazilian feast! This was not your normal Chinese tourist fare… but it was a wonderful chance to re-connect with family, and we certainly miss them all – and look forward to seeing everyone again this summer.