Coming to China, I was very sure of who I was and where I was going. I knew what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be around. Where I would take my life seemed to be very clear. I thought that most of the changes were over, and it was now a matter of consolidating everything I've been learning and feeling rather than expanding it. But that was not the case at all. My three and a half months here have flipped everything upside-down. Living within a different culture, being so far from home, having to rebuild myself in a place that I felt totally uncomfortable in, have forced me to go through things and think thoughts that I couldn't have imagined three and a half months ago.
Now leaving China, I am not sure of anything. I'm not sure what drives me or where it's driving me towards. I'm not sure of my own opinions or answers to questions that I could have answered assuredly during the summer. I'm not even sure what I have truly learned here. It certainly was not just Chinese. But I doubt I will come to understand what exactly it is until months or years from now. It's a very lost feeling. And when I come home I am bound to feel even more lost, as I have changed in many ways and those at home may not have changed or changed in their own ways. I will have a new place to miss and new people to miss. I will long for the comfort of a country I am still very uncomfortable in. I will be in the middle of myself, once again, and alone.
It will hurt, but it is not without purpose. I have come to realize this lost feeling is an integral part in better understanding oneself. It's not bad, it's necessary. I am ready to face it. I have learned an enormous amount, and this trip has stirred something inside me that will allow me to learn more when I return.
One thing I know I have learned is that I will not let my life be dictated by my ideals for the future. What will I do with my life? Where will I live? Who are the people I will surround myself with? I simply can't answer those questions right now, and the dumbest thing I can do is try. There are too many variables, which can drastically alter what happens, that I have no control over. I don't even know what those variables are. What is here is now, what is not is not. The career I choose, the person I marry, the place I live in are not things I can meaningfully decide upon right now. I am twenty years old. When I am twenty-two I will be entirely different from this twenty-year-old. When I am thirty, I will be entirely different from the twenty-two-year-old. And when I am sixty, I will be entirely different from the thirty-year-old.
There will be times where I am tired and confused, and tempted to just sit and be absorbed by such feelings. But I hope I will always stand up and keep moving, as that is the only way to expel them. Shutting down keeps those feelings on you and lets them crush you. Facing them is the only way to move them along, and adapt to the inevitable changes or reach a new destination. For now, I can only experience the things that my interests lead me to and work for those that have value to me. That is always the way to fulfillment. And though it may not always be easy or fun, it will always be worth it.
The changes will not stop. But the changes we go through are not something to be fought against or forced, they are merely facts of life and living it. Each change brings new value and new ability. I will accept those changes and apply them as well as I can to my life no matter where it leads.
The lost feeling will never go away forever. But the lost feeling does not last forever. It is because of this lost feeling that we will strive to find a new place for ourselves. And I will be all the better for it and all the stronger for it.
My time in China has roused within me a renewed passion to become a new person and seek new answers. Life will forever throw us into these experiences, and the trips will always lead back to their beginnings. But along the way, we will be fully experiencing what it means to be human, and that is the greatest achievement one could ever ask for.
Friday, December 5
Thursday, December 4
Intercultural Communication
About a month ago, I visited Shanghai. One day, I was waiting for a friend in the lobby of a rather fancy hotel when I overheard a conversation that highlights a very interesting East-West cultural difference.
A white, male guest who spoke British English was checking out and asked to see the hotel manager before he left. The receptionist told him the manager was not in, but the assistant manager would be right down to see him. When the assistant manager arrived, he looked rather busy, but was clearly not surprised when the guest began his speech.
“I would like to make a complaint about the massage service.”
“Yes sir, what was the problem?”
“Well, yesterday, I called the front desk and asked for an in-room massage. The masseuse they sent up did not speak any English and only had an electronic translator with her. I attempted asking what kinds of massage services she offered, but she did not understand. After fifteen minutes of fiddling with the electronic translator, I finally realized that the only massage she offered was of the “special” variety, and she was not a masseuse at all! I sent her away and called the front desk report the incident, but the receptionist did not understand enough English—she only asked if I would like another one sent up instead!
This is an outrage. Is this a four-star hotel or a brothel? The hotel itself sent me a prostitute! Don’t you realize how this reflects on your business?”
The manager replied with a confused look and a weak apology. He mentioned that the hotel often receives complaints of this nature from foreign guests and that the hotel was doing everything in its power to manage this issue. However, the guest was still not satisfied. He could not understand why no one else was as disgusted as he was. At that point, my friend had come downstairs and we were set to leave. I did not hear the conclusion of their conversation, but I doubt there was one.
That incident made a great impact on me, and I think it is something I will remember for a long time. There was no misunderstanding of the facts. They both agreed what had happened, but the interpretation of the facts is where they went wrong. Both were totally oblivious to the other’s view. It is a classic example of cultural miscommunication.
Had this happened in London, it could have been a newsworthy scandal. In British culture, when one asks for a massage and receives a prostitute, it is an insult to the guest. From the guest’s point of view he/she has been cheated and insulted because the hotel assumed that he/she was looking to engage in such activities. These situations rarely occur in the West because Westerners normally the run hotels.
However, Shanghai is not London. From hotel’s viewpoint, it’s not a matter of high-class or low-class services—prostitution is simply universal service in Asian hotels. High-level businessmen in Asia expect it. Moreover, most of the guests who order in-room massages—regardless of whether they are Western or Eastern—are actually looking for prostitutes. In it’s eyes, the hotel was actually being more courteous to its guests by providing such a service.
This kind of incident might not immediately seem like a colossal cultural miscommunication, but there might be more to it. Not understanding culture could make it seem like there are irresolvable differences when there are really just different outlooks. Suppose the British guest was on a business trip to bring his firm to China. His bad experience might lead him to erroneously generalize traits about Chinese culture. From these he could make the wrong decisions, hurting both his and his Chinese partners’ business. Or, suppose the hotel continues dealing with these complaints in the same way. This brushing off of something that is very offensive in Western culture might lead the hotel to lose guests and profits.
The value of intercultural understanding, even in the most minuscule of conflicts, can have great benefits. If the guest had stopped for a minute and thought about where he was and what the cultural and business climate in China was like, maybe he would have understand that the hotel was not trying to pin him as a playboy. If the hotel manager had thought about the reasons why that complaint is received so often from Western guests, maybe he would have been a bit more sympathetic to this guest’s outrage. Being able to step back and look at an issue the way someone from the other side would is key.
A white, male guest who spoke British English was checking out and asked to see the hotel manager before he left. The receptionist told him the manager was not in, but the assistant manager would be right down to see him. When the assistant manager arrived, he looked rather busy, but was clearly not surprised when the guest began his speech.
“I would like to make a complaint about the massage service.”
“Yes sir, what was the problem?”
“Well, yesterday, I called the front desk and asked for an in-room massage. The masseuse they sent up did not speak any English and only had an electronic translator with her. I attempted asking what kinds of massage services she offered, but she did not understand. After fifteen minutes of fiddling with the electronic translator, I finally realized that the only massage she offered was of the “special” variety, and she was not a masseuse at all! I sent her away and called the front desk report the incident, but the receptionist did not understand enough English—she only asked if I would like another one sent up instead!
This is an outrage. Is this a four-star hotel or a brothel? The hotel itself sent me a prostitute! Don’t you realize how this reflects on your business?”
The manager replied with a confused look and a weak apology. He mentioned that the hotel often receives complaints of this nature from foreign guests and that the hotel was doing everything in its power to manage this issue. However, the guest was still not satisfied. He could not understand why no one else was as disgusted as he was. At that point, my friend had come downstairs and we were set to leave. I did not hear the conclusion of their conversation, but I doubt there was one.
That incident made a great impact on me, and I think it is something I will remember for a long time. There was no misunderstanding of the facts. They both agreed what had happened, but the interpretation of the facts is where they went wrong. Both were totally oblivious to the other’s view. It is a classic example of cultural miscommunication.
Had this happened in London, it could have been a newsworthy scandal. In British culture, when one asks for a massage and receives a prostitute, it is an insult to the guest. From the guest’s point of view he/she has been cheated and insulted because the hotel assumed that he/she was looking to engage in such activities. These situations rarely occur in the West because Westerners normally the run hotels.
However, Shanghai is not London. From hotel’s viewpoint, it’s not a matter of high-class or low-class services—prostitution is simply universal service in Asian hotels. High-level businessmen in Asia expect it. Moreover, most of the guests who order in-room massages—regardless of whether they are Western or Eastern—are actually looking for prostitutes. In it’s eyes, the hotel was actually being more courteous to its guests by providing such a service.
This kind of incident might not immediately seem like a colossal cultural miscommunication, but there might be more to it. Not understanding culture could make it seem like there are irresolvable differences when there are really just different outlooks. Suppose the British guest was on a business trip to bring his firm to China. His bad experience might lead him to erroneously generalize traits about Chinese culture. From these he could make the wrong decisions, hurting both his and his Chinese partners’ business. Or, suppose the hotel continues dealing with these complaints in the same way. This brushing off of something that is very offensive in Western culture might lead the hotel to lose guests and profits.
The value of intercultural understanding, even in the most minuscule of conflicts, can have great benefits. If the guest had stopped for a minute and thought about where he was and what the cultural and business climate in China was like, maybe he would have understand that the hotel was not trying to pin him as a playboy. If the hotel manager had thought about the reasons why that complaint is received so often from Western guests, maybe he would have been a bit more sympathetic to this guest’s outrage. Being able to step back and look at an issue the way someone from the other side would is key.
Wednesday, November 19
Day by Day
Learning Chinese is going to take very long time.
Now that the term is getting closer and closer to it's conclusion, I'm starting to realize just how big a task it is. I thought I understood before, but I had no idea. With English as a first language, Chinese isn't just something I can study for a few years in college and then expect to be fluent in. Progress is and always will be very slow and very tedious compared with learning a Romance language or even a phonetic one. I didn't go into this expecting to pick it up quickly, but I didn't expect it to take so long either. One day I feel great about my progress and think I could be fluent if I stay a few more months. The next day I feel like I haven't learned anything and no amount of time learning could help. It literally goes back and forth everyday, sometimes more than once day. But I say this not because I'm going to give up or because I want to belittle the value of learning Chinese. I say it because I've never been more determined to learn the language or more determined that people would benefit from learning it, and would just like to be realistic.
The fact that it's so difficult to learn makes learning it even more important. The next century will unquestionably be host to a wealth of collaboration as well as conflict between individuals and organizations in China and the U.S. It will require people who understand both societies to mediate those interactions, and those people will not be in abundance.
The reality is it can happen, but it won't happen quickly. All I can do at this point is just work as hard as I can and not evaluate myself by the standard of a Chinese person's Chinese level. Day by day, 好好学习天天向上。。。
Now that the term is getting closer and closer to it's conclusion, I'm starting to realize just how big a task it is. I thought I understood before, but I had no idea. With English as a first language, Chinese isn't just something I can study for a few years in college and then expect to be fluent in. Progress is and always will be very slow and very tedious compared with learning a Romance language or even a phonetic one. I didn't go into this expecting to pick it up quickly, but I didn't expect it to take so long either. One day I feel great about my progress and think I could be fluent if I stay a few more months. The next day I feel like I haven't learned anything and no amount of time learning could help. It literally goes back and forth everyday, sometimes more than once day. But I say this not because I'm going to give up or because I want to belittle the value of learning Chinese. I say it because I've never been more determined to learn the language or more determined that people would benefit from learning it, and would just like to be realistic.
The fact that it's so difficult to learn makes learning it even more important. The next century will unquestionably be host to a wealth of collaboration as well as conflict between individuals and organizations in China and the U.S. It will require people who understand both societies to mediate those interactions, and those people will not be in abundance.
The reality is it can happen, but it won't happen quickly. All I can do at this point is just work as hard as I can and not evaluate myself by the standard of a Chinese person's Chinese level. Day by day, 好好学习天天向上。。。
Saturday, November 1
Nanjing
I didn't really know what to expect from Nanjing. I never learned much about it in school, and was too busy studying to read up before we went. In fact, all I really knew about the city was what my high school World Cultures teacher told us about the Nanjing Massacre (南京大屠杀), which wasn't very much. I just remember learning that Japanese soldiers gruesomely and wantonly killed and raped lots of Chinese during the time they were there. Those of you who were there probably remember Mrs. Stapleford actually saying "The Rape of Nanking made the Holocaust look like a birthday party." I don't think I'll ever forget that line...
Although I wouldn't say the Nanjing Massacre in any way trivializes The Holocaust, the Nanjing Massacre was beyond vile. There are many things to do in the city, but I think most of our group made a point to visit The Nanjing Massacre Museum. I believe it's very important to learn about this event if one wants to really understand the complex relationship between Chinese and Japanese cultures. I am definitely not knowledgeable enough to talk much about it, but I encourage you read up on it if you don't either.
The city is a really interesting, and many times awkward, meshing of traditional China and modern China. You see it in everything--the way people dress, city layout, the architecture--everything. There are huge modern shopping plazas next to crumbling hutongs, and traditional-style buildings that have been gutted and replaced with clothing shops. Because of Nanjing's long, long history as the very seat of Han Chinese culture and recent economic surge, that's just the way is. But, of that long history, the past 100 years have probably been the most chaotic. Throughout the century it's been a capital, a developing city, a living hell, and a total mess. And oftentimes more than one at the same time.
Such rapid and immense change surely must have taken a huge toll on the people of the city. What I found really fascinating was how the people who have witnessed all of it carried on. Those in their 70's and 80's have lived through the Republic of China, the war with Japan, The Nanjing Massacre, the Chinese civil war, The People's Republic of China, The Cultural Revolution, the post-revolution era, and the recent economic development--all of them being either centered in Nanjing or severely affecting the city. I would have gone insane before adolescence, but the elderly people I saw in Nanjing are as serene and peaceful as any people I have ever seen. I am in awe of the strength they must have.
I'd like to go back and see more. In that city, almost every corner has more history than one can keep track of. The trip to Nanjing was an eye-opening one. I learned a lot, and still had fun (they had awesome 小吃).
Although I wouldn't say the Nanjing Massacre in any way trivializes The Holocaust, the Nanjing Massacre was beyond vile. There are many things to do in the city, but I think most of our group made a point to visit The Nanjing Massacre Museum. I believe it's very important to learn about this event if one wants to really understand the complex relationship between Chinese and Japanese cultures. I am definitely not knowledgeable enough to talk much about it, but I encourage you read up on it if you don't either.
The city is a really interesting, and many times awkward, meshing of traditional China and modern China. You see it in everything--the way people dress, city layout, the architecture--everything. There are huge modern shopping plazas next to crumbling hutongs, and traditional-style buildings that have been gutted and replaced with clothing shops. Because of Nanjing's long, long history as the very seat of Han Chinese culture and recent economic surge, that's just the way is. But, of that long history, the past 100 years have probably been the most chaotic. Throughout the century it's been a capital, a developing city, a living hell, and a total mess. And oftentimes more than one at the same time.
Such rapid and immense change surely must have taken a huge toll on the people of the city. What I found really fascinating was how the people who have witnessed all of it carried on. Those in their 70's and 80's have lived through the Republic of China, the war with Japan, The Nanjing Massacre, the Chinese civil war, The People's Republic of China, The Cultural Revolution, the post-revolution era, and the recent economic development--all of them being either centered in Nanjing or severely affecting the city. I would have gone insane before adolescence, but the elderly people I saw in Nanjing are as serene and peaceful as any people I have ever seen. I am in awe of the strength they must have.
I'd like to go back and see more. In that city, almost every corner has more history than one can keep track of. The trip to Nanjing was an eye-opening one. I learned a lot, and still had fun (they had awesome 小吃).
Halloween in Beijing
Last night was Halloween. I went to two different events, both of which are worth writing about.
The first event was a Beijing University-sponsored dance. I was expecting it something to be like an 5th grade dance from the 60's--guys sitting on one side and girls on the other. I didn't expect that because of anything cultural, although that played into it. The main reason is just that the population of Beijing University, being that only the smartest, hardest-working students get in, aren't exactly the most social bunch of college students. In general, and this is a huge generalization, the students here are pretty socially awkward, by Chinese and Western standards. So, in a dance setting one might expect something like that to be horribly magnified.
When I got there, it was 6:50PM--about 10 minutes before the event was scheduled to start. Everyone was already there, about 100 people... sitting down... in desks. Members of the sponsoring student group were in costumes handing out candy. Then, the event started off with the hosts introducing themselves and then introducing an all-girl hip-hop dance team that came to perform. They danced to some obscure mainstream-style rap that I didn't recognize, but it wasn't bad at all. The dancing had lots of Western hip-hop elements but also a lot of very Asian-style moves--the kind of stuff I see all the time in commercials or on TV. Then, the hosts had some game-type events on stage. One of the things they did was bring up everyone in costumes for a picture. One of my classmates is black. She wasn't wearing a costume, but they asked her to come on stage. I thought that was interesting. Soon after, the dancing began.
To my surprise, about half the crowd got up and went towards the dance floor. Not everyone was dancing, but a good amount of people were. They started out with hip-hop/club music. The Chinese style of club dancing is much different than the American one. Grinding doesn't exist. If it happened, it would probably be too provocative for people to handle. Club dancing in China is mostly just bouncing up and down doing something with your hands alone or with a group of people. It's very rarely just one guy and one girl. There's no pressure to look cool or guys to appear really masculine or girls to be sexy while dancing--it's just dancing. Then, they played some latin rhythms. Some people actually knew how to salsa, and started. Others, I think, didn't notice the change in music. It went on like that for about an hour and a half, and then people started to leave at around 9:00PM.
The second event of the evening, was a Halloween party at a nearby bar, D-22. It was punk night. I walked in the bar and felt like I could be somewhere in America. They place is owned by a Westerner, and he got the atmosphere perfectly. Dimly light, grimy-looking yet clean, long bar, pictures on the wall of all the bands that play there and celebrities who have come through. They also had some interesting sketches on the wall that were blatantly anti-Chinese government.
I didn't know what to expect from the music, but I was happily surprised. The first band was all white people, I'm guessing from America. It also seemed like they didn't speak any Chinese. The drummer had a long beard and a shirt that said, "God is busy... Can I help you?". They played covers of classic punk songs, and they actually sounded quite authentic. There was even a little inter-cultural mosh pit going on. The second band sounded even more authentic, and they were a mix of Westerners and Chinese. They're drummer was a Chinese girl who opened their set by singing a harder version of The Misfits' cover of "Monster Mash". I think it was a pretty cool place, but a bit too crowded with expats. They deserve a whole blog post for themselves.
Halloween in China was a good time. 万圣节快乐！Happy Halloween!
The first event was a Beijing University-sponsored dance. I was expecting it something to be like an 5th grade dance from the 60's--guys sitting on one side and girls on the other. I didn't expect that because of anything cultural, although that played into it. The main reason is just that the population of Beijing University, being that only the smartest, hardest-working students get in, aren't exactly the most social bunch of college students. In general, and this is a huge generalization, the students here are pretty socially awkward, by Chinese and Western standards. So, in a dance setting one might expect something like that to be horribly magnified.
When I got there, it was 6:50PM--about 10 minutes before the event was scheduled to start. Everyone was already there, about 100 people... sitting down... in desks. Members of the sponsoring student group were in costumes handing out candy. Then, the event started off with the hosts introducing themselves and then introducing an all-girl hip-hop dance team that came to perform. They danced to some obscure mainstream-style rap that I didn't recognize, but it wasn't bad at all. The dancing had lots of Western hip-hop elements but also a lot of very Asian-style moves--the kind of stuff I see all the time in commercials or on TV. Then, the hosts had some game-type events on stage. One of the things they did was bring up everyone in costumes for a picture. One of my classmates is black. She wasn't wearing a costume, but they asked her to come on stage. I thought that was interesting. Soon after, the dancing began.
To my surprise, about half the crowd got up and went towards the dance floor. Not everyone was dancing, but a good amount of people were. They started out with hip-hop/club music. The Chinese style of club dancing is much different than the American one. Grinding doesn't exist. If it happened, it would probably be too provocative for people to handle. Club dancing in China is mostly just bouncing up and down doing something with your hands alone or with a group of people. It's very rarely just one guy and one girl. There's no pressure to look cool or guys to appear really masculine or girls to be sexy while dancing--it's just dancing. Then, they played some latin rhythms. Some people actually knew how to salsa, and started. Others, I think, didn't notice the change in music. It went on like that for about an hour and a half, and then people started to leave at around 9:00PM.
The second event of the evening, was a Halloween party at a nearby bar, D-22. It was punk night. I walked in the bar and felt like I could be somewhere in America. They place is owned by a Westerner, and he got the atmosphere perfectly. Dimly light, grimy-looking yet clean, long bar, pictures on the wall of all the bands that play there and celebrities who have come through. They also had some interesting sketches on the wall that were blatantly anti-Chinese government.
I didn't know what to expect from the music, but I was happily surprised. The first band was all white people, I'm guessing from America. It also seemed like they didn't speak any Chinese. The drummer had a long beard and a shirt that said, "God is busy... Can I help you?". They played covers of classic punk songs, and they actually sounded quite authentic. There was even a little inter-cultural mosh pit going on. The second band sounded even more authentic, and they were a mix of Westerners and Chinese. They're drummer was a Chinese girl who opened their set by singing a harder version of The Misfits' cover of "Monster Mash". I think it was a pretty cool place, but a bit too crowded with expats. They deserve a whole blog post for themselves.
Halloween in China was a good time. 万圣节快乐！Happy Halloween!
Friday, October 31
Shanghai: Part 2
In my one day of free time, I didn't really get to see that much of Shanghai. However, I did get to visit Xintiandi (新天地) and the area around it.
The place is a refurbished area of all old-style Shikumen buildings (石库门), which is basically an architectual style that blended Eastern and Western styles. It's surrounded by segments of both the new and old Shanghai. Just outside one can see brand new office buildings and crumbling hutongs (胡同). It's quite an interesting contrast between three very different but very historically and culturally intertwined crowds. Also in the area are a number of parks. I've been to a lot of cities in the U.S., but I have never seen any parks as pretty and well kept as the ones in Shanghai. They are totally asymmetrical--as goes the Chinese style of gardening--and with every step you take you feel like you've walking into a new park. Everything is winding, yet perfectly groomed, and there is no trash anywhere. There are always people walking, resting, 散步-ing, playing with their children, or doing Tai Qi (胎气). It's very relaxing to walk through, and I could hardly tell I was in the middle of a bustling city.
Inside the Xintiandi are large paths and small alleyways with Western restaurants, cafes, and Chinese boutiques on each side. There are tons of tables outside with people sitting and drinking cappucinos or having a meal. At this time of year, the area is filled with Halloween decorations and flyers for Halloween parties. The crowd is an varied mix of Western tourists--mostly Europeans, Chinese tourists, and very expensively dressed Shanghainese. It was pretty crowded, but the atmosphere was kind of a relaxed liveliness--much like what one would find in a Western cafe.
To me, one of the most interesting characteristics of Shanghai was its small shops. In Chinese cities, I'm used to seeing four main kinds of shops. First, the TeaFoodAlcoholCigarettes stores (茶食酒烟, or however it's supposed to go). That's the name of the store, and that's literally all they sell. Second, the Chinese-style small shops. You find them along the streets and in the little underground malls. It's normally a small room--about the size of a medium-sized bedroom--with whatever selection of a particular set of goods the shopkeeper is selling. The products aren't always the best quality, but you can bargain there and get good prices. Third, the Western-brand knockoff stores. There are more fake Nike's in China than I can count on one hand. Interestingly enough, some of them are starting to have the same level of quality and actually pretty decent name recognition. They're very similar to their Western counterparts, but the prices are a little lower and the quality normally isn't as good. Fourth, the Western brand stores themselves. They're everywhere in the brand new malls that are popping up like popcorn in all the Chinese cities I've visited. They're almost exactly the same as one might find in an American mall. I'm used to and tired of these kinds of shops. They're basically all the same, and I could just buy all of their goods in Beijing.
However, Shanghai was the first place I've gone where I've found shops with local personality. This is something rare and very difficult to master. Everything from the design of the store to the goods themselves have to be different from that of large brands and have their own kind of appeal. The stores of this kind that I encountered offered a very polished mix of Chinese and Western characteristics. One shop was a home decor store offering products that took a very modern twist on classical Chinese art. Tea sets, rugs, and furniture with very simple and clean design, but very traditional-style Chinese artwork on them. These shops are all ridiculously expensive, but I really enjoy them. Even just seeing shops like that creates a feeling that the area is special and can't be easily duplicated. I find that particuarly rare in the very consumerized parts of China.
Afterward, I went to eat at an Italian restaurant nearby. The food was... 特别... it was interesting. I find this in all the Western-style food I eat in China. It's not that there's anything wrong with it, it just clearly doesn't taste authentic. I think the cooking style was pretty accurate, it's just that authentic ingredients aren't available. The flour is different, the milk is different, the meat is different--it's just impossible to get the same flavor when the core ingredients are so dissimilar. The same issue comes up with Chinese food in America. The Chinese food in American restaurants is normally just poorly made anyway, but even in nice restaurants it just doesn't taste the same. Regardless, it was the first time I had pasta and bread since I came, so I was very, very satisfied.
The place is a refurbished area of all old-style Shikumen buildings (石库门), which is basically an architectual style that blended Eastern and Western styles. It's surrounded by segments of both the new and old Shanghai. Just outside one can see brand new office buildings and crumbling hutongs (胡同). It's quite an interesting contrast between three very different but very historically and culturally intertwined crowds. Also in the area are a number of parks. I've been to a lot of cities in the U.S., but I have never seen any parks as pretty and well kept as the ones in Shanghai. They are totally asymmetrical--as goes the Chinese style of gardening--and with every step you take you feel like you've walking into a new park. Everything is winding, yet perfectly groomed, and there is no trash anywhere. There are always people walking, resting, 散步-ing, playing with their children, or doing Tai Qi (胎气). It's very relaxing to walk through, and I could hardly tell I was in the middle of a bustling city.
Inside the Xintiandi are large paths and small alleyways with Western restaurants, cafes, and Chinese boutiques on each side. There are tons of tables outside with people sitting and drinking cappucinos or having a meal. At this time of year, the area is filled with Halloween decorations and flyers for Halloween parties. The crowd is an varied mix of Western tourists--mostly Europeans, Chinese tourists, and very expensively dressed Shanghainese. It was pretty crowded, but the atmosphere was kind of a relaxed liveliness--much like what one would find in a Western cafe.
To me, one of the most interesting characteristics of Shanghai was its small shops. In Chinese cities, I'm used to seeing four main kinds of shops. First, the TeaFoodAlcoholCigarettes stores (茶食酒烟, or however it's supposed to go). That's the name of the store, and that's literally all they sell. Second, the Chinese-style small shops. You find them along the streets and in the little underground malls. It's normally a small room--about the size of a medium-sized bedroom--with whatever selection of a particular set of goods the shopkeeper is selling. The products aren't always the best quality, but you can bargain there and get good prices. Third, the Western-brand knockoff stores. There are more fake Nike's in China than I can count on one hand. Interestingly enough, some of them are starting to have the same level of quality and actually pretty decent name recognition. They're very similar to their Western counterparts, but the prices are a little lower and the quality normally isn't as good. Fourth, the Western brand stores themselves. They're everywhere in the brand new malls that are popping up like popcorn in all the Chinese cities I've visited. They're almost exactly the same as one might find in an American mall. I'm used to and tired of these kinds of shops. They're basically all the same, and I could just buy all of their goods in Beijing.
However, Shanghai was the first place I've gone where I've found shops with local personality. This is something rare and very difficult to master. Everything from the design of the store to the goods themselves have to be different from that of large brands and have their own kind of appeal. The stores of this kind that I encountered offered a very polished mix of Chinese and Western characteristics. One shop was a home decor store offering products that took a very modern twist on classical Chinese art. Tea sets, rugs, and furniture with very simple and clean design, but very traditional-style Chinese artwork on them. These shops are all ridiculously expensive, but I really enjoy them. Even just seeing shops like that creates a feeling that the area is special and can't be easily duplicated. I find that particuarly rare in the very consumerized parts of China.
Afterward, I went to eat at an Italian restaurant nearby. The food was... 特别... it was interesting. I find this in all the Western-style food I eat in China. It's not that there's anything wrong with it, it just clearly doesn't taste authentic. I think the cooking style was pretty accurate, it's just that authentic ingredients aren't available. The flour is different, the milk is different, the meat is different--it's just impossible to get the same flavor when the core ingredients are so dissimilar. The same issue comes up with Chinese food in America. The Chinese food in American restaurants is normally just poorly made anyway, but even in nice restaurants it just doesn't taste the same. Regardless, it was the first time I had pasta and bread since I came, so I was very, very satisfied.
Wednesday, October 29
Shanghai
I guess I'll go backwards, starting with this past weekend's trip to Shanghai.
A friend of mine, Ernald Furxhi, works at the Undergraduate Admissions Office for Drexel. He came to Beijing and then to Shanghai for meetings, lectures, and college exhibitions pitching Drexel to Chinese high school students. A number of months ago, we met and realized that we'd both be in China at the same time. He invited me to come to the college exhibition in Shanghai and help out, as it would be nice to have a real Drexel student there. I said sure.
My experience airport experience was strikingly different than when I first came to Beijing. I could say what I wanted to say, and even had the confidence to speak in Chinese when people spoke to me in English. I'm still nowhere near fluency, but it's nice to see the difference between only 6 weeks ago and today.
Drexel was going to pay for transportation, hotel, and food. I had no idea what to expect. I told the taxi driver which hotel I was going to, and got really surprised when he turned in to the parking lot for the Shanghai Stadium. I thought that maybe he didn't know where he was going. But when I asked, I realized that it was me who didn't know where I was going. The hotel is one of the nicest in Shanghai, and definitely the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in. It is actually part of the Shanghai Stadium--like from the club on the top floor, you can look out the window at the field. I thought that was pretty crazy. I dropped off my luggage and ran over to the expo across the street.
When I arrived, Ernald showed me our Drexel booth and introduced me to Drexel's three representatives in China who would also be working with us. There were two older men, probably in their forties, Dr. Richard Wang (王彤) and Mr. Cai (I have yet to find out his full name), and a girl in her early twenties, Gloria (高雅). They work for The China Center for International Educational Exchange (中教国际教育交流中心), or CCIEE, which is a company that helps Chinese students search and apply for international universities. They seemed nice enough, but little did I know how much personality each had. Richard is a very smart man with a fluent grasp of both English and Chinese and a surprisingly great knowledge of Drexel. Gloria also speaks very good English, has really interesting opinions on life, and never seems to run out of energy. Mr. Cai speaks no English, but is such a personable man, he can make friends with anyone. He's always doing something funny, even when he's not trying--either making jokes, doing silly magic tricks, or trying to learn a little English. The five of us made an interesting group.
We worked all day Saturday. The event was basically a bunch of big rooms filled with booths advertising colleges from all over the world. Our little booth was on a corner, so we ended up getting a lot more attention than I might have expected. The crowd was mostly comprise of a single student and both of his/her parents. Most of the students spoke reluctant English as did many parents. This is where it helped to know some Chinese. Countless times, a family would come up to the booth and ask each other something assuming I couldn't understand. When I answered in Chinese they were kind of taken aback. Since Ernald speaks no Chinese and many of the parents spoke no English, I helped translate a few questions and answers. It was really difficult, but just a fun experience overall. I learned a lot.
Saturday night we went out to eat Shanghai food. 太甜的，不够辣。Too sweet, not spicy enough.
Sunday was another full day of work, but I got to eat the hotel's breakfast before we started. I was incredibly happy to find Chinese and Western breakfast food. I was in heaven. They had bacon, eggs, bread that tasted like bread, cheese, pancakes, hash browns, muffins, danishes--I didn't know what to do with myself. I honestly didn't even realize how much I missed all of that stuff until I saw it. Thinking about it still makes my mouth water...
On Sunday night we parted ways. The CCIEE people went back to Beijing and Ernald got ready to head back to the U.S. I had decided to stay an extra day and use my free time to see the city.
On Monday, I headed uptown to the Xintiandi area (新天地), which is full of modern Shanghai shops, parks, and lots of foreign restaurants. I've got a bunch of pictures that I'll put on the picassa or whatever I use.
I'll finish the story later, right now I've got to go to sleep...
A friend of mine, Ernald Furxhi, works at the Undergraduate Admissions Office for Drexel. He came to Beijing and then to Shanghai for meetings, lectures, and college exhibitions pitching Drexel to Chinese high school students. A number of months ago, we met and realized that we'd both be in China at the same time. He invited me to come to the college exhibition in Shanghai and help out, as it would be nice to have a real Drexel student there. I said sure.
My experience airport experience was strikingly different than when I first came to Beijing. I could say what I wanted to say, and even had the confidence to speak in Chinese when people spoke to me in English. I'm still nowhere near fluency, but it's nice to see the difference between only 6 weeks ago and today.
Drexel was going to pay for transportation, hotel, and food. I had no idea what to expect. I told the taxi driver which hotel I was going to, and got really surprised when he turned in to the parking lot for the Shanghai Stadium. I thought that maybe he didn't know where he was going. But when I asked, I realized that it was me who didn't know where I was going. The hotel is one of the nicest in Shanghai, and definitely the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in. It is actually part of the Shanghai Stadium--like from the club on the top floor, you can look out the window at the field. I thought that was pretty crazy. I dropped off my luggage and ran over to the expo across the street.
When I arrived, Ernald showed me our Drexel booth and introduced me to Drexel's three representatives in China who would also be working with us. There were two older men, probably in their forties, Dr. Richard Wang (王彤) and Mr. Cai (I have yet to find out his full name), and a girl in her early twenties, Gloria (高雅). They work for The China Center for International Educational Exchange (中教国际教育交流中心), or CCIEE, which is a company that helps Chinese students search and apply for international universities. They seemed nice enough, but little did I know how much personality each had. Richard is a very smart man with a fluent grasp of both English and Chinese and a surprisingly great knowledge of Drexel. Gloria also speaks very good English, has really interesting opinions on life, and never seems to run out of energy. Mr. Cai speaks no English, but is such a personable man, he can make friends with anyone. He's always doing something funny, even when he's not trying--either making jokes, doing silly magic tricks, or trying to learn a little English. The five of us made an interesting group.
We worked all day Saturday. The event was basically a bunch of big rooms filled with booths advertising colleges from all over the world. Our little booth was on a corner, so we ended up getting a lot more attention than I might have expected. The crowd was mostly comprise of a single student and both of his/her parents. Most of the students spoke reluctant English as did many parents. This is where it helped to know some Chinese. Countless times, a family would come up to the booth and ask each other something assuming I couldn't understand. When I answered in Chinese they were kind of taken aback. Since Ernald speaks no Chinese and many of the parents spoke no English, I helped translate a few questions and answers. It was really difficult, but just a fun experience overall. I learned a lot.
Saturday night we went out to eat Shanghai food. 太甜的，不够辣。Too sweet, not spicy enough.
Sunday was another full day of work, but I got to eat the hotel's breakfast before we started. I was incredibly happy to find Chinese and Western breakfast food. I was in heaven. They had bacon, eggs, bread that tasted like bread, cheese, pancakes, hash browns, muffins, danishes--I didn't know what to do with myself. I honestly didn't even realize how much I missed all of that stuff until I saw it. Thinking about it still makes my mouth water...
On Sunday night we parted ways. The CCIEE people went back to Beijing and Ernald got ready to head back to the U.S. I had decided to stay an extra day and use my free time to see the city.
On Monday, I headed uptown to the Xintiandi area (新天地), which is full of modern Shanghai shops, parks, and lots of foreign restaurants. I've got a bunch of pictures that I'll put on the picassa or whatever I use.
I'll finish the story later, right now I've got to go to sleep...
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