The Great Mall of China

"The Great Wall of China" is a misnomer. "If there is any question whether China is a communist country, just go to the Great Wall and the Chinese people will inform you otherwise. They will not tell you. They will show you. You cannot walk two feet without an aggressive Chinaman holding some product in your face saying "Haro, you buy, cheap!" That is why I think "The Great Mall of China" is a more appropriate name. The great irony is that some of the most frequently purveyed items are Mao's Little Red Books, Communist caps or t-shirts emblazened with Mao's face. The road leading up to the Wall is lined on both sides with booths and shops selling all things Chinese.

It's not so bad once you get onto the wall. Based on an observation of would-be sellers of goods scattering when the police/security came near, I don't think they are supposed to sell stuff on the actual wall. One of the girl's in our group would much rather have been accosted by an aggressive Chinese peddler than how she actually was accosted.

First, a little background. The Great Wall of China is to the Chinese what Mt. Rushmore or the Grand Canyon is to Americans. China has almost exactly as much land as the United States. People come from all over China to visit this monument to China's past. Many of them live in very rural villages where they have seen foreigners on TV but never in person. Throughout our trip, it was not uncommon for people to come up and say "We take picture together, Ok?" They would snap a shot and then be gone. Another factor that helps you understand what happened to the poor girl on the Great Wall of China is that the Chinese have little, if any, candor. They say just what they think. It is like that filter in our brains that keeps thoughts in our heads from going to our mouths is missing in them. More than once, living in Taiwan, I went to the beach to get a nice golden tan, only to come back to have both friends and strangers say "Ewww, you're so black." (On an unrelated sidenote; The Chinese people think that white skin is beautiful. That is why when you see Chinese tourists at Zion's or the Grand Canyon, they will have big floppy hats, sunglasses and umbrellas when there is not a cloud in the sky.) One of the girl's on our trip who did happen to be on the heavier side was told in a very matter of fact way, "You are kind of fat aren't you?" Last, the Chinese concept of personal space is not the same as ours. With about five times as many people living in the same space as the U.S., you can imagine how people are going to bump, nudge, jam and cram into each other.

So, with this background information, I can now continue my story. A girl and her friend were walking along the Great Wall of China minding their own business when, out of the blue, a woman comes up and grabs her boobs. This was not just a little pat or touch. The Chinese woman got two full handfulls. Now, as you might already have guessed, this girl was well endowed in that area. As the Chinese woman grabbed her, she said "Wow, that very big!" Most Chinese women are not so blessed and so, being from a rural part of China and not having the opportunity to see American's, let alone big chested one's, thought she would take full advantage of the opportunity to get an up close look (and feel). The American girl, was completely taken off guard. She said later that she didn't really realize what was happening to her. So, she just stood there in shock with a dumbstruck expression on her face. The Chinese woman's next comment revealed what she thought was the reason for such largess. She patted the American girl's stomach, looked up at her and said "you have baby?" The girl's friend finally came to her rescue. She pulled her away and wisked her away.