So what's in a name?

The warm air of summer has gradually been replaced by the crispy cool air of autumn. Before long, I will face another winter in Beijing. I am not a fan of winter. But at least the light and colors of everything seem sharper nowadays. During the summer, with all the moisture, the dust and pollution get trapped in the air. which often causes a haze or foggy conditions. Today, I can look out my window and clearly see buildings far into the distance.

Beijing is not a tall city, even by Chinese standards. There are very few skyscrapers and the streets are wider compared to cities like Shanghai, Chongqing, or Hong Kong. That does not mean traffic is any better. A recent survey of Chinese rated Beijing traffic as the worst in China. I personally don't think its any worse than the San Franciso Bay area. The problem with Beijing traffic stems from the layout of the city based on the Emperor's palace being at the center. All the roads circle it like a fortress rather than are directed to it like if it were the economic center of activity. Originally when road contruction began it was for bicycle traffic. Over the past decade as the economy boomed and sales of cars soared, roads especially for car traffic began to be built. There is plenty of construction going on around Beijing, and besides many buildings, is a new network of subways. Their completion is supposed to coincide with the start of the Beijing Olympics.

So what's in a name? What am I known as in other parts of the world?

Well, let me take a moment to answer that. In English, my native language, my name is Mark. Actually, its Marcus, but only some of my relatives calls me Marcus nowadays. How did I go from Marcus to Mark? When I was in Japan, Japanese people could not easily say Marcus "Mah-ka-su", and would associate it with "Sah-ka-su" or circus, the word "ka-su" also means dust in Japanese. The reactions I got from people when I told them my name began to rub me the wrong way so from that time on, I just gave up saying my name was Marcus and starting telling people to call me Mark. Though, some people then associated that with the former German currency, the Deutsch Mark. Over time, I became accustomed to being called Mark.

In China, most people have, at most, three syllables in their whole name. The first, is their last name, then the next one or two is their first name. My favorite action star Bruce Lee's Chinese name is Li Xiao Long. Li (spelled and pronounced Lee in English) is a common family name, and Xiao Long means little dragon.

When I first started studying Chinese my teachers wanted us to make up and use Chinese names. If you already have a Chinese name, then you are fine. But how do you get a Chinese name when you don't know any Chinese at all. Well, the teacher then takes the time to assign you a name. My teacher gave me a Chinese name that phonetic resembles my English name Mark Powers, from that first day in Chinese class, I became "Bao Mah- Ke". Ma-ke sounds like my name. But why Bao and not Pao? Doesn't Chinese have a P sound? Well, my teachers did not use Pao because all the meanings of Pao do not make for good last names in Chinese. Pao can mean "run" or "jog". In forth tone it means "explode", like a bomb or volcano. Who would want to be known as Exploding Mark? So Bao, which I heard could be a legitimate last name in China, became my Chinese name. How could I know any better?

I went through nearly two and a half years of university Chinese classes as "Bao Ma-ke". Over that time I met some Chinese people and tried to dazzle them with some of my fancy new Chinese language skills. Well, to be honest, Chinese pronunciation is hard. And in my first few years of Chinese study while still in my native land, I could hardly say anything in Chinese that meant anything to a Chinese person. Even trying introducing myself as “Bao Ma-ke” would only get me curious looks or eyes looking upward in thought as to what I was trying to say. I discovered Bao can mean package or bag. So it seems like I was telling people my name is Mr. Bag, or Mr. Package. With the aim of trying to find a Chinese name that somewhat resembled my last name in English, the only impression I left in Chinese people was my name is Mr. Bag. Eventually, I would have enough of that and a better idea would dawn on me.

Thinking outside of the box, is a common saying in business to refer to looking at a problem from a different and fresh perspective. How could I get a decent, recognizable, easy to pronounce Chinese last name that at least had some connections to my real last name. Matter of fact, I like and feel proud of my last name and did not want to chose a name that had nothing to do with me. Finally..., I realized Powers, or Power, like physical strength, super power, and energy can be said in Chinese as "Li" or pronounced "Lee". "Li" is also the name of my great idol, Bruce Lee, the original Kong-fu action star. Immediately, I became known as Li Ma-ke. Now, I sometimes have to explain why I chose "Li", as in strength and power, as a last name, but I have no problem telling people what my name is and their reaction is much more positive. I think its much easier to remember as well. Rarely does anyone forget me and my name after I talk with them. And with a name like "Li Ma-ke", or Powers Mark, how could they?