THE XINJIANG MOUNTAINEERING ASSOCIATION & US

SOME OF OUR CLOSEST PARTNERS IN CHINA ARE THE OFFICIALS AT THE XINJIANG MOUNTAINEERING ASSOCIATION (XMA), A GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT WE HAVE HAD SOMETIMES DAILY INTERACTION WITH FOR NEARLY 15 YEARS. WE HAVE SAT WITH THEM IN XINJIANG AT THE URUMQI OFFICES AND PLANNED COUNTLESS DETAILS, AND THEY HAVE ALWAYS BEEN FORTHRIGHT, INTERESTED, MOTIVATED AND RELAXED.

WE KNOW THIS GOES AGAINST THE COMMON PERCEPTION OF CHINAS AUTHORITIES, ESPECIALLY THE MOUNTAINEERING ASSOCIATIONS OF WHICH THE XMA HAS NEAR MYTHOLOGICAL ALLUSIVENESS. FROM THE IMPOSING HEADQUARTERS IN BEIJING AND CHENGDU TO THE BLUNTNESS AND POWER OF THE REPRESENTATIVES, THE CMA AND ITS PROVINCIAL AUTHORITIES CAN GET ALL SORTS OF BAD PRESS. THIS IS NEARLY ALWAYS DOWN TO PEOPLE INTERACTING WITH THEM OVER PROBLEMS, USUALLY WHERE THERE’S BEEN A FAILURE TO FOLLOW THE RULES OR THEY HAVE BEEN FOUND TO HAVE GET AROUND THEM. MOST PEOPLES INTERACTION IS VIA A TRANSLATOR WHO MAY OR MAY NOT UNDERSTAND OR SHARE THE CLIMBERS VIEW, WITH MORE THAN ONE INTERMEDIARY HAVING THEIR OWN AGENDA NEITHER PARTY KNOWS ABOUT.

WE LEARNED EARLY ON THAT THE WAY TO WORK IN CHINA IS TO PLAY THE LONG GAME, TO DEVELOP PERSONAL TRUST ACROSS A PROCESS OF DISCUSSIONS, DEMONSTRATIONS AND QUALITY COMMUNICATIONS. THIS HAPPENS IN THE OFFICES AND OUT IN THE BASECAMPS, BUT ALSO IMPORTANTLY AT THE DINNERS, OVER COFFEE, SHARING WHISKY AND SMALL GIFTS. LIKE ANYWHERE THERE IS A CERTAIN INSTITUTIONAL LANGUAGE, AND IN CHINA IT IS NO DIFFERENT TO ANY OTHER BUREAUCRATIC PROCESS.

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AT ITS CORE THE XMA IS A SPORTING ASSOCIATION, CONCERNED WITH THE SPORT OF MOUNTAINEERING ON PEAKS ABOVE 4500m. BY ITS NATURE IT MUST ALSO BE A GEOPOLITICAL ONE AS IT DEALS WITH BORDERS AND RESTRICTED AREAS, AS WELL AS AN INDUSTRY ONE THAT OVERSEES THINGS LIKE WAGES, TRANSPORT AND EMERGENCIES. THIS MEANS IT IS A VERY REAL ORGANIZATION, AND MORE THAN THE RULE-MAKERS WHO MOST PEOPLE WILL SEE. EVERY PERMIT IS DONE INDIVIDUALLY UNLIKE WHAT YOU SEE IN PAKISTAN AND NEPAL, AND THE XMA WIELDS AUTHORITY IF NEEDED RIGHT DOWN THE LINE.

PERMITS AND PAPERWORK FROM THE XMA OPEN DOORS OTHERWISE NOT OFFERED, BEING SERIOUS AUTHORIZATION FROM THE TOP IN BEIJING. SHOWN TO POLICE, MILITARY AND IMMIGRATION THIS STUFF GETS BILLED JUST LIKE A VISA OR RESIDENCE PERMIT, AND ASSUMES THAT EVERYTHING HAS BEEN STAMPED ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE TOP.

THIS ALSO MEANS THERE IS NO CIRCUMVENTING IT, AND THAT COUNTER-PERMISSION FROM ELSEWHERE FROM THINGS LIKE DRIVERS AND GUIDES DOESN’T HOLD PRECEDENCE. YOU CAN’T FEND OFF THE XMA (OR ANY MOUNTAINEERING ASSOCIATION IN CHINA) WITH SOME LOCAL PERMIT, SO IF IT DOESN’T COME WITH THEIR APPROVAL IT CAN BE TREATED AS SUSPECT.

THE AIM OF THE XMA IS TO PROMOTE MOUNTAINEERING, NOT TO SHUT IT DOWN OR CURTAIL IT, AND THEY GO OUT OF THEIR WAY TO MAKE TRIPS HAPPEN. WE HAVE SPENT WEEKS CHASING UP DETAILS AND OBSCURITIES TO GET TRIPS WORKED OUT, AND NEVER MET A WALL OF DISMISSIVENESS OR BEEN TOLD TO FORGET IT. THIS IS NOT TO SAY ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE, BUT WHEN THEY ARE NOT WE KNOW QUICKLY AS THE XMA IS THE AUTHORITY. IF DOABLE THEY ARE HAPPY TO PERMIT WHEN THERE IS NO REASON NOT TO, IN THE WAY OF AN GOVERNMENT BODY WHO AT SOME POINT IS OPERATING ACCORDING TO NUMBERS AND TICKED BOXES.

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WHERE PEOPLE COME UNSTUCK – IF THEY CAN ACCESS THE XMA AT ALL – IS THINKING THEY ARE SOME LOCAL BRANCH LIKE A VOLUNTEER GROUP IN THE ALPS. THEY ARE NOT, THEY ARE EVERY BIT AS MUCH A NATIONAL AUTHORITY LIKE AN OLYMPIC COMMITEE OR SPORTS FEDERATION, THAT REGULATE AND PROMOTE A SPORT ACROSS A HUGE AREA AND MULTIPLE ASPECTS. WHILST SOME CLIMBERS ARE TALKING ABOUT K2 OTHERS WANT TO GO ICE CLIMBING OR TREK UP GLACIERS, IN A COUNTRY THAT HAS MORE TERRAIN OVER 4500m WITHIN THE CMAS JURISDICTION THAN THE REST OF THE WORLD COMBINED.

BY SHOWING UP IN URUMQI AND TALKING OVER COFFEE AND WHISKY, WE LET THE XMA GUYS KNOW WHAT WE WERE THERE TO ACHEIVE. BY NOT BEING ONE HIT WONDERS, AND BY HAVING AN AFFINITY FOR XINJIANG ITSELF, WE BYPASSED ALL THE SUSPICION AND PEDANTRY THAT A LARGE GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION CAN SEE A SMALL TEAM OF CLIMBERS AS. OF COURSE DOZENS OF PERMITS AND TRIPS AUTHORIZED ELSEWHERE IN CHINA HELPS, AS EVERYTHING EXISTS IN A CENTRALIZED DATABASE WHERE WE ARE EASY TO FIND. DECADES OF VISAS AND ACCESSING THE WILDER AREAS OF CHINA MAKES IT CLEAR WE ARE INTERESTED BEYOND JUST THE SPORTING ELEMENT, AND THAT WE ARE HERE FOR THE FUTURE AS PART OF THE CLIMBING SCENE NOT OUTSIDE IT.

OF COURSE DETAILED AND NUANCED COMMUNICATION THROUGH ALEX IS CENTRAL, WITH NO GLITCHES OR BITS MISSING THAT CAN LEAD TO CONFUSION LATER. AS ALEX HAS BEEN THERE EVERY STEP OF THE WAY HE KNOWS WHAT TO PRESENT, AND WHAT SORT OF INFORMATION WE NEED TO DO WHAT WE PLAN. THIS LEVEL OF COMMUNICATION MEANS DETAILS AND IDEAS CAN BE RAPIDLY WORKED OUT ACCORDING TO THE LATEST RULES AND CHANGES, WITH LITTLE GUESSWORK OR CONCERN THERE IS STUFF THAT AFFECTS US WE DON’T KNOW ABOUT.

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THE END RESULT IS FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS IS EFFECTIVELY THE ONLY ENGLISH LANGUAGE INTERFACE WITH THE XINJIANG MOUNTAINEERING ASSOCIATION. THIS IS NOT BY DESIGN BUT SIMPLY BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE HAS MADE THE EFFORT. OUR HISTORY AND OUR PROJECTIONS MEANS THE XMA SEES US AS PART OF THE LANDSCAPE, SO EFFECTIVELY WE HAVE THE ‘HOTLINE’ TO GUYS MAKING THE RULES.

WITH THIS WE CAN PLAN YEARS IN ADVANCE, INCLUDING INCORPORATING OBJECTIVES NOT YET OPEN TO THE WORLD. WE CAN DISPELL MYTH AND HERESAY FROM ACTUALITY AND PROBLEM SOLVE AT A HIGH LEVEL, AND LINE UP PERMISSION THAT SEES US THROUGH THE ENTIRE EXPEDITION PROCESS FROM VISAS TO THE FOOD. THAT OTHERS HAVE SUCH TROUBLE WITH THE XMA WE CAN ONLY ASSUME IS BECAUSE OF MISUNDERSTANDING THE CHINESE PROCESS, BECAUSE TO US THEY ARE VITAL PARTNERS THAT MAKE THE FINEST MOUNTAINEERING POSSIBLE.