China 2001: Butler University/Freeman Foundation Student-Faculty Fieldwork Trip
Modified 2 June 2001
Lunchtime
Some members of the group attended a concert last night in a club across the street; different bands played basically "hard rock" to a group of Chinese and foreign teenagers and college students. It was not a late night; by 10:30, the bands had finished playing. Today, everyone scattered again to follow their fieldwork leads. Matt, Liz, and I went out to eat lunch, and found a nearby restaurant that had a shrine to the God of Wealth prominently displayed, situated next to the refrigerator with cold drinks! Signs of popular religion, such as shrines to the God of Wealth and Guanyin, are visible in China -- even in more secular and progressive Shanghai. At the height of the socialist period (1949-1979), such displays were officially discouraged. With the "reform and opening" policies that transformed Chinese economic practices, many cultural practices such as popular religion have also resurfaced.