My time in China
For the past two weeks, I’ve been in Beijing and got back to England last night after a long, boring flight. I went to a summer school at the Capital University of Economics and Business (CUEB) due to their new link with the University of Southampton, which is where I study.
We attended a few lectures, which weren’t great, at their campus given by CUEB lecturers. But, the rest of our time was filled with sightseeing and great experiences. It was non-stop for two weeks and we were constantly exhausted but it was worth it.
But, it was an amazing experience and one of the best things I’ve ever done. Although I didn’t enjoy the lectures that much, it didn’t mean I didn’t learn a lot from my time in China.
China is a civilisation pretending to be a nation
This quote from Lucian Pye came to mind often when realising the scale of where I was.
Expectations
It was my first time in Asia and in an authoritarian country. I didn’t know what to expect, I have quite a few books on China and had done some research beforehand. But, I knew it would be a culture shock and it’s hard to know what to expect from the third largest city in the world in the most populated country on Earth in a culture you haven’t been exposed to before.
My prior reading was largely about Chinese foreign policy and the Belt and Road Initiative. But, also about more controversial things such as their internment camps for muslims and their social credit system. I’m interested in the rivalry between China and the US and whether there will be a war as long cycle theory would suggest as China rises and they compete for hegemony. Something I want to write about in the future.
Western media can give anti-Chinese connotations and I think a lot of people will see them as ‘the enemy’ in ways. Viewed by many as the place everything we buy is made and where all the manufacturing jobs have gone. I knew when going that I had anti-Chinese sentiment. But, was also self-aware of that and how the media affects how we think, so I also went being open minded and thought about this a lot.
I went excited but without expectation. I didn’t research the places we were going so I didn’t have many pre-conceptions and everything was new.
Cultural Observations
I definitely learned and observed a lot during my short trip and tried not to overthink or over-analysis some things too much.
With my limited prior research on China one main difference from the west was collectivism vs individualism. Until I went I found it hard to really understand what this meant in reality. But speaking to students and lecturers and asking questions made it clear.
They really were a collective with the same opinions and thought. When we asked what the people we spoke with thought of things they struggled to give opinions. The first response, almost instinctively, was ‘we’ instead of ‘I’. ‘In China, we…’ was a common opening phrase. And what followed was largely just facts without detail rather than opinion. Sometimes they managed to eventually construct an opinion but first instinct was ‘we’.
We felt that the people we spoke to were quite sheltered and that growing up in Beijing was almost a bubble. I’d expected that young people would have VPN and therefore full use of the internet. But, the students we met didn’t as they feared the consequences. So, it was hard for us to know what they knew or thought at times.
Another key characteristic of Chinese culture is respecting elders. I thought this was clearly engrained in their culture. The children were quiet and well-behaved. We queued for over two hours in 35 degree heat to see Chairman Mao’s embalmed body. There were school trips and parents taking their children. But there wasn’t complaining and moaning, whereas the British students agreed that if we were in their position at that age we would have been complaining and crying to our parents.
One lecture was particularly ‘long’ and was on HR. We were tired and our boredom was fairly evident. However, we were told how impressed the lecturer was by us because the group asked questions, telling us how Chinese students don’t question what they’re told or try to find out more. I believe this linked to respecting elders and authoritative figures, which then links to their collectivism instead of being inquisitive and forming our own opinions.
Other things I noticed included how accepting of hardship and hardworking Chinese people were, how they didn’t feel oppressed and were optimistic for the future. At least the ones we met, who as I said before, I felt lived in a bit of a bubble.
I was excited to experience and see an authoritarian state in action. And find out people’s opinions on democracy. As I said, Chinese people came across as optimistic and excited for the future. They saw themselves as a developing economy and were excited by fast growth.
“China isn’t ready for democracy”
“The people wouldn’t make the right decision”
“In China we like one strong leader”
“If you listen to everyone’s opinion nothing gets done”
These are four quotes I heard on the topic of democracy and China’s political system which I found thought-provoking. The people we met spoke good English, but didn’t understand when I said I studied politics. They’d never heard the word ‘politics’. I described it as studying government and they told me that that wasn’t an option in China. They largely study business and human resources.
Conclusion
Overall, it was a special trip with a great group of people. It exceeded expectation and I can’t wait to go back to China and eastern asia. There is so much more I’d like to talk about such as diversity, tourism, migration, food, social mobility, censorship, working conditions and the state-owned conglomerate factory we visited. Hopefully, I’ll discuss some of these in the future.
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