China reflections

Blog for January 13:

As we prepare to leave mainland China and depart for Hong Kong, we wanted to reflect on our experiences and impressions of the cities we visited on the mainland.  We met some wonderful people and our guides were excellent.  Everyone became very attached to the service and generosity of Little Aaron and we know we’ll miss him.  As we leave our new friends, we’re eager to meet new people and find out what Hong Kong has in store for us.

Overall, the people we met in China were very gracious – they were very polite and accommodating to travelers (except people from Japan – we noticed some strong stereotypes and prejudice regarding people from Japan).  The Chinese were always looking for ways to help us and make our experience a positive one. 

Here are some observations we thought were interesting:

·      The “one child” policy.  We were all anxious to share our family stories and a natural question of new friends seems to be “do you have any siblings?”   We learned quickly that almost everyone we met from China is an only child.  Unless people have a great deal of money to pay the fines for a second child, they need to limit children to one. 

·      Gender – the exception to the “one child” policy comes if a couple has a girl for their first born.  If the couple live outside of the city, they are able to try for a second child to hope they get a boy.  If they don’t get a boy, they’re done and must be “content” with their girls.  It’s also against the law to find out the sex of a child before birth – the thought with this law is to prevent abortions and/or abandonment of a girl.  About 50% of women quit their job and stay home when they have a child.  While things are more equivalent than in the past, there are still strong gender roles – the female stays home when she has a child and the man is expected to work and provide for his family, etc.

·      We found there to be a general intolerance for homosexuality .

·      Traditions.  While many of the traditional customs and dress have been westernized, the people we talked to still remember their traditions and heritage, and we found they have a great deal of pride in their country.  Superstitions were also prevalent – for instance, the lucky number in China is 8 and real estate for an apartment on the 8^th floor or the 18^th, 28^th, etc. or a room containing the letter 8, is more expensive.  The number 4 is considered unlucky – most hotels don’t have a number 4 and if they do, that floor is usually a “massage” parlor with a “happy ending”. 

·      Finally, hearing about marriage customs was fascinating – Little Aaron was married a few years ago and when he was married he followed many traditions.  He arrived at his fiance’s house and to get in the door, he had to drink a concoction of everything that his future mother-in-law had in her kitchen (eggs, rice, fish, vinegar, etc.) and then take many preplanned pouches containing money and give them to all the males in the woman’s family.  When he entered his fiance’s bedroom, she was lying on her bed (dressed in untraditional white as white is usually reserved for funerals) without shoes and he had to search for her shoes (the shoes were red).  Once he found her shoes, he put them on her and carried her out of the house.  Their first night together, their bed was filled with various nuts so they could have a fruitful start to their marriage.

·      We learned that growing up in China does not mean that one buys in to the communist ideals and philosophy and that having a different opinion is tolerated much more so than in the past.  This applies to different religions as well.  We were told the majority of the people are Buddhist yet there is no “official” religion – there is much more diversity (Christians, Muslims, etc.)

·      Freedoms.  While they told us things are better, the government still has a watchful eye on the people of China.  We were not able to access our blog, facebook, videos, etc. – called the “Great Firewall of China”.  Travel out of China is difficult for them – Little Aaron had never been out of China.  Approximately 85% of the money they earn goes back to the government. 

·      Sport, recreation and leisure.  While we loved walking through parks and seeing the locals dancing, singing, and doing Tai Chi (our class in the park was truly a highlight for us!), exercise was difficult.  The pollution is an obstacle to anything outside (we were told a day outside in Beijing is like smoking 7 cigarettes!), as is the traffic – there is an enormous amount of cars, bikes, people - and pedestrian crossings mean nothing to drivers.  We had a workout room in most of our hotels in China, however, it was frustrating having to wait for someone from the hotel staff to come and unlock the room and machine that one wanted to use.  An Olympic hero seems easily forgotten and certainly not financially set for life.  The elderly population seems very physically active and we saw many groups playing Mahjong in groups outside.  Gambling, drug use and pornography are illegal and can get one into a lot of trouble. 

·      While the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube in the Olympic Park are beautiful facilities, we were concerned about the upkeep and maintenance.  For fairly new facilities, we were surprised at the wear and tear of the buildings. 

·      We were encouraged to learn Physical Education was part of each student’s academic grade!

·      Hotel facilities.  Overall, we were happy with the hotels we stayed at (although Wifi was fairly nonexistent).  Pretty much without exception, people from China love rock hard beds!!

·      Food.  Lots of rice, assorted vegetables, assorted meats and tea.  NO desserts or diet coke!

We don’t have time to cover all that we have learned about China – obviously, our interactions in 2 weeks were somewhat limited but we are grateful for the experiences and exposure to such a different culture! 

We’ll leave you with a farewell song that Little Aaron sang on the bus on our last night about people parting ways.