Baby Elvis and the Chinese Princesses

We were in China this summer--my sister, my nephew, my daughters and I. The last time we were in Beijing, Gloria and Andrew were toddlers, and everywhere we went, people treated little blond, blue-eyed Andrew like a celebrity. We called him Baby Elvis, and I have a picture (I can't find right now) of Rhonda holding Andrew while at least half a dozen families snap pictures of him and he looks worried.

He didn't like being a celebrity any more this time than he did last time, but he was such a good sport this summer, now 10 years old--always standing politely and smiling in picture with family after family. It's funny to think of how many homes in China have pictures of Andrew in them.

Anyway, when Gloria was 3 years old, she wasn't bothered by people as much as Andrew was, although there was occasionally a family who wanted a picture of her holding hands with their little boy. She wouldn't do this without holding on to me, so each picture has my arm reaching in from the side to hold her hand.

This summer, Gloria and Leona were feeling left out while Andrew was getting so much attention. Then, one day we were eating lunch at a KFC (most popular fast food chain in China with a few items only for the Chinese market, like a seafood burger). We were all huddled around a too small table, and the kids were chattering to each other--probably bickering because that's what they do. And suddenly Rhonda realized that there are several women around the restaurant staring intently at the girls. I looked back and them, and they didn't even seem to notice. They were completely focused on the girls--not smiling, not relaxed.  They were studying them.

We talked about the difference between the reaction people had to the kids. Many people there were curious about Andrew because of how he looked. But these women wanted to know about the girls' lives. As the girls looked around and realized how much silent attention they were getting, they got very uncomfortable and said they weren't jealous of Andrew anymore!

I have a friend who has read a lot about comtemporary Chinese culture. She believes the girls must have seemed like miracle girls, like Cinderella, like Chinese princesses. But I wonder. Their lives are so different from the lives they were born to. Where the women angry about that? Did they think our American girls were behaving inappropriately exuberant? Did they think the girls were lucky?

I don't know what they thought about us all, but I love my loud, brash American girls and wouldn't have things any other way.