Now I am back in my Hong Kong apartment. Let's talk about LXB (Liu 晓 Bo).

I have learnt about the indictment of LXB on 26th December 2009 on Facebook and Xanga. I surfed the Internet using special program in Shanghai every day. Putting LXB in jail for 11 years marks the uncivilised mindset of Chinese Government. When I informed Sandra the indictment, she expressed her anger against the Government too. If we had chance, we would like to ask what LXB had done wrong. How can a government be afraid of a charter drafted by an intellect?

On 29th December, we visited Wuzhen (乌镇), one of the largest ancient Jiangnan (江南) town in Zhejiang (浙江). W, a friend in Shanghai, drove us there. W was a police (Public Security) for 10 years. Then she entered the watch business. Now she was a boss of some retail shops. People in Shanghai always drive to the nearby sightseeing spots if they have time. En route to Wuzhen, we saw that the villages were all very modern. There was frost on the roofs as it had been snowing the night before in Greater Shanghai region. On the roof of each house, there was a solar energy generator. The villages were obviously better-off.

"The Greater Shanghai region can be compared to some small developed countries," Sandra mentioned.

"I could see that," I replied.

W, Amy (a friend of us from Hong Kong), Sandra and I then chitchatted for other stuffs.

We had lunch at the periphereal village of Wuzhen. Then we visited the wholesale market of leather and fur nearby. The stuffs there were good in quality and design. Many big brands like Armani ordered their leather and fur garments there.

On the way back to Shanghai, our car drove onto the expressway. Roads in Eastern China, the fastest growing area in China, is changing every day. It is so fast that some GPS system cannot catch up. You cannot imagine how well connected the cities in Long River Delta are. We could see that a railway for bullet train between Shanghai and Hangzhou (杭州) was being constructed. But every one of us was tired in the car. That was the time I brought up the issue.

"It was the birthday of LXB a few days ago."

"Who?" asked W.

"LXB? Do you know?"

Sandra joined in. We had to give some details of the development of Charter 2008. Some people may think that Mainland Chinese do not have access to all kinds of information. But the fact is that they have pieces of information. They rely on some "outsiders" to put the jigsaw together.

"What's wrong with the Government?" W expressed. We therefore carried on the discussion of the attitude of the Government on people having opposing or different political views.

This is exactly what I have been trying to do. By living in Mainland China, we can do much. We can provide local people with information which they may not get the whole picture. We can discuss with them views they may not have heard. People in Mainland China are more openminded than many Hongkongers think. But by doing this, people know that they are not alone. This can be a huge force to many social changes.

Why do I mention our visit to Wuzhen? When you really walk on the earth of Mainland Chian, you will see how better-off people, even farmers and people in villages, have become. I have to mention this because I think that economic growth to certain extent will trigger the growth in what people ask for from the machinery of the nation. Whether it is a liberalistic view or not I have no ideas. And I do not think that liberalism can answer all my questions. As a mathematics teacher, I cannot understand the logic that oppression is equal to reason for anti-governmental campaign is equal to MacCartyism is equal to whatever the government does it is wrong. Disagreeing with what the Government does to opposing voices does not mean disagreeing with all the work the Government has done. This is the complexity of the entanglement.

But I believe in social change. I believe in communication can bring us changes we have never expected. When you pick up a pebble and throw it in the pond, the ripples can be so great that you have not imagined. Happy Birthday to LXB! Happy Birthday to every one of us as each of us has a new born Chinese national inside! Have you asked yourself lately what you really want? Is it time we have to think about what the value of each of us as a Chinese national is?

Choco becomes bigger. He is always clinging to either Sandra and me. Frankly speaking, I did not expect that he was so adorable. To certain extent, I had reservation.

Reason 1: I thought Choco would be a hindrance for Sandra to come back to Hong Kong.

Reason 2: I was afraid that the chemistry between Sandra and me would then be connected by Choco, a third party.

However, I was mute about my worry. I have friends and relatives in Hong Kong. I can go to movie or have some dinner with them. But Sandra is all alone in Shanghai. She has only a few relatives in Shanghai but she cannot have dinner with them all the time. (Going her aunt's place in taxi needs more than one hour!) Her friends in Shanghai are actually her subordinates. She cannot ask them to go to movie with her all the time. What can she do then? Raising a puppy seems something sensible. But of course this also means responsibility. When she suggested having a puppy, I thought if only you could handle it.

Well, gradually I have become involved in this family of three. Choco is an adorable dog. Or, it may be me who really gets into the relationship. It turns out that I come to Shanghai often. Whenever I have three days of holiday, I will come to Shanghai. My second reason of worry also seems unneccessary. The chemistry is different now. It depends on what a family member means.

Choco is now a part of me. He jumped on me whenever he saw me. I remember the first I saw Choco, he was very small and seemed very fragile. To me, he was a lump of fleshy burden. He left his poop and pee wherever you could not imagine. He was naughty. He was disobedient. He needed food after certain period of time. I guessed all the parents of newly born also experienced something similar. The major problem was that I did not see him as a family member but something redundant.

Now, Choco is not as small as he was but he is still small and fragile. when I ask Choco to kiss his Mom, he will go to Sandra and lick her all over her face. He poops and pees on certain places. He is still naughty but at the same time he is generally obedient. Whenever he has done anything mischievous, there are few times Sandra or I have to grab an empty plastic bottle or roll a piece of newspaper into a paper rod to "beat" him. All we need to do is to grab him up and talk to him. Yes, talk to him. As I am now writing this post, Choco is leaning on my side watching what I am doing. There is obviously interaction between Choco and me. What is the difference? The major difference is that I consider Choco as a family member now. Our family consists of Sandra, Choco and me.

The above two photos were captured a few days before. The first one was taken right after we had walked Choco. We cleaned up his paws with towel. He was very timid in my arms. The second one was taken in the countryside. We put Choco in a zebra costume. He ran to and fro making all the people around laughing loudly. He was so cute that he became a lady killer.

I did not recognise that there would be such huge change. But I now know what a life means and what a family member means. Life is not something about your own self but something you can sacrifice or do for all the others around you.