China is a land of contrasts. Some are rather obvious, like the sea in the east and the mountains in the west, hot and cold, old and new, traditional and modern, expensive and cheap. Many of these things can be found elsewhere, as well. Everywhere has good and bad, and often the distinction is in the eye of the beholder. Still, China boasts (and hides) more contrasts than any other place I have thus far been. Here are a few selections to illustrate the changing face of one of the world's oldest countries:
In China, I've encountered the kindest, most polite, most generous and hospitable people I've ever met...and also the most blatantly rude and obnoxious. Sometimes they are the same person, in different situations. One time Melody and I were boarding a train, and a woman jumped in front of her, jabbed her elbows in Melody's ribs, stepped on Melody's toes, knocked over Melody's suitcase, and got to her own assigned seat first. Two seconds later, when Melody and I had boarded and settled into our respective berths, the same woman nonchalantly sidled over and announced that Melody had dropped her ticket on the floor - which the lady delivered politely with two hands and a gleaming, friendly smile. That may be a distilled example of Chinese culture, but basically, in my experience, if people know you and you have guan xi (or even if they just have extra time and resources for the amusing encounter of getting to know you), Chinese people are the some of the friendliest in the world. However, if you happen to be a stranger competing for scarce resources (such as bathroom stalls), watch out - I've said it before, and I'll say it again...if you don't push the little old lady, she will think nothing of kicking you under the bus.
Food, itself, is an interesting example of contrast in China. There are drastic regional differences in the country - noodles and bread in the north, rice in the south, spicy in Hunan and Sichuan, sweet in Hong Kong and Shanghai, seafood in the east, beef in the west. (One of the greatest things about traveling around China is getting to taste all the food, almost none of which is anything like what you find in an American Chinese restaurant - though, I, personally, because of my close and intimate friendship with peppers, think Hunan food is the best.) However...from what I can gather...it seems Chinese people only like the food from their home province. If they go elsewhere, they seek food from their home province. People come to Hunan from Beijing and can't take the spice; therefore, locals can't believe I can. People's families move from their ancestral town to a new place, and they eat at home whenever possible, cooking dishes from the old city, never learning to like the food in the local restaurants (even if they, themselves, grew up there). Still, in each province, there is a lot of variety - in Hunan, for example, tons of healthy and distinct local vegetables...which are then cooked down in oil. All parts of the animal are eaten (and I mean ALL) but heaven forbid the cook cut things into a different shape than usual, or alter a recipe in any way. That would just be wrong.
Technically, China is still a Communist country, but the wealth disparity here is astounding - tradition can change in the blink of an eye, and often exists side by side with modernity. Chinese people seem more materialistic now than Americans did in the 1980s. In China, you see BMWs and Audis next to hand-pulled wooden and metal carts. Four years ago, my students would comment that you were rich if you bought a cup of real coffee; now they want to shop at Dior. You can find the cheapest garments ever in a bazaar that allows bargaining, but there's a strong market for tax-increased, brand-name luxury items that are made in China first, then re-imported from the west. Gleaming, modern skyscrapers overshadow hand-made farm huts, sometimes less than a block away. Some people own a series of houses, under different names, while others still use public bathrooms every day. (Don't even get me started on how people love to boast about the country's 5,000 year history, but destroy it on purpose.). Even the foot-bound street sweepers have smart phones, though.
The Chinese can be extremely logical and practical...but are sometimes insanely disorganized and chaotic. The high-speed train, the gao tie, is an impressive feat of engineering - fast, orderly, and clean, with assigned seats - but people board the train like a stampede of cattle. (And the driving...wow. The roads seem to be planned, but no one follows traffic rules.) Some buildings go up overnight, seemingly unfinished because people are in a rush to use them, and other buildings take forever while the workers destroy and rebuild, destroy and rebuild a perfectly good sidewalk. The country's population is huge, and a central government manages it all, but no one can plan a school calendar with exams and vacations in advance - it changes 100 times before it happens.
My students study chemistry and physics like crazy, but when it comes to biology, even some medical students believe that a woman's offspring will always bear some genes of her first lover. Dating is forbidden in high school, discouraged in college, and then suddenly everyone is worried if you're not married by 25. (By the way, it's taboo to discuss anything sexual in general, but it's just fine to pressure people to have as many children as the government allows, and get all up in their personal business asking why not and what's wrong with them if they don't. That's fine.) When choosing a marriage partner, it's important to consider things like family background, salary and assets, and health, rather than be blinded by love...but be sure there are no unlucky numbers in the wedding date. Women are expected to be unrealistically beautiful, but beautiful architecture in a city is a waste.
In China, double standards abound. It's more than traditional gender roles, too, though those are strong - it also includes social class, ethnic group, age, and any other marker one could imagine. More than once, people have been a little afraid of me or rude because they thought I was a member of a minority group from Xinjiang Province. But once they found out I was American? A complete 180, suddenly very curious and friendly, even if no money was possibly up for grabs. There are SO many different rules and expectations for foreign teachers versus local teachers. Public spaces are unkempt and easily trashed and/or falling apart, but people's homes (at least those that I've seen) are always spotless and meticulously maintained. Parks are supposed to be natural places, but they are over landscaped and filled with plastic pine trees.
People can go from elegant to crass in the blink of an eye. Yes, these are culturally dictated things, but it's still a contrast when someone goes from pouring tea in a practiced, methodical dance, to shooting mucus out of one's nostrils in the street and coughing phlegm onto the sidewalk. It may be healthier to get it out, but there are napkins...Then there is dining etiquette - what to order, who eats first, toasting, speeches, respect and politeness - but relax just a bit, and there are bones and trash and seed shells all over the floor. Standards are shifted.
Every day in China, I can find examples of contrasts - to the point that I never know what to expect when I walk out the door. It's a game of cards. I read somewhere that in China, all a foreigner has to do to get a good story is just show up - and this, my friends, is quite true.
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