Small Thoughts on a Big Country, Part Two – China’s split personality
It is perhaps inevitable that a country as huge as China would have a multitude of personalities: its cultural diversity is almost as varied as its geographical topography. Just as the landscape ranges from desert to glaciers, icy mountains to tropical beaches, so too do its people range from liberal cosmopolitans to traditional Chinese families, from nomadic hill tribes to Muslim goat herds.
The outside perception of China probably doesn’t reveal this – in the West our ideas of China are often limited to the dominant Han ethnicity, and iconic sights such as the Great Wall, Shanghai’s Bund, and the Tibetan Mountains.
During of travels in China we have been lucky enough to experience just a few of China’s many personalities, and some of them have been more personable than others…
Shiny Happy People
The people here really are a happy bunch. Almost everywhere you go (see exceptions below) you find people, old and young, smiling at you, saying ‘Hello’, and giggling at your attempts to speak Chinese. In rural areas young children will gawp at you as their parents try to convince them to say ‘hello’, little old ladies will stop you in the street and offer you incomprehensible advice, and people will try to give you food and tea. In tourist attractions, you might find yourself a highlight, with groups clamouring to get a photo taken with you, and desperately hoping to practice their English or introduce you to their friends.
The warmth and generosity of people here has repeatedly caught us off guard, primed as we have been to watch out for scammers and pick pockets. While a small minority of people might have been out to rip us off, 99 % of the time, we have been surprised and touched by simple acts of kindness extended to us, from offering us seats on an overbooked sleeper train to acting as guides for us (for free) in historic sights.
I hope this side of Chinese culture doesn’t disappear the way it has in other developed countries, but, unfortunately, the cities offer up a less than hopeful prognosis.
Shanghai’s Single Child Syndrome
It is symptomatic of most big cities that people are less friendly and more aggressive; many a time I have bemoaned London for being an inhospitable city. When you are competing with millions of other people to get on the underground, order at a restaurant, or walk down a busy street, politeness seems pointless. And, as China has some of the world’s largest cities, it is understandable that this phenomenon is writ large.
City slickers in Shanghai, and even more so in Beijing, have been some of the rudest people I have encountered. I have been physically pushed out of the way by people trying to board buses and trains, systematically ignored and walked past in queues for toilets, shoved, jostled, and generally harassed in noodle shops and dumpling houses. But I have felt most invisible in tourist attractions. It seems that Chinese tourists (particularly the women) are completely oblivious: when they get excited by something they forget anyone else who might be there and rush ahead, be it to the front a line, to a service counter, or to have their photo taken while other people wait patiently.
And here we find another cultural difference that sits uncomfortably with my middle class British up bringing. It is difficult to pin point the cause of this cultural rift, but the comparison between some people’s behaviour and that of spoilt children does lead to speculation that a generation of only-children might be the root. That, and the cultivated sense of entitlement and privilege that is necessary to generate the huge consumer market that has exploded in China, could be responsible for the ‘me, me, me’ attitude so apparent in the major towns.
China’s ethnic diversity
Of course, the difference between urbanites and rural dwellers is apparent in any big country, and as far as China’s multiple personality syndrome goes, it’s the tip of the iceberg. There are 55 recognised ethnic groups in China aside from the majority Han, and they have their own unique customs, dress, food and culture.
If you stick to the major cities in China you might fail to notice these groups; they tend to live in the fringes of the country. The beautiful Yunnan Province in the South West is home to more minority people than anywhere else, and you cannot fail to be impressed by the amazing array of colourful clothes and delicious foods you will find there. Walking through any market in Yunnan you will see women with brightly coloured head gear, strange hair styles, babies in beautifully embroidered carriers worn over their backs, and fascinating outfits.
If you travel to China’s far north, the Xinjiang province, you will stumble across another group of people that you would not associate with the Chinese mainland: the Uighurs. Neighbouring Kyrgyzstan is culturally more similar to this Muslim population that live in the desert. You are more likely to find mutton kebabs and flat breads than lemon chicken, and the call of the minaret will is more familiar than the ubiquitous Chinese karaoke you hear elsewhere. They even have camels.
There is always some controversy about China’s treatment of different minority groups, but they undeniably add to the wonderful cultural tapestry that makes up this huge country, and to lose them would be a tragedy.
