Forbidden City

“I’m not saying I’m crazy about people getting killed and cities being bombed but it happens to why ignore it? Pacifists are just simpletons as far as I’m concerned.” 

This statement from Alex is different than the feeling he has about war and armed struggle at the end of the novel. Being an aficionado of military history is a far cry from being in an actual war zone and seeing innocent people gunned down in the streets. Alex later goes on to become one of the objectors he initially thought were simple-minded.

“I’d draw plans and try to picture the troop movements, attacks, feints, retreats, traps, all that, and I’d lose myself for hours in a world that made sense?” 

During his parents’ messy divorce, Alex takes solace in war history and in re-enactments with his toy soldiers. Acting out strategy makes life feel more organized and systemic to him at this emotionally chaotic time.

“‘Shan Da means Tall Mountain in Chinese. Good name for you as you are a tall boy.’” 

It is a personally important moment for Alex when Lao Xu gives him a Chinese name. Prior to this, Alex isn’t quite sure how he fits into this trip. The visit to China is really centered around his father’s work, and Alex is just tagging along. But armed with his new identity, Alex feels more encouraged to enroll in language classes and hop on his bike and explore Beijing. 

“The wall of the Forbidden City’s southern border faces Chang An Avenue across a moat that’s spanned by three marble bridges. In the center of the wall is the Tiananmen, the Gate of Heavenly Peace, looking out on Tiananmen Square.” 

Straightaway, Tiananmen Square captures Alex’s attention and imagination. He decides to explore there as soon as he can, and he notes the name of the square, ironically a moniker of peace and tranquility.

“I was expecting the kind of Chinese food we got in Toronto—sweet and sour breaded chicken balls, barbecued pork, sweet and sour spare ribs, chow mein—stuff like that. Not here.” 

The food Alex discovers in China is a surprise to him. He expects the food he has eaten at Chinese restaurants at home, but the tastes are a great deal more complex, as is the etiquette. He is informed that it is important to leave something on the table uneaten as a show of respect to the patron, at least among more well-heeled hosts. Later, when Alex is staying with the students hiding from the troops, he sees how little food the actual people have to share with their families. Yet the scant food the people have they offer freely to him.

“All the history I took in school seems like a pile of dust next to what I saw today.”

Although this statement predates Alex’s involvement in the Tiananmen Square Massacre, already Alex is learning that seeing is believing. H recognizes that all he has passively read and studied does not equate to real travel, which affords living and experiencing both positive and traumatic experiences of a foreign land.

“Political power here belongs to a very few, very old men. The Chinese government can do whatever it pleases, including send us all home tomorrow.”

At this point in the novel, Alex is beginning to more fully grasp how politics differ between Canada and China. At this pre-massacre moment, the worst fate he can envision is being kicked out of the country, rather than stuck in it. While Alex has a slight understanding of China’s political landscape, he is naïve and does not grasp the Party’s potentially violent recourse.

“Maybe Lao Xu and I could still be friends, but now I knew there would always be a wall between us” 

Eddie fills Alex in on what he believes is really going on with their guide, Lao Xu. Because he is state appointed, Eddies believes that Lao Xu is likely a spy. Eddie reports this in a matter of fact way, regarding the information as something Alex should understand. Alex, however, is chagrined. He had come to think of Lao Xu as a true confidante. Now he is unsure what to make of their relationship.

“I love maps. I think I got hooked on them from my interest in military history and restaging battles. I like to just sit and read them sometimes, sort of getting a picture of a city’s layout in my head and imagining what strategies I’d use if I were invading or defending it.” 

Alex’s passion for maps proves crucial later when he needs to figure out how to escape the surroundings of Tiananmen square. He is able to offer some expertise to the students who generously risk their lives to save his own due to all the time Alex spent scrutinizing the map of this space.

“I tool around the streets, exploring. I’ve been through the Forbidden City […] Those places are weird, in a way. One minute you’re in a noisy, polluted city. Then you walk through a gate and blink your eyes and suddenly four or six hundred years disappear.” 

Bike riding around the city, Alex comes to appreciate its complexity. Old and new are interlocked, with the more historical aspects of the city often obscured as a result of the Cultural Revolution’s determination to modernize China. To Alex, however, the older aspects of China are more compelling.

“I don’t think all politicians are crooks or anything. I just think they’re boring.” 

Prior to the massacre, Alex cannot imagine the level of political corruption that is seething just below the surface in China. He is uninterested in the rumors that pass between Eddie, his father, and other reporters about possible coup d’états.

“I think it was at that moment that I really understood how long Chinese history stretched back and how many wars there had been.” 

When Lao Xu takes Alex to listen to an oral storyteller regale stories of China’s past, Alex gains a new appreciation for China’s complex history. It is both longer and bloodier than he’d ever imagined.

“One thing I thought about though as I said goodbye and left: If Lao Xu was a spy who reported on all three of us to the Party, why would he come to us and voice his fears?” 

When the conflict between students and the government begins to escalate, Lao Xu begins to rethink his loyalties, at least that’s what Alex suspects. Alex thinks Lao Xu is more than just a government spy because seems to be a man of convictions and is rattled by the leaders’ treatment of the Chinese people.

“The enthusiasm was catching. I began to get interested too, especially after talking to that student.” 

Although Alex professes to being apolitical, he feels newly inspired by the student protesters. He admires their courage and determination. The conversations they are engendering are ones he’s never had before and never had to have back at home.

“I wondered where the students and Lan and Hong fit in to all this. Then I realized it. They were right in the middle.” 

It is jarring for Alex when he comes to see the true magnitude of the protests. They are not just students speaking up. They are students risking a great deal of personal safety for ideas they believe it. And in speaking up, they are becoming enmeshed in a battle about democracy and freedom of speech that is happening within the Communist Party. It is plain to Alex that being “in the middle” of Party politics is a dangerous spot to be in.

“Later, when I asked Lao Xu what this stuff about corruption was all about, he looked a little bit uncomfortable. He gave me a vague answer about a few bad men being dishonest.” 

Because Lao Xu believes in the Party, it is difficult for him to confront what is happening in Tiananmen Square. Alex’s questions make him uncomfortable, while Alex feels that Lao Xu’s defensive response is about as useful as Eddie’s long, canned speech on Communist corruption.

“I can’t decide whether they’re being really brave or really dumb. What I am sure of is that it’s dangerous. I guess that’s why I admire them so much.”

Prior to meeting the Chinese student protesters, Alex’s idea of heroism involved soldiers and battlefields. His interactions with the students help him to see heroism in a new light. He sees the students as heroes for risking so much for what they believe in.

“Lao Xu said he wanted to. Dad’s twinkling eyes caught mine. I knew what he was thinking. Was Lao Xu staying to help or to keep an eye on us for the Party?” 

The issue of loyalty becomes more paramount as tensions escalate. The reporters, including the would-be reporter Alex, are still uncertain where they stand with Lao Xu. His decision to stay with them is surprising. He might be continuing to keep tabs on them, but Alex still hopes for some depth to their friendship.

“What had I done, so far? Watched TV, listened to the radio, gone to school. Played with toy soldiers.” 

Watching the student protests makes Alex reconsider how he has spent his time to date. He hasn’t put his ideals on the line in the same way, not to any real extent, and he now wonders what he truly believes in and if he has acted out those ideals fully enough.

“What’s really interesting is where they put her […] she’s staring Mao right in the face.”

The student protesters erect their own version of the Statue of Liberty, whom they name the Goddess of Democracy. She strikes a similar pose to the Statue of Liberty, but what seems most meaningful to Alex is where she is positioned. In her spot in the square, she confronts the likeness of the Communist leader, Mao.

“What an army, I thought. They lost face again. They looked stupid. I was glad.”

Alex is surprised when the first confrontation between the soldiers and the students ends quickly and abruptly. It seems to him that the army is poorly organized and has no real plan. For all his military interest, he is now siding fully with the students and with the people of China.

“You didn’t need to know Chinese to know what angered them. Guns, used by Chinese against Chinese.” 

Alex is shocked when the events of June 4 unfold. Previous to the gunfire, he, his father, and Eddie were constantly looking for signs of what was truly taking place in the square and within the government. When the students are attacked, all rumors are put to rest as it is clear that the government will do whatever it takes to save face and preserve dominance, including gunning down students.

“‘Then you are reporter. You must help us. Please tell the outside world what is happening here. You must get the news outside.’”

Alex arrived in China as simply as reporter’s son, and one often critical of his father’s work. During his time in the country, he ends up becoming a reporter himself. He risks his safety and his life trying to get the story of the massacre out to the world and now sees the importance of free press in a whole new way.