This year is the 237th anniversary of 13 colonies declaring their independence from Great Britain. At the same time that Thomas Jefferson was contemplating the universal rights of man in a new nation, a much more powerful nation was reaching a cyclical peak.
In 1776 the Qianlong Emperor of China was presiding over a time of prosperity, amassing piles of silver, jade, and rare art, and dismissing Western emissaries as barbarians. Qianlong's armies were active on the border, conquering the Dzungar Khanate and re-naming it Xinjiang, quashing rebellion in Lhasa, but failing to conquer the Kingdom of Burma. So much and yet so little in China has changed since then.
Where do China and the US stand today? There are plenty of other people making names for themselves on this topic. Last week, we just had a great party together. 800 guests at the Ritz-Carlton Pudong heard our Consul General liken the accepted rules of inter-state relations to the game of basketball, where teams from different countries all come together for fair competition. Whether our host country guests appreciated this or not, I don't know, but everyone was excited about this:
Yao Ming showed up!
Guest were also surprised to discover that we have Marine Guards here in Shanghai:
My job was control officer for the Harvard Krokodiloes, an a capella group that sang the national anthem. They were a pretty good-natured bunch.
Vocalists from the Shanghai Music Conservatory sang the Chinese national anthem. They were quite impressive - strong and almost martial voices, but a clear and lovely tone at the same time.
The night closed with Harry the Hawk and the Atlanta Hawks' dance team doing Smooth Criminal:
The big, bold nature of the NBA in the middle of the glitzy Ritz-Carton was an interesting combination - perhaps much like Shanghai itself. Happy 4th of July!
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