In this world, there are
a few places which are
generally just plain evil .
There is a place on
Okinawa where thousands of
Okinawans and Japanese
jumped off thousand foot
bluffs into the ocean to
their death to avoid
capture by the Invading
Americans in World war II.
Nobody mentioned that the
Japanese probably pushed
the Okinawans off before
they jumped!
On the Isla de
Mozambique in East Africa,
is a fort where thousands
of Slaves were rounded up,
"pacified" and
shipped off to death or
worse in the New World by
the Portuguese in the
16oos. You can sense the
suffering and the locals
sense the spirits and will
not go there by night.
While on a recent visit
to North China, I also
experienced one of the
genuine evil places in the
world, and paid the price.
Elevation
203 - East Collides with the
West!
Almost a century ago,
10,000 Russian soldiers
suffered and died on a
mountaintop called Elevation
203 on a Peninsula in North
China during one of the
Russian Japanese wars.. They
defended a peak overlooking
Dalian harbor as they
pounded the invading
Japanese fleet 203 meters
below. 5,000 invading
Japanese soldiers died in
the siege. They entrenched
themselves in pits called
tiger trench, "lion
trench" and other
trenches. They humiliated
the Russian Empire, went on
to control the peninsula and
Manchuria. The Russians are
buried in a cemetery nearby,
where they are described as
defenders of China against
the invading imperialists/
On my Sunday off, I
discovered Elevation 203.
Just one half hour south of
the Port city of Dalian, the
former German and Russian
and Japanese territory. I
saw the Russian cemetery,
and Friendship towers so
familiar to former Russian
friendly countries. I hired
a guide, who didn’t speak
English, but spoke to me in
Russian. Evidently, a lot of
Russian relatives of the war
heroes return to the region.
They used to be a lot more
welcome a few years ago, I
am told. Now, few Russians
visit. Now, they are just
another fallen empire.
On the top of elevation
203, is a monument to the
fallen war heroes. A giant
shell casing about 12 foot
tall on top of a statue.
Russian Cyrillic characters
are etched into the shell. I
was told that visiting
survivors come to the hill
each year to etch their
names in the shell.
I did not see any non
Chinese visitors in the
area. This should have
tipped me off!
Elevation 203 is now a
macabre tourist attraction.
The Chinese have assembled a
number of junked war
implements, none looking the
era. A small museum sells
scraps of metal and shell
casings from the battle.
They sell bizarre
paraphernalia including
elevation 203 T-shirts with
anti Japanese propaganda
inscriptions in Russian and
Chinese. It seems that even
though every one hates the
Russians, they hate the
Japanese more. At least, the
Russians held off the
Japanese for a few decades
for the region. I must admit
I purchased one of those
tacky T-shirts, with a
silhouette of the giant
shell casing on top of the
hill with Elevation 203
inscribed in Chinese,
Russian and English. I
can’t imagine ever wearing
it!
There really isn’t a
lot to do at elevation 203.
Inspect the shrapnel, play
on the swiveling guns, throw
rocks if you like or follow
one of the many trails which
cross cross the hilltop. One
such road led to the ocean,
and the beautiful beach at
Elevation 0.
Somewhere between
Elevation 203 and 100, there
must have been a sign in
Chinese warning me to stay
the hell out of the area. I
sure didn’t see it!
I was not aware that my
stroll down the tiger trench
was actually an encroachment
on a "top secret
Chinese Naval Base.
While perched on a rock,
I was dozing off in the cool
ocean air. An idiot
approached me from behind
and started yelling at me in
Chinese. He was an ugly
pockmarked, sweaty creature
in a white tee shirt, khaki
pants and black shoes., He
flashed a plastic wallet in
my face which dais on the
cover: "People’s
Republic of China - External
Affairs Police. "Mr.
Congeniality" was the
last person that this
country of one billion
people should have chosen to
deal with external people or
aliens like me. After all,
he spoke only Chinese, was
rude and obnoxious, and was
down right mean.
I did not believe the
phony looking badge. And,
told sweaty cop to beat it.
He just yelled louder. I
asked him to show me his
badge, and the more I looked
the more aggravated he
became. The louder he
yelled.
I thought I could just
walk a bit down the road and
he would relent. Just like
in Africa, wait the idiot
out. But, he was really
pissed!
He just kept following.
He pointed to a beat up
white van with bars on the
windows. I walked the other
director, and he got on the
two way radio.
Soon a truck full of
green uniform clad soldiers
with machine guns and clubs
headed down the road with
sirens blaring. I became
very cooperative all of a
sudden, and headed into the
mobile sauna paddy wagon.
We were under arrest for
encroaching on a Chinese
military base. We were taken
to a police station in the
middle of town.
The inside of the van had
no door handles and the
windows were blackened. I
asked my friend to use his
cell phone to call anyone
and tell him, or her where
we were. H called the e
hotel and let them know. The
not so helpful concierge
said were on our own and
that we needed to call the
American embassy in Shenyang
which was about 1,000 km
away, on Monday. My friend
called several other people.
If we were to disappear, we
wanted someone to have a
clue.
The police station in the
rural village, was a
pleasant place. I was told
to sit down in the ground
floor in a room where the
officers slept. My Chinese
hosts were taken away to
another part of the
building. I was stored with
my German travel companion.
From this moment, I was
very friendly, and all
smiles. Unfortunately, our
Chinese hosts, did not fare
as well. We were sent to
interrogation room one. Our
Chinese hosts, were taken
upstairs, by the sweaty man
and another more composed
man without sweat in a white
short and Chairman Mao
button. He also had a big
pistol sidearm, and wasn’t
very nice either.
I hung out in
interrogation room one with
my business associate, a
German national. After the
first hour, I became more
annoyed at the German than
the guard. I got tired of
hearing about the outrage,
his importance, his contacts
back home in the media. How
everyone would pay. Finally,
I told the German to shut up
or else I would punch him
out. And he reluctantly quit
and shut up. The Chinese
guards were impressed, and
turned on the radio for us
and played some "cat
fight" music.
Upstairs, things were
also going well. Evidently,
our Chinese friends were in
a lot of trouble. They
should have known better
than to lead foreigners into
the no mans land.. Although
there were no signs,
although we were led by a
local guide—the Chinese
told our friends that they
should have known better.
After all, this was a place
where thousands of Japanese
had invaded almost a century
ago.
Funny thing: the Chinese
integrators were most
interested if the
"Alien Caucasians"
had entered the water,. For
some reason, if we would
have swam, it would have
been much worse. I think
they believe that all
westerners are infested with
HIV. A Caucasian intrusion
into these waters would have
exposed their nations
defenders to western
disease!
Our Chinese friends were
fined 1000 RMB between then,
and were told that the
police would call them back
if they had any questions.
This was a bad deal, and our
fiends were more frightened
about the prospect of being
called back!
The sweaty cop., sent us
into the big city of Dalian
in a taxi, to go to the
Police station where they
dealt with Aliens. He said
if we did not arrive there
in one hour, that we would
be arrested and detained
infinitely back at his
station. We said so long,
and headed off and smiled
and waved goodbye!
The taxi driver told us
that he made a lot of money
on these daily runs. Mostly
with Russians. The sweaty
man took the cab number and
told the poor guy that he
would be arrested or worse
if he did not deliver us to
the alien police station
immediately.
The alien police station
was in the middle of the
city of Dalian. Everyone
seemed to know where it was.
On the way, our Chinese
hosts made several called to
friends to see what was up.
They all said that they know
important people. But, the
reality of it was: we were
in deep. If you are arrested
in China, it is very
difficult to be un
arrested—especially when
it is by the Army or Navy or
whoever we were arrested by.
Inside were the more
sophisticated cops of
Dalian. It was Sunday, and
they were in casual clothing
and soccer garb. They were
pissed that they had been
called in on their day off
on a soccer day by the army
to take care of us.
The German went into his
mantra of outrage, and once
again I threatened him to
shut up. The Alien police
brought out the book, which
said that in China you were
not allowed to intrude on
their military bases.
Further more it die not
matter if you know about the
laws or speak Chinese or
not. I once again shut up
the German, and told the
Officers that we understood
– sir. He said that I
certainly understood –
perhaps more than my German
friend. I told the cops that
this was not my friend.
We were told that there
would be a fine of about 500
RMB, or 50 US Dollars. Also,
they could deport us
immediately and prohibit us
from ever entering China
again.
He would talk to his boss
next door and see what he
wanted. He would put in a
good word for me. The
officer said that he would
think about the outraged
German.
It had been ten minutes,
or eight hours since the
initial arrest—we were
free.
The main in charge, said
that almost one hundred
years ago, the area was
attached by the Japanese,
and that they were most
sensitive to outsiders in
the area.
He said so long. I said I
hoped that we never met
again!
Back at elevation 203,
another group of Russian
tourists scaled the hill.
The sweaty cop was
cursing the beach in search
of prey.
Another taxi driver
headed to the alien police
station.
What
did I learn from the
experience:
The great drug-crazed
(yet brilliant) American
philosopher Hunter S.
Thompson once said the
secret to Survival in Las
Vegas was: "Don’t
piss off the locals…
To this wise advice, I
add a few more:
- Never visit anywhere
a placed with a number
as a name! i.e.. Area
51, Stalag 13 Section
8, etc.
- Never follow German
tourists (same goes
for men with Turbans).
- When in China, never
go in the water.
I guess China is a tame
place if you stay in the
5-star hotel.
It is a wonderful country
of hospitable people and
friendly faces.
Just breech their laws,
and you certainly see
another side!