guevara

I would say the vast majority of people; my students and teachers included have absolutely no idea who Che Guevara is. I suppose in the grand scheme of things he's not that relevant within Chinese society, but he's definitely an important historical figure that everyone should know. Especially if you're in a communist country. Xiao Zhao can't recognize the poster on the door of my apartment as the overused image of Che with scraggly hair and the black hat, but then again she thought the capital of the US was New York. Jason knew who it was, but he's also a history major, so I'd be even more shocked if he didn't. I actually don't think I could go out with someone who didn't know even the most basic knowledge about him.

Che visited China twice, once in 1960 and again in 1965 to meet in Chairman Mao regarding trade with Cuba and the role of the Soviet Union which competed with China for influence. They're both incredibly gifted guerrilla fighters who successfully employed similar tactics to bring about the revolution. While their individual ideologies regarding the role of government (leadership and foreign policy) differed greatly in terms of how the revolutionary policies would be instituted and what role the lower class (industrial workers, peasants, farmers etc..) would play in bringing about social change, they were both essentially Marxists (Guevara perhaps more so) with a sprinkle of Lenin. On a personal level they were both members of the middle class (not a surprise for a revolutionary - who else has time to sit around and contemplate stuff?) and enjoyed discussing history and pao niu-ing... (Wow I had a lot of parentheses in that paragraph)

Wu Yi Jie kuai le...