So, how did I like China? What do I think of it? Needless to say China is a very interesting place full of history and culture but at times I had mixed feelings about the Chinese people and my experiences within the country.
I spent a lot of time in the countryside and western portions of Yunnan and Sichuan provinces. There is an enormous difference between rural life and city life in China. In the countryside people are very poor and struggle daily within unrelenting third world conditions. In most cities China is well on the way, if not already on par, with Europe and the west. It’s a huge contrast. The fact is that as much as China is changing there are still millions upon millions just working to survive.
The minority and Tibetan people of China were by far my favorite in China. The Tibetans in particular live a very poor life but Buddhism is a big component of their culture. I think this translates into a peace and happiness so many of them appear to display. For the most part I found the Han Chinese to be not particularly friendly and indifferent towards foreigners. Pushing, shoving, cutting in lines, smoking, hacking and spitting were the banes of China for me. Often times I felt ignored or even invisible but the upside is that usually hassle and touts were not much of an issue. Don’t get me wrong. I met plenty of nice Chinese people and not being able to speak the language is always going to create a distance but more than anything I don’t think Han Chinese are particularly happy people.
By time I reached Beijing I was really kind of tired of the Chinese but ten days in the city really improved my opinion. I met plenty of nice people as everyone appeared to be little more happy. I attribute it to the hope that comes with all of the exciting changes taking forth in what I refer to as the New China.
China certainly controls a lot of information and wants people to behave and think in a certain way. However, the China of today is much different than ten years ago and its changing rapidly as it sorts out its own kind of democracy under a socialistic blanket.
For a long time I think China has been a nation of one mind and you can really see it in a lot of the people. It’s almost as if they have blinders on by thinking one way and going one direction with a worker bee mentality. This may be true to the old China but the new China is starting to think for itself.
China gets a lot of flak for controlling information but at the same time it’s allowing huge changes to happen. In a way I can understand why China is so controlling. There are 1.3 billion people. If change happens too quickly and is not well thought out it could be disastrous for the nation and its people. It’s a country where concepts such as consumerism, tourism, and democratic ideas are being introduced for the first time to a people who have never had the option or even a say on the subject. I think it’s a very tricky riddle that China has to delicately navigate. As an American it’s easy to rally for overnight total freedom and democracy complete with free speech and all but America is a culture that’s had it for well over 200 years.
American and Chinese culture is very different. Some may say that China will surpass America and the west. This may be true to a point considering America owes China a ton money and everything in America is made in China but in my opinion the Chinese are not nearly as innovative as Americans. Chinese tend to think too much inside the box. It’s more or less a culture of people doing and thinking along a narrow line. Chinese are the masters of copying, following rules, and working hard but I don’t really see them coming up with a lot of cutting edge products, ideas, or concepts. Not yet at least.
All said, I was impressed on how much China is and has been putting into infrastructure. Even in the poor rural areas amazing new roads are being built as I write. Although I travel without a cell phone I was amazed at how available cellular communications are throughout all of the country. China definitely has a master plan and there are plenty of smart hard working Chinese to make it happen.
It has been said that China is greatly misunderstood by the west and I think that is a fair statement. I can’t say it’s my favorite country or my favorite culture but after two months it definitely began to grow on me as I started to see and understand a little better how the people think and how the country works.
The dark side of China is within the complexities of introducing free enterprise into the Chinese system. The doors are wide open for corruption and exploitation of workers. Dissidents are silenced and people still have to be careful about crossing the line. Other than the great divide between rural life and city life I can’t say I was exposed to much of the dark side of China. I’m sure it exists as it’s a topic of much discussion abroad. With China trading greater sums of product and money corruption is bound to be at an all time high. This is one area where I hope the New China can pull in the reigns otherwise it could ultimately create huge problems for the master plan. At some point justice and fairness have to prevail with a healthy amount of freedom.
It will be interesting to see how China progresses. As an American I see China as a good ally but one we need to be careful with. I say careful in the sense that we need to respect their culture and need to approach problems differently than we do in the west. We need to be very mindful and not too judgmental but at the same time we need to be strong and firm when it comes to political freedoms and fair trade. It’s a delicate balance but I see no reason why China and the West can’t have good positive relations here on out.
In the end I am very happy to have taken the time to get to know a country and culture that plays such a big role in the world we live in today. I’m not sure when I’ll return to China but I’m sure I will someday. I wish China and its people all the best as it roars into the 21st century.
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