Laowai

Posted on 22 July, 2007 by DC

There is are many blogs with stories about about what Chinese people think of laowai, its also one of the most popular questions that people ask me. Laowai basically means foreigner (though the Chinese don’t use this to describe Koreans, Japanese) some dislike being called this but I have no problems with it, it’s the way people use the word not the meaning that is more important.

Last night for the first time in several months I spent the evening at a bar mixing with some of the other expats here in Changchun. It was fun and interesting and made a change, however I still don’t understand why people want to do this every weekend – it must get very boring. The funny thing is that many expats know ‘of me’ through this website, but have never actually met me in peson. I’m quite illusive and beyond a few good friends, actively avoid contact with the foreign community in Changchun.

I’m like this because I’m In China, I should make Chinese friends who can help me to understand things, not just huggle together with other expats just because we’re ‘foreign’. I also don’t like the environment associated with this in Changchun, perhaps in see something in the people who frequent such places and think to myself ‘I hope I dont end up like that’ – also the choice of venues here is quite poor, it seems to range between dafeningly loud disco music and 80s stuff, that’s it.

However, there is an element of me that sees the reasoning for this – China can be a scary place especially for those new here, In many ways it is natural to cling to something you find familar, something you can relate to. Perhaps I’m different as I’m just not interested in hanging around with expats, afterall I can do that everyday when I go back to the UK!

Laowai in Changchun and China and Asia to an extent are an interesting bunch.

I will say that the foreigners in Changchun are not, and should not, be considered representative of what foreigners are actually like outside of China. There are many people here who couldn’t cut it in the west. This doesn’t necessarily mean they are bad people, but I’m just trying to make the point that often the laowai here are not a good representation of how people are back home.

Most Chinese don’t really understand laowai not just because of not having had exposure to foreigners before, but because often we do things in different ways. I often hear people say we’re strange, cold blooded etc… I understand why people say this, compared to the Chinese way, we probably are, but most laowai will not see this as they haven’t had enough exposure to Chinese way of thinking – they will see the opposite ‘those Chinese are so strange’

So, as a laowai I can much more easily work out fellow foreiger than the Chinese can, just as most laowai find it hard to work out the Chinese.

Of course Im a laowai too so you can put me into one of more of these groups!

This may seem a little negative but I’m just trying to be as realistic as possible:

Students

Mostly Russians and Africans at Jida and Shida. Maybe here for a semester or two, unfortunately don’t have the opportunity to pick up much about Chinese culture beyond the textbooks. Generally pretty naive about China as never have the opportunity to actually experience the real world.

Foreign Workers

These make up the biggest proportion of laowai in changchun behind students, nearlly all men (some families), 35+ with professional experience in their given field. Usually stay a few months to 2 years in Changchun, mostly from Germany, France and north America – all working for automotive related companies.

Live in area just for other foreign workers, thus wil never face many of the day to day problems of integrating into the community.

Most dont really want to be here, have been sent here by company – no real interest in learning the language or culture, often can’t wait to get back to familes back home, spend most time working or in bars.

Missionary

Christians that operate here exploiting the Chinese infactuation with cost saving (they work for pretty much nothing, their host organisation back home pays them) spreading the word of god or poisoning the minds of others. Here to convert Chinese from the classroom, despite preaching religion here being illegal the authorities turn a blind eye. Keep to themselves, generally not here very long, mostly despised by fellow teachers for diluting the market.

Traveller

Very few in cc, there’s actually lots of things to see in the northeast but they are not so well known, and without language skills very difficult to do, which makes them out of reach to most foreign tourists.

Married to/serious relationship with Chinese

Quite a few of these, probably the most popular reason for laowai to be in Changchun beyond a year. Almost always men with a Chinese women (not all though) waiting to get visas sorted so they can go to the west. Very few stay long-term, almost all leave within a few years. Often younger people, though there’s the odd 老牛吃嫩草。

Shady Foreigner

When not teaching spends most time at bars, Look like they’ve just come out of prision (which they may well have!) Probably on the run from something bad they’ve done in the west – making the most of China having no extradition treaty with most western countries and Changchun being a little off the beaten track. Usually older men, almost always have a younger Chinese girl friend(s) who help them live as they are incapable of surviving on their own.

Sexpat

Men, have been around a bit, probably travelled/worked in other asian countries teaching i.e thailand, korea etc… Generally aged from late 20s to 50+, dont have interest in the culture, can’t communicate beyond basic taxi driver Chinese, are here for the women. Are not interested in integrating into the Chinese way of life, often only eat western food. Spend lots of time at bars, massage places,  esp around guilin lu area, hitting on much younger Chinese girls. Probably have no long term plans or ambitions beyond teaching in China, love the lifestyle, too lazy, lethargic or stupid to want to do anything else with their lives. In a few years will move into the lifer category. Give a bad image of laowai to Chinese…

Marriage

Often rich Japanese or Taiwanese men,  looking for a wife – usually arranged through one of the many introduction companies that operate from here. Pay lots of money to arrange this, will both go back to home country afterwards.

Prostitute/black market

Russians here for the money, trying to make a fast-buck.   Making the most of slack law enforcement, economic liberalisation and the boom in cross-border trade.

Long term China teacher

Been in China a while, almost certainly teaching in various different cities. Likes China, likes teaching, no long tems plans beyond this – not interested in going home any time soon.  Usually men in their 30s, often have Chinese girl friend/wife. Perhaps would be unable to adjust to life back in the west.

Lifer

People that will probably be here for the rest of their lives, for various reasons but most probably because they couldn’t survive back in the west.

Generally Older men, that are too old to retrain and or lack the skills to be able to get into another profession. Whether by chance or planned have ended up here, mostly teachers making the most of a job that has low entry requirements. Usually don’t understand the language/culture despite having been here many years, perhaps in love with the vibe of the place, nice enough people but cant help feeling sorry for them…

Retirees

Not so many in Changchun have come to China to retire. Almost always have a Chinese partner, probably will do part-time teaching to keep active.

Career Break

Younger or older people taking a career break, here for a year or two teaching, to pick up some new experience and see what things are like outside the comfort of the west. Will leave within a year of year to get back into their career

Taxi

Posted on 20 July, 2007 by DC

I’ve had many memorable experiences involving taxi drivers over the time but today beats them all! 😀

This afternoon I was running late, so jumped In a cab to get to a very important meeting I had scheduled. I get in, tell him where to go, he looks at me and straight up asks me ‘你会开车吗’ ‘Can you drive?’. I have had cabbies ask me this before and I always say ‘yes I can drive, but I don’t want to drive in Changchun- It’s just too dangerous!’

Many foreigners complain about taxi drivers messing them around, taking them the wrong way, causing problems, not understanding them etc… My opinion on this is that you have to engage with the driver, chat with him if you can, tell him exactly where to go, don’t leave anything to chance. I’ve had some of the most interesesting conversations with taxi drivers, like in any country, a complete fountain of local gossip – you want to know something ask a driver. I have never had a problem doing things this way, even in different cities.

If you say nothing, you probably will be taken the long way as the taxi driver will assume you dont know the city (stupid rich foreigner syndrome) and can get more money from you! The taxi drivers at the airport will try to trick you because that’s what they do, so take the coach (its just as fast) or negotiate beforehand for the total price (including tolls, make sure the whole car is yours, not just a seat!) 80 yuan is a good price.

Also, If you give him a piece of paper with an address on it because you can’t communicate with the driver then its very high that you’re end up paying a little more (the same applies for giving him your phone to talk to someone), honestly I dont blame the cabbies here, I would probably do the same thing If I was in their position to make a little more cash!

This time though the cabbbie was persistent and kept on offering so I reluctantly accepted his proposition (and when will I get another opportunity like this!), he pulled up and we swapped seats. I have to say It was really fun to be a taxi driver for a few minutes, but doing this as a job may not be so much fun. Actually driving the Jetta wasn’t so hard, just I’m not used to driving on the right-hand side side of the road. I took it down round Culture Square, Xi’an Street, negotiated People’s Square and pulled up at Chongqing Road.

It’s fun to be able to use the horn all the time, overtake anywhere, ignore traffic signs and traffic laws – however I still would never buy a vehicle in Changchun.

The cabbie sitting next to me was giving a commentary of the different cars we were passing, asking me for my opinion on them and telling me the price.

He told me that Land Rover’s cost 70wan or 45K pounds , we then passed an Audi Q7, he said its costs 138 wan/ 1,380,000 yuan or about 90K pounds – I’ve seen lots of these in Changchun, I seem to see one every day. Where they get that sort of cash from I can only guess!

In think as a general rule Chinese people value social status highly, ‘To be rich is to be glorious’ said Deng Xiaoping and they sure like to show their status to others, whether this be through the clothes they wear, the car they drive, whether they have a pet dog, whether their child goes to the most expensive school – you name it. Some people are like this in the UK too, but in Changchun I think many, many people are materialistic – especially those new to money, its as if they need to announce ‘they have made it’ to the rest of society. Just eaves dropping on peoples conversations you get to understand that it’s all many people ever talk about, It certainly is very important.

It’s a little different from the UK, in that Changchun has a very small middle class – there are super wealthy and the working class but this big gap in the middle, which is gradually increasing.

I read about the gap between rich and poor in the UK increasing, but here the gap between the haves and have nots is massive. When you see such cars and people collecting 3 Jiao plastic bottles side by side, It really makes you wonder how can things keep on going like this? I think the gap is growing.

The Final Problem

Posted on 17 July, 2007 by DC

I’ve been very busy, planning things and fighting (yet again 🙁 ) to get what I’m due. I am done teaching… forever! 😀 Feels very satisfying to be done, though also tinged with an element of sadness as at times the job was immensly rewarding.

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I’ve learnt that laws here are really not so important, consumer protection is almost non existant (this is afteall a very recent development in the west), so with the absence of this whom you deal with becomes ever so important.

I now know that in Changchun you shouldn’t trust anybody you don’t know well, many Chinese will have no problem stabbing you in the back at the earliest opportunity – this isn’t just because you’re a foreigner, they have no problem screwing anybody – but being foreign makes you a better target in their eyes.

Of course It is generally easier, where-ever you are in the world to trick, exploite, swindle or lie to to someone from the outside for obvious reasons – they are unfamilar with the local surroundings and not so tuned in as to how things operate.

This is especially apparent to those coming from the west, where we are mollycoddled with consumer protection, so that once you get to somewhere as cut-throat as China you realise you’re totally unequiped with how to deal with things (notwithstading the huge culture shock), at least that’s how I felt initially.
It’s rough and ready, you can no longer fall back on law and authority to protect your interests – I have found that in many situations you have to be very aware and pushy bordering rude, to get what you want. This is not so easy for me to do, I’m not really that sort of person but I think I’ve adapted to an extent – probably as a survival mechanism more than anything.

Just last week I was at the 市局 city police station extending my visa for a few more weeks, waiting in line, I get to the front and the chap behind me (yes he was chinese) tries to push in front of me, pushing his documents in front of mine trying to get in first. I know that a year ago I would have let this go, I would have just put this down to ‘this is China’ and given up, I don’t want an altercation, life is too short etc.. But this time I pushed his documents to the side and said to him in my fiercest chinese ‘what are you doing?’ ‘queue up!’ ‘idiot!’‘你干嘛’？别插队！白痴！ He looked at me totally shocked (I think he thought I was going to hit him! 😉 ) and started laughing, then turned around and went to the back of the line.

I think, If you want to do many things successfully in Changchun you also need to have people that you can trust, meaning people you know well. i.e. Friends. Friends that have skills and knowledge in different areas, that are able to help you when you need it.

If you have a problem, you have somewhere to turn and you can guarantee not being swindled. For example, with my computer, It needed upgrading so I go to a local store and get a friend I know who works there to help me out.

Likewise with my phone, I know someone who runs a phone shop. The tailor, if I need something making – I know the quality will be good and the price realistic – I know people whom I can go to and buy such things and they will get me things for trade prices. Of course such relationships cover all areas – I’ve got so many jobs thorough friends, opportunities that would never have otherwise come up. If you get into a sticky situation, not knowing the right people means you can do nothing.

In return I help can help them if they need anything- I think building relationships is so much more important here than it is in the UK. Perhaps being a laowai here helps in some circumstances (especially being to speak some Chinese) and It’s not so hard to make friends with people and build mutually benifical relationships.

This moves me onto my latest, and hopefully last, dilemma I’ll have in Changchun. I’ve had quite a few nasty situations with money, visas etc but the good expereinces have far outweighed the bad ones – its just that a combination of tending to remember bad things and the fact that at the actual time, some of these bad things took up a large proportion of my life.

I’m writing this so hopefully others will be able to learn from my mistakes and to inform how some bosses treat their employees.

Yes, It’s common for Chinese bosses (and some foreign companies too) to screw their subordinates but this surely would never happen at a place like Jida…. They’re not some cowboy outfit that will just run away to the next province and carry out the same scam again, they are a government university they can’t just disappear and they have a reputation to keep…. However, like so many things here it’s difficult to tell until you are upon the actual situation. I thought wrong again.

I touched on the problems I’ve been facing in previous posts but didn’t elaborate as I was trying to sort things out through negotiation. Unfortunately that has failed, and so I’m now in the process of taking Jida through government arbitration. You may think I’m totally mad for doing this, but the reasons behind this for me are that It gives me some useful new experience, allows me a chance to personally test the system, I still have a few weeks here to persue this, I want the money owed, and hopefully other foreigners can use this information as advice in the future.

I tried to find somebody at Jida to talk to for the final time, but couldn’t find anybody available or willing to even meet with me. I have been faced with this obstructionism for months now, they think that If they refuse to see me, the problem will vanish, and they are right as all the other foreign teachers gave up as and went home. So, I maybe the people at the government could help me…?

Now, my contract is a legal contract with the government and Jida so I have the right to take any problems to a government department called the ‘State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs’ 吉林省外国专家局’.

Finding this place isn’t easy, I initially went to the wrong government offices, a huge red square fortress of a building – the city government in the very south of the city – and the man there was very good and told me (in very good ENGLISH!) where I should go. The place I had to go is the provincial government offices, based on Renmin Dajie not far from Chongqing Lu.

My complaint was registered (for what its worth) – you have to have everything written down, in Chinese (they have no English skills, beyond please and sit down). Then he made a few phone calls, trying to get through to somebody at Jida. It took him a while but eventually he did, and he told them what I was trying to say and quite forcibly told them to wait in their office for me and that you should sort out this problem as its your job. He then said if I have any more problems to come back again, and to give me a report of the outcome.

Whether he’s actually going to help me I dont know, He could just be going through the motions, only time will tell. Maybe this will get me nowhere but at the very least it will cause ‘mafan’ trouble for the people at jida, bad news spreads fast through the grapevine.

Anyway, I took a bus to the South Campus and got there 30 mins or so later, went to the office and they were still waiting for me.

I went into the office, sat on one of those sofa things that all Chinese bosses seem to have in their office and waited a few moments before she (there were 2 people quizzing me, names withheld for the time being) burst out saying:

‘Who told you to go to the government?’

I didn’t know what to say, she was clearly very unhappy with something, so I told her the truth

‘noone’ I replied.

She didn’t follow and asked again so I said ‘if you read the contract it tells you this. It is my right’

She then had the cheek to ask ‘why didn’t you come here first!’ and so I told her despite many, many efforts over months you have been uninterested in communicating.

I then explained the situation (they of course already know this, since many teachers have complained).

Basically it comes down to the university saying our contracts are for 2 semesters and not 1 year, therefore you’re not entitled to vacation pay.

As far as i’m concerned the contract is unambigious, It’s plain and simple. I then explained a few concepts to them that show this, just to show that I’m serious. There’s so many things in the contract that back up my case it’s not worth my time listing them all, it’s totally one sided, yet they still refused to agree making up their own interpretations based on fantasy – nothing to do with the contract. On top of what the contract says, their actions show everything.

I had my apartment throughout the year, throughout the vacation free of charge – as only available to one year contract employees. They said that they did this ‘as an act of co-operation and friendship’ They then went on to give me all sorts of rubbish about us being friends and relishing the spirit of international cooperation bla bla bla. At this point I was a little annoyed so I said bluntly, this is nothing to do with friendship, its a contract – if you were my friend would I be here now???? They got angry at this and made another threat.

Because these are two, one semester contracts you owe us for the time you stayed in the apartment free of charge and that comes out to 16,000yuan @200yuan a day! They then added that we can take the money out of your account through a back transfer (its the account used for salary – obviously this concerned me – can they actually do this?

Anyone know??, because I haven’t been able to get a yes/no answer on this from anybody yet. I don’t think it’s possible, but as I have learnt anythingis possible in China with the right connections/cash.

I managed to withhold from bursting into laughter, and said that their reasoning makes no sense, where does it say this in the contract?? I then made a jibe that their logical reasoning skills were very much below par for people in your positons of seniority.

Maybe the biggest element against them is that they paid me and extra half months salary last month, as a bonus for the completion of 1 year contract. I waited until this time as often in China unexpcted things happen with the last months pay – I wanted to see how they’d react.

Infact the contract says: ‘at the final payday Party B (me) is entitled to an extra half months salary. This is limited to employees on a 1 year contract only’

Clearly their actions imply this, I thought they’d consider backing down, but no. They said this was done as an ‘Act of friendship, to the foreign teachers at Jilin University’, sorry but there’s only one word fit to describe this – BULLSHIT. I’ve heard these kind of ‘friendship’ lines before, it’s a classic trick used by people trying to gain your trust – sorry, but I’ve been there before!

At this point after 1.5 hours of trying, it’s almost 8 on friday evening, they are not going to listen, I tell them we agree to disagree, thanked them for their time (they didn’t thank me) and walked out of the meeting.

I said I shall continue to persue this through whatever means I think appropriate, they asked ‘where will you go to persue this?’ I refused to answer them – just giving them a general ‘lots of places’ answer. I know if I told them, they will get in touch with those people first and get the bribe in so as to block me from doing anything – I remember when I had visa problems, telling the police what I was going to do, and my avenues suddenly got cut off.

Overall what really surprised most about this was their aggressiveness, unprofessional behaviour and general tone when talking to me. It was as if I was the naughty schoolboy, taking a lecture from the Headmaster – looking back, I think they are really nasty people, whom I gave far too much respect to.

Actually, many of the people I have met here who hold senior positions really are not very nice people, not people whom you’d look up to or want to emulate. Not really dedicated, thoughtful, or intelligent people, I just get the impression most are simply chancers and opportunists born into the right family, desperate to protect their social status.

Clearly they are worried about this, It’s really not so much money to them (or me) but this only goes to show just how greedy and selfish they must be. I’ve given them the offer to settle now, they refused, so now its out of their hands. I’m not worried at all, infact I relish a challenge like this, I think I have everything to gain by persuing them.

I think this situation has reinforced the position that I shall never work directly for a Chinese paymaster again. There is just too much risk, too much uncertainty. I try to be professional and hardworking, but working here under this system doing such is not recognised or valued – I don’t want to feel like I’m wasting my time. I am very lucky that I have other options, I shall take those up but still would like to come back here again – you just have to be working for (or getting paid) by someone outside of the chaos.

Will write more as events develop

Recognition

Posted on 7 July, 2007 by DC

This came up in a conversation the other day and it reminded me of something that happened to me when I first got to China. It certainly isn’t something you ever think would happen, but It happens to most foreigners that come to China for the first time, usually for the first few weeks here.

Unless a person is particuarly distinctive (i.e dyed hair,) , I remember the only way I could tell most people apart was by the clothes they were wearing. Once, when I’d just got here I had some friends visit me, but I didn’t even recognise them until they introduced themselves!

I’m sure you could write a paper on why this happens, but I have my own little theory based on experience. I think It has something to do with the differences in recognition through facial characteristics. We perhaps look for the hair colour, eye colour, the structure of the nose and eyes, maybe even the build of the person.

As most Chinese have brown, smaller eyes, black coloured hair and different facial structures, It may be that those with little experience of seeing such looks, haven’t been able to fully work out how to recognise such people.

Therefore in China, I think different rules apply. Perhaps we subconsciously look more at the structure of the face, the height, the hairstyle, different facial characteristics.

I think most westerners are initially less familiar at seeing so many Chinese looking faces and being able to differentaite those such differences. Just as many Chinese I know say that all foreigners look the same – are fat, big, different coloured hair, deep eyes, big noses, the list goes on.

I guess we’re all conditioned to an extent based on the environments we’ve been exposed to. I’m willing to bet that Chinese travelling to the west for the first time experience the reverse of this.

Beijing

Posted on 6 July, 2007 by DC

Been too busy to update this for a while, so many things all going on at once.

Just got back from Bejing, after a trip there for the past few days visiting friends and sorting out job things. It’s a strange place, so many things going on there, so much change and to me, very, very western.

So many laowai, everywhere infact, apparently 80% of all foreigners in China are in Beijing or the surrounding ares.
Almost everything is in English, signs to shops, maps, you name it, its been translated to some degree or another. Even at the train station the departure boards are in pinyin for the laowai and those chinese who cant read characters, announcements are in english (well a form of English 🙂 )
And this is surely a good thing, especially if so much of the local economy is based on it’s dealing with outsiders, if China wants to keep attracting more and more travellers and make China a more accessible place especially for tourists.

On a personal level I find this annoying, as for me seeing things written in Pinyin and English is a barrier to me reading the characters first – naturally If I see something in the Roman alphabet my eyes wander to that first even if it makes no sense, just because its my native language.

The laws that don’t seem to apply in many other parts of China are to a degree actually enforced here; I had to show my passport at the Internet bar, cars obey the red lights, people wait for the green man. I even had to properly register at the small 旅店　guesthouse I stayed at for a bit, fill out info on you reason for travel, visa status etc…
In the north east unless you stay at the places designated for laowai (i.e 4,5* hotels) you seldom need to do this, I’ve never had this problem.

The last time I was in Bejing was over 1 year ago, and in a runup to the olympics there is a lot of money being spent here by the government to give the place a nicer feel.

Money that, so I’m told, is usually spent on other more needy regions of China is being diverted here and to other Olympic venues. This is how China wants to be seen by the rest of the world, a vibrant, expanding, modern place – maybe the truth though isn’t so clear.
The grass is watered, streets are cleaned, – of course totally unrepresentaive of China – to an extent all capital cities are not great representations of how a country really is, but Beijing doubly so.
It’s a mecca for tourists, both foreign and Chinese. Honestly speaking, as capital cities go there’s not so much to see in the city itself.
Luckily I I had time to check out Tiananmen and the Forbidden city as I haven’t fully explored these places, and the weather wasn’t so hot.

The first thing that I noticed wasn’t the buildings but the very high security presence anywhere near the Forbidden city. Policemen, security guards and plain clothes on every corner, infact I nearlly didn’t bother walking onto the square itself as I had to walk for a while just to find a gap in the fence that surrounds everything.

The square was packed with mostly Chinese tourists getting those pictures with the Forbidden city in the background. For many, I suspect this is their first trip to the capital and maybe their first encounter with foreigners. I got so many stares, people wanting to take pictures with me – I obliged – this is not the first time this has happened, but I was all the more surprised as this was in Beijing – I expected less of this, not more.

Then of course, there are the armies of vendors trying to sell you stuff, I’m used to this now, but in Beijing they are a different breed. They’ve had much more contact with foreigners and so are perhaps more astute, and aggressive when it comes to trying to sell something.

A good experience I had with this was an old looking chap approached me, said in pigon English ‘Red Book’ ‘Chairman Mao’, waving a copy of the book under my nose as if I’d feel compelled to buy from him. I gave him a look and replied with the standard response ‘不买＇’don’t want to buy’ he laughed, looked shocked and replied with ‘为什么不呢？’ ‘why not?’ I then thought of a witty response ‘我也有十本这样的书！ ‘I’ve already got 10 of those books!’ He laughed and walked away repeating what I said to himself, really funny when things like that happen.
Oppositey, there were other hawkers that got bloody annoying, constantly trying to sell me ‘ice water’. On some occasions I would ignore eye contact as if they didn’t exist and keep walking, others I would give the standard ‘不买＇or ‘不要’ but the best tactic is just to say nothing and Ignore them. Every 10 minutes or so all of these vendors would disappear as the cheng guang 城管 (I can’t work out a good translation for this, but basically council workers with police powers) would drive past, then they’d be back again!

Of course, for the Chinese this place is of great national importance, has a special place in history, but more objectively speaking its rather like a giant car park. Too big in many senses, no grass, just concrete. But maybe I’m missing the point.

Culture square in Changchun is much better than Tiananmen as its a place where real people meet up, do things like play musical instruments, fly kites, play badminton- people having fun.

In another part of Beijing, I was sitting on a bench reading a book and sellers kept on interrupting, aggressively annoying (even rude by Chinese standards, I’m not being pejorative just that in the west this would of course be very, very rude.) me trying to sell me maps, water or some other thing I wasn’t interested in. Because I was sitting, the usual tactics wouldn’t work.
Sometimes you just have to tell them to go way and get out of your face, it’s the only language some understand. The man who was saying ‘sir hello map’ ‘map’ ‘map’ is a good example. I said the usual ‘bumai’, ‘buyao’, but he was insistent. He wouldn’t stop. So I told him – ‘I said I, dont want to buy, are you stupid? go away!’我说不买了你笨吗？走开!’ He got the message.
It’s also one thing having people say stuff in Chinese, when its in English its harder to switch off and ignore.

Something I noticed is that in Changchun you have to be spot on with your pronunciation and often repeat until they realise you’re tyring to communicate with them in Mandarin, but in Beijing people picked up what I was saying straight away (even the poorly educated) , this must be due to a familarity dealing with people who have strange accents, dialects, or foreigners speaking Mandarin.
So I’ve come to the conclusion that I think Beijing is probably a bad place to learn the language, there is too much foreign influence.
I took a train back, really rather impressed with it all. The waiting facilities in the train station were top class, nice environment with comfortable arm chairs, away from the usual chaos that you associate with train stations in China. The train itself was also very impressive, a new CRH (China Rail High-speed, – shouldn’t that be China Rail – High-speed or China High-speed Rail) 和谐号. It’s no bullet train or TGV in terms of speed but still just as fast as the fastest trains in the UK and relatively cheap.

The seats are much better too- even enough leg room for me – so is the service, a conductor, cleaner and various other personnel for each carriage, over efficient yes, not cost effective to western eyes.
The journey time is 6 hours from Beijing to Changchun and the price only 238yuan for the erdengzuo or 2nd class. I think you can realistically compare this to the plane, which takes 1.5 hours, full price ticket is over 900yuan, but when you factor in travel from city centre to airport takes another 2 hours at least, plus check in time – the train begins to make more sense.
The Chinese are very proud of this achievement, and rightly so, their railway system is being rapidly upgraded and modernised in a way that would never happen in the UK。One advantage to the system here is that they can do things like this, they’re not so constrained by committees, regulations and laws – just do it. Perhaps there is much to be learnt from doing something, not just because it makes a profit, but because it instills a sense of national pride and at the same time offers a public service.

净月潭 Jingyuetan

Posted on 22 June, 2007 by DC

Spent most of yesterday at Jingyuetan 净月潭 to checkout the place during the summer months. I’ve been there many times during the winter, to go skiing and do other winter activities but haven’t really been there during the summer. It’s totally different, completely unrecognisable from the winter when the lake is frozen over and covered in snow.
It’s a big place, too big really to explore on foot so hiring a bike is a must. For me, what I liked most about this place, is that first times in ages I was somewhere where I could see no other people, hear no traffic noise and not breath fumes! Well worth it if only for this.
You’re meant to pay to go in, but as some local friends told me, don’t do this. 30 yuan is a little expensive, It’s much easier to find a well trodden path and climb through one of the many holes in the fence. 🙂

In terms of scenery it’s nice but compared to other places I have been not so spectacular, It’s a little like a poor man’s Scottish loch. It is man made, and designated a national forest park, apparently the largest man made forest in Asia. I can believe this as it stretches as far as the eye can see but you can still see cranes and construction going on in the distance.
It may be considered a national park but that doesn’t mean people can’t build here, ~~it just means they have to pay off more people~~, and so even here there is construction of real estate going on. I hope that as the city develops, this area isn’t destroyed or over commercialised – like the rest of Changchun.

There is one very strange looking tower perched on a hill in the park. It’s 11 floors high and looks like something out of star trek, very modern and alien looking – I was half expecting to see alien spaceships landing docking on the roof!
From here you can go to the top and get a very good vantage point over the lake and the city, cost 5 yuan but worth it.

What I like about China is that there are huge freedoms here to do what ever you please that do not exist in the UK, this may sound strange as many outside think China is not a free country. Compared to the UK, in terms of getting on with my life, doing what I want to do there is no contest. The state does not intervene with anything I do, It has a very hands off approach – Just don’t touch politics. On this strange tower there were a few people who climbed over a very low railing and were walking around the outside of the building. In the UK, if they fell and died, there would be all sorts of legal trouble – the owners of the building would prbably be liable despite the people clearly knowing what they were dong.

Here, the attitiude is more along the lines of using common sense. If you really want to risk your life, it’s your choice, If you hurt yourself it’s your fault for being idiots in the first place so don’t try and pin blame on somebody else!

The lake is much easier to get to than before, as that the light rail now goes all the way there. The whole Jingyue zone is being rapidly developed, It’s changed so much since the last time I was down there. The local govenment has made the area an economic development zone, which basically means there are tax incentives for things to relocate out there. There’s so much construction, especially of apartments and houses for the super well-off. Some really nice places, though to realistically live out here you’d need your own transport – especially during the winter as it’s a good 40 mins from the centre of town.

In common with other cities in China, many of the universities in Changchun have also relocated out of town (to jingyue) where there is more space and room for expansion. They’re trying to create a ‘college town’ where all of the unis are close to one another, the idea being they can create a good environment for academia- the downside being there’s nothing much to do in terms of entertainment and it’s so far from anywhere.

I must change my number…

Posted on 19 June, 2007 by DC

It’s one of those things about being in Changchun that sometimes you experience things that would never happen in other places.

If I was staying here longer, I think I’m at that stage where I need to change my number again!
I got woken up the other night several times by texts messages sent to my phone, telling me happy Father’s day! 😕 The Chinese have a special day for something practically every month, they range from Children’s day to Army day to Tree Planting Day, not to mention the various lunar holidays that also crop up. The days vary in importance, but there seems to be a special day for almost everyone at some time or another!

Then there’s the random people that call my phone for a few seconds then hang up, this is pretty common and annoying, though I guess it’s harmless. Previously I was a little worried about such things, being in red China, I thought It might be something to do with the authorities. But now I know this is of course totally wrong, it’s almost always people trying to make friends, or just being overly curious wanting to chat with a foreigner.

It proliferates to the point where I’m getting so many calls and messages from people I don’t even know. People who don’t know me. People whom have never even met me!

I get messages from people in other provinces, who say things like they would like to meet me – they got my number from a friend. Or from people wanting me to work in someplace the other side of the country, from people asking advice on all sorts of things that I really am not qualified to answer! 🙂 Often I can only say I honestly dont know. I’m sorry I can’t help you. And how did you get this number!!!!

This became such a problem for me that I actually changed my phone number once. The situation was that I think every person on the campus knew my number- how they got this I still don’t know, though I suspect someone in the department gave it out.
Now I’m very careful about whom I give my phone number to, previously I didn’t have such reservations as it is a good way of meeting new people and getting into other things, especially the friend of a friend job thing, making connections etc….

Overall though, It’s flattering in a way to recieve such attention and there is a part of me that enjoys it all, however, sometimes it becomes really annoying. For example, not wanting to answer the phone if you don’t know what the number is!

There are also other sorts of Chinese messages that get sent to me pretty often. People offering various interesting personal services, selling fake IDs/documents, the black market lottery, even selling guns!

Interviews

Posted on 16 June, 2007 by DC

I’ve finished giving mock job interviews to all of my students as part of their final exam, took two weeks, 202 in total! It’s been a good opportunity for them to get some experience as they really don’t know much about these things and also It gives me some useful knowledge, being the other side of the table for once. 🙂

I gave them the choice to choose their dream job, they had to arrange a time with me, sort it out themselves, those that didn’t do this will inevitably get a poor mark. Of all those interviewed, I would say that less than 10% would have actually got the job. I wasn’t being particuarly strict, it’s just most of them were pretty clueless and unable to sell themselves without jumping back to a memorised self introduction, that I explicity said was not allowed!

I’m teaching students in their 3rd year (out or 7) all of whom are studying to be doctors or dentists. Even though they are only about 2/3 years younger than me, they are very much still kids in many ways, quite immature, especially the boys who are more like 16 year olds. Don’t get me wrong, the students here are very hardworking, but they are compelled to do this, how much they actually learn is debatable. Sunday is their only day off, from 8-5 Monday to Friday they’re busy, Saturday is for practical experiments.Then there is my class which is in the evening.

So in all, over 40 hours a week of classroom time, not to mention homework! 🙁

I’ve taught at many different universities and my general observation is that the single biggest difference between the students here and at other universities is their provenance, not their ability.I would say totally, 85-90% of my students are from Changchun, most (if not all) have parents and or family relation that is a doctor or in the medical profession. Which will of course, in the future enable them to get a medical job upon graduation! Is this the same in the UK? Yes i’m sure it is but not quite to the same extent that it is in China.

Something I’ve noticed over the last year of teaching at this univerisity, is that students from smaller cities or towns, outside of the province almost always are better students. They are faster, more interested and much more likely to question things. One of my favourite techniques in the classroom to encourage debate, is to deliberately say a statement that will try to provoke a reaction; i.e something they disagree with – If only to get them to express their own opinions on things.

They are the few students that have the ability to critically analyse something, to use independent thought not just to blindly follow what other people think. I think this is partly due to their upbringing -because they have to have been very astute, motivated and diligent to have been able to have got this far – afterall the university entrace system blantently descrimates against those who don’t have access to the best high schools and thus the coaching for the crucial entrance exam.

However, more often than not in China, if you’re unfortunate to be born into poverty there basically is no chance whatsoever. Here you could be the next Motzart or Einstein but if you’re born into a poor family in the countryside you will probably never have the opportunity to show your talents. In this sense, It’s a nation of unfairness, a nation of real extremes, haves a have nots.

I think the big difference is that, for all its faults, in the west there you still have a chance, allbeit slim. Whether this is due to the education system, system of government, or the simple fact that the gap between rich and poor is not as big, I’m not so sure. 😕

Fortunately there are exceptions, take one of my students from a very small town in southern China, his dream to be a doctor. Or the Chinese korean students that are very, very quick. They have the added advantage of being trilingual – when you’ve already mastered two languages a third one is so much easier to grasp. The girl from a very remote part of northern China, bordering Russia, who brought up on a farm with no access to education as we know it – family used all of their savings (and borrow) to pay for her to go to high school and have a chance at getting into university.

On the other hand, the advantages to this system are that it preserves the status quo, keeps those rich people rich while allowing those who are not so poor a very limited shot. Which is what I think the system is trying to achieve i.e perpetuating the class system.

It’s sometimes easy being a foreigner looking at things in China, from my comfortable postion things may seem interesting or curious where in reality they are tough and not really very nice. I just wonder what I would be like if I was Chinese, born into such an environment, where the best and brightest or the richest and most lucky want to go abroad and most likely not return permananty.

Short Trip

Posted on 10 June, 2007 by DC

Back from a short trip to see Ghengis Kahn’s 成吉思汗 hometown, was interesting but not a place I would travel to again. There just isn’t anything left of what used to be here and it’s just very hard to imagine what things would have been like many years ago when this was the centre of one of the most expansive empires there ever was.

The buildings that were once here have gone, there is now a temple built in its place, and to be direct, once you’ve seen a temple you’ve seen them all. The town itself, 呼兰浩特 Helanhete, could be any small Chinese city. Non descript, bland and like a thousand other places in China- bereft of any originality. Also couldn’t find any Mongolian food and compared to Changchun prices were a little more than expected. At least I can say I’ve to Mongolia, allbeit Inner Mongolia which is now part of the PRC of course.
If I could use one word to describe things I would say ‘neglected’.

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Sunshine

Posted on 30 May, 2007 by DC

Starting to notice people taking out umbrellas doubling as parasols to protect themselves from the suns rays. The sun in Changchun is particularly bright (I often have to wear sunglasses) and surprisingly strong, much stronger than it ever gets in the UK.

The Chinese have a notion about white skin that those in the west may find peculiar, most of all that getting a tan is not a good thing. Many associate darker skin with uneducated peasant workers or people from the countryside that work on the farms. Their skin is darker because they have to stay outside all day trying to make a living. Whereas, In the west, many think people who are too white look unhealthy but here it is considered a form of beauty to be whiter.

There are many beauty products available on the market – just watch TV and you’re sure to be constantly reminded of this through those never ending TV adverts -about things that can make the skin more pale and ‘whiter’. I have explained, much to the surprise of those being told, that in the west some people actually pay money to make their skin darker, either through cosmetics or sitting under a light for a few hours.

It strikes me that wherever you go, people always have this idea that being something you’re not is somehow better.

Personally, I have a dislike of tans not only because I burn fast but because I think it is silly. Besides the obvious cancer concerns, I have no interest whatsoever in getting a tan, I see it as like putting yourself in the microwave for a few hours, and that’s not something that I really want to do! In this sense I’m with the Chinese in terms of the way they protect themselves from the sunshine, though I disagree with the idea of one colour of skin being better or more beautiful than another.

One of my favourite pastimes of late has been to go swimming. Even though I’m not a very good swimmer, It’s a great way to relax and forget about things, however, It can at times be a little intimidating as everyone stares at the man with the white skin. I know foreigners that wont go swimming here as they can’t stand the stares, Chinese don’t have much body hair and seeing a man with hair on his body, is for some, akin to seeing a monkey at the zoo! Therefore, I guess I’m lucky in that I’m on a par with the Chinese men when it comes to this, so once I’m in the pool with goggles and hat on, nobody can tell! 🙂

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