China III - That First Monday - 星期一

It's strange how, in such a short amount of time, I've already been given plenty to think about. The pre-conceived notions I had of China are quickly evolving and in a strange way I feel both disappointed and relieved that it isn't such a crazy scary and unpredictable place. In the end, humans are humans and I find that there are more things that unite us than separate us.

***

I had a language test first thing in the morning.

"Hello.
-Hello.
-你会说汉语吗？
-What?
-Can you speak Chinese?
-Um, no."

It was quite easy.

***

I have been completely blown away by the University's canteen. It has not one, not two but FIVE whole floors, all dedicated to feeding the student and local population for cheap cheap cheap. Each floor seems to serve slightly different types of food and the prices/fanciness of the food appears to go up as you go up the floors.

The underground/B1 floor is the cheapest and is open nearly day from 7am until 10pm. It serves homey Chinese food from Shandong province.
The ground floor (which is the 1st floor in China), is pretty similar except there seems to be set meals available rather than the small individual dishes. Same with the 3rd floor who's only noticeable difference was that the food was more expensive and they had dumplings too. The top floor serves 'Western' food and is therefore considered the most expensive and 'fancier' floor. As exchange students I think some of the Chinese students expected us to eat at the Western floor and seemed a bit taken aback that we were happy to eat at the bottom floor. Apparently, a few of them thought we wouldn't like Chinese food or be able to digest well.. Don't worry kind students, I will and can eat anything!
I found the 2nd floor the most interesting one as it serves Halal food. This surprised me a little at first until I learnt that China does have a sizeable Chinese Muslim population as well as hosting muslim scholars and students from around the world. It sounds silly thinking about it now, but I honestly had a strong image of China as a kind of Buddhist pork eating country. Even though that image has gone now, I'm not quite sure what it's been replaced with. Considering China's diversity and huge size it seems unfair to just label everything as simply "Chinese". Each province has it's own unique character that I feel they could be individual countries in their own right. And then there are all the multitudes of people from different backgrounds and ethnicities ... How do you unite such a country? Coming from little England in the United Kingdom where sometimes I feel like it's more like the Divided Kingdom or the Differing Kingdom, I have to admit I'm a bit impressed. I don't think I know nearly enough about China and its politics to make any kind of fair judgment on the way the government deals with issues here, so regardless whether it's good or bad, it is quite remarkable how harmonised life feels here.

**disclaimer** 

My opinion based on 3 days observation might be a little different if I lived here and actually understood Mandarin.
****

So after spending my lunch being amazed by a university canteen, I decided to visit the uni shops and the rest of the campus. They have a card which you can top up and use to buy things all over the campus which is so so convenient. Why don't we have that in Sheffield??

Next up was the opening ceremony of our Study China Program. We were told to dress formally so suits, dresses and heels we wore... but the home students were simply wearing t-shirts and jeans for the most part. Oops.

After the usual speeches about fostering cultural links and friendships in this new globalised world I was able to meet my "buddy"!

Her name is Wang Di or Lydia, a second year English major who also coincidently studies Japanese as a minor. She also seems nice and patient enough to answer all my endless questions :) 

As a group we all had dinner together, and Lydia told me of the importance of harmony in Chinese culture. Dong things together and getting along is crucial so eating dinner is an important part of fostering friendships and even securing business relationships.

***

Apparently us international visitors have been placed in the university's best accommodation - it's on campus hotel, usually used by visiting scholars, academics and other important people. I was curious about the home student's rooms and was even more so when Lydia whispered to me that they (the Chinese students) were told not to bring us there. Oh? That's not odd at all... 

We walked for twenty minutes underneath the shining neon lights, passing by the street vendors and people chatting and eating outside on bright plastic chairs, passing by a German church and middle aged woman dancing in a park.

I came to understand why the higher ups at the university would have preferred for us not to see the student's dorms. To put it bluntly, they're not very nice, and I don't consider myself a particular difficult person. Besides the inconvenience of the communal showers being outside, the state (and smell) of the shared toilets, it's the rooms that I would find difficult to deal with the most. Six to a small room with little to no storage space, clothes hung from the bunk beds. With no personal space, I was reminded of the importance of harmony.  According to Lydia however, the worse part is the lack of air conditioning. In summer, Jinan reaches temperatures of 40ºC but all the girls have is a small fan attached to the ceiling, so they usually rent an apartment nearby to live in when the heat gets too much.
The dorms meant for the international students are much more luxurious.. It seems unfair that the home students are not provided for as well as the international ones are..

***

On the way back, Lydia and I had an interesting conversation which again changed my preconceived notions I had of China and Chinese people before I came here. (Funny that, I was sure I was more open-minded than this surely??)

I think due to the media and the way China is portrayed abroad as a "scary communist authoritarian" country, especially when I was younger, I developed the idea that most Chinese people were sheep, simply doing what they are told, following the herd and not thinking or questioning anything. That image was quickly destroyed by Lydia, who wasted no time in suddenly bringing up politics.

"If anybody tells you about China's politics here, especially if they're in a position of power, don't believe them."

We were actually warned to not bring up politics or any 'touchy' subject whilst we were here so as not to 'sour' relations, so I was taken aback by Lydia's sudden statement.

"We are told we are a democratic country. We are allowed to vote. But tell me. Where can I vote? How do I vote? I am 20 and have never voted!"

I like Lydia. I might have known her for just a few days but I really appreciate her how outspoken she is and her raw honesty in the way she expresses herself. 

Trying to pigeon hole China and its people is impossible. The moment I try, hundreds of contradictions pop up. Strict but with a laissez-faire attitude. Kind and harsh. Clean but dirty. Organised chaos. Stressed and busy people, yet so relaxed. It's all a bit confusing.

I've decided to just enjoy this whole experience and think about things in their own context rather than just simplifying them as "Oh China"...

***

Is it ironic the main TV broadcasting company here is called CCTV? 

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