P.S. in regard to the blog being absolutely barren of images...

that is the block here in China in full force...

the day I find a program to thwart it the way I am able to thwart the Facebook block, there will be an IMAGE POSTING FIESTA!

I figure sitting in a café over some not-so-café-like beverage is the best way to update my blog. It’s been a while. I’ve been back and forth between travel. The most recent bout was returning from Cairo, Egypt, where the company sent me to work on the acquisition. It was quite an adventure. 15 hr flight in, and straight to work the same day at the Egypt offices. I will not go into work details, but I will say that again, in observing the differences between Eastern and Western culture, I seen several further differences by being exposed to the Middle Eastern workplace. It was definitely another facet to add to understanding relations in the workplace, which I appreciated.

Egypt

The first thing I observed is that, in my (very uneducated) eyes, Egypt was a very spiritual yet ironic country. This is because at given times each day, mosques start piping up in chants and songs at their towers, calling people to pray. The men and women, who each have different entrances to the mosque rush to do their spiritual deed. I learned they have spots on the carpet inside the mosque where they kneel and praise their god, and the angle at which they kneel to pray is affected by the sun. Sometimes, if people are at work and unable to go to the mosque, they have a prayer room, or bring a mat to kneel on. All this to say, entering a mosque, where I had to remove my shoes and wear a robe covering my head to toe, I was very surprised at just how powerful the spiritualism was. I had nothing but respect for those who follow their religion, as I sat on the sidelines and watched. It was a similar sort of wonder I experienced entering a Christian church in Europe or a Taoist temple in China. I left happy with the fact that I had visited.

When I exited back into the streets to the Khalili, the 14^th century night market, I immediately experienced the irony. That is, although the women are covered quite modestly (and those covered in the face do so by choice if their husbands request them to), I noticed that Egyptian men were all very aggressive towards women, some verging on—no, actually, reaching the standard of—harassing other women. I cannot emphasize how many times I was physically grabbed (in not nice places), cornered or followed on streets. Yet, all in all, anyone with the right amount of street smarts can get away traveling on their own and be absolutely fine.

That same night I smoked a shisha, a traditional Egyptian pipe, with fragrant tobacco. Of course, since I do not smoke, it was difficult to suck all the smoke up the pipe. However, it was definitely an experience...the smell was very lovely, soft, fruity, but the smoke itself was harsh. I also went to the back alleys of the locals markets, which were padded with clothes and narrow pathways, where people were carrying large loads on their heads.

I have never heard ‘konnichiwa’ said to me so many times in my life. That, and long phrases of Japanese coming from the mouths of several locals following me up and down streets. I also heard ‘kawaii’ non-stop, and other Japanese things I did not understand. Everywhere I travel, it never fails. In fact, I have stopped taking it so personally, as I now realize, no matter where one travels, people are seen for the colour of their skin and nothing else.

Now here is the part that gets me going. The first observation of being in Egypt was: “WOW! It’s GREAT to be noticed for being a foreigner, so people give me the benefit of knowing I do NOT in fact understand what’s going on half the time!” This is in great contrast to my life in China, where, because I am Chinese, people still double back when I say I cannot read a menu or a street name.

Reverse Racism

This is the post I said I’d make a long time ago. Since traveling to Egypt, I feel it even stronger. And here it is, plain and clear, a simple observation—backed up by several individuals who have either had the benefit of the positive treatment or the downfall of the negative treatment.

The Chinese love foreigners from Europe or North America. Basically English speakers. They chase foreigners up and down streets to say “Hello!” and run away. Obviously, I don’t look too foreign, so I don’t get that, which is ok. But foreigners also receive lots of benefits locals don’t. Free dishes at the restaurant. Tables first when there is a long wait in line. Extra attention and service. VIP or free entry into clubs.

Take that and turn it around, and that is the treatment locals get: the cold shoulder when asking for service, being ignored when asking someone for a simple thing like how long the wait will be, and getting shoved and downright elbowed in the face in subways (foreigners who read this, please observe: visible foreigners do not receive this treatment).

I first came to China with an open mind, thinking that as a foreigner, people would understand and treat me with respect. But no, I have yellow skin and slanty eyes, so when people see me, they think ‘local,’ and I get the same treatment, BUT most often worse, for speaking bad Mandarin (hey, at least I try!).

I tried several experiments while with foreigners—several dozen in total. I would approach a restaurant or store and speak in Chinese, asking for a seat or if they could help me with a product. Cold shoulder and ignored each time. One woman sneered at me when I asked her for a direction. A different instance, the man heard me, and brushed past me, not caring to give me the time of the day. One lady stayed looking at her magazine and said ‘find it yourself’ when I couldn’t read the menu. All this for speaking Chinese.

The next step in the experiments, I approached and spoke English. INSTANT service. Attentive, courteous and responsive. While with a foreigner, it instantly escalates to star quality service. While without another foreigner, it is still above average.

To me, this was shocking. And speaking to Chinese foreigners, I realized it was a common phenomenon. One girl left her job in China to go back to the Netherlands where she was born and raised—because of the shitty treatment she was receiving as a Chinese foreigner in China.

Here is the hierarchy of “good to bad treatment” (opinion through experience only):

White foreigner à “other" non-Chinese foreigner à local Chinese à Chinese foreigner who speaks shitty Mandarin

I think I am treated on the cusp of “speaking shitty Mandarin” and “local Chinese.”

This is distressing to me on several levels: which culture has so little respect for itself that it has to revere another culture all the more? And why would you treat people in your own culture with such little regard? To a Westerner, this is shocking. I know patriotism exists in China. I see militant flag-raisings and red flags and stars everywhere. But why does this mistreatment happen?

I wanted to know. I asked several local friends. They all said YES it is a true phenomenon, what I observed. Some of these friends actually hang out with us foreigners to learn English, or more about foreign cultures—one particular friend said he was proud to have gone to “a very Westernized University,” while other local coworkers were proud to have gone to North America to work or school for a year or more.

Everywhere here, Westernism is a stamp of pride. I recently learned that prior to me being hired, in the posting, my company actually wanted someone who was physically foreign in appearance, more specifically, Caucasian. In North America, you’d get your ass sued. Good luck.

So racism is alive and thriving. And the funniest thing is, the MOST racism I have ever experienced is from those of my own race. Despite people biking feverishly up streets in South America JUST to yell “konnichiwa” to me, or people in England saying “do you like sushi” after just meeting me at a fish and chips shop, or an old Irish lady who once said to me, “oh, you’re Chinese? I have a doctor, he is Chinese—do you know him??” …despite all these things, I think I am most offended by the reverse racism here in China. It is quite an eye opener, but it reminds me, no matter what, and especially outside of Western countries, there is still a long way to go to reach acceptance and equality.

/end rant!

So I’ve finally returned from a huge bout of traveling…and also, with the help of my expat friend, overcome the block on the blogs here (for now). Here is a little blurb..

Shanghai

I began my travels in Shanghai, a major city filled with throngs of people and flashing lights. The mixture between Eastern and Western architecture was quite interesting, as I soon learned of the city’s colonial history. Tree-lined streets and European-esque buildings contrasted by shingled Asian-style roofs…often within same neighborhoods. Staying near the French Concession the first couple nights with my cousin and his girlfriend, I discovered a large expat community, where I didn’t even have to speak a word of (broken and poor) Mandarin. The rest of the trip, I had to learn some Mandarin phrases, and fast—no one spoke Cantonese as they do in Guangdong…I have been spoiled.

The first day included explorations of crowded artist alleyways mixed with wine bars and bistros. The days after, I began to stay near the north of the Bund River, which featured a fantastical skyline of 50’s-flavoured Jetson’s buildings, the lights of which would flash ostentatiously. Well-lit tour boats traversing up and down the river meant the waters were also illuminated…straight until midnight, when the show for tourists shut down.

Of course, exploring across the river on the Pudong side proved lovely too. It was far away from the thousands of tourists flooding the riverview on Zhongshan Lu. I did find masses of boisterous tourists from other parts of China who moved quickly to elbow you out of the way, and spat emphatically on streets (more on ‘manners in China’ later). These tourists greatly contrasted the streets lined with Chanel and Cartier, Giorgio Armani, and other prestigious brands. To me, it felt like the city was trying to harbour a lot of class, but the people did not reflect it, locals or visitors alike. That’s not meant to sound elitist…more on that in the ‘manners’ post.

The rest of my time in Shanghai encompassed lots of art! I explored a series of abandoned warehouses that had been converted into art galleries and studios at Monganshan Art District. It was a comprehensive array of contemporary artists representing every movement of art, with a very Asian twist. I was very intrigued. Street art, life-sized sculptures, paintings, photography…the list goes on. It was very easily one of the best parts of the trip.

Of course, went to the “must-visits,” the Shanghai Museum, and then the Indonesian gallery of contemporary art (all situated smack downtown) and the Great Walled City for old Chinese architecture and again, more crowds. I rode the new high-speed Shanghai-Nanjing railroad (at 350km/hr) to Suzhou, a beautiful ancient city filled with old forts, pagodas, temples, gardens and rivers. It was quite calming to visit these places, especially with the sound of live Chinese lutes in the background.

All that to say, the mad rush back to make the last train while not understanding a word of what anyone was saying gave way to an awesome night of dancing til around 3am at an obscure alt-scene club called Logo..nightlife in Shanghai is amazing. The last evening was spent at Bar Rouge, with a spectacular city-scape view and a somewhat more posh crowd.

I would say, despite noticing a major cultural difference between large Chinese cities, such as Guangzhou to Shanghai, my experience there was positive. Would I travel there again? In a heartbeat. I feel artistically deprived in my city--Shanghai is very diverse and definitely has a more urban feel.

So there it is...my thoughts on Shanghai...and more on other cities as I travel there...

I quickly learned one thing about the Chinese culture. And that is the love of food. Food in any form, of any delicacy, done in the most lovely ways: spicy, salty, hot, cold, stir fried, pan fried, simmered in a hot pot, steamed, boiled, braised...so many ways to do food, and yet, I've experienced so little. I had the opportunity to try such interesting delicacies as silkworms and earthworms...I also tried frog. It sounds so exotic, but really, it is everyday fare in this province. The other thing I quickly learned, on my company trip to the volcanic island last weekend--Chinese people are usually doing one of two things. They are either sleeping or eating. The entire trip, though very picturesque and beautiful, consisted primarily of eating fancy meals, or sleeping post-meal. Which sounds great in theory--but then the concept of sightseeing and *activity* are completely butchered. Moving on, I wanted to know what the Chinese did for fun on a weekend night, besides the aforementioned. "QQ (the equivalent of MSN chat), or computer games..." they said. "I meant, involving human interaction?" I asked, perplexed. "The internet IS interaction..."
Oh my. I did not understand. And I couldn't tell if it was cultural or personal differences that caused my lack of understanding..I quickly took a poll within my coworkers and local friends to see what they did for fun. I even asked my hairdresser, taxi driver, and fruitstand lady. The response was overwhelmingly the above, with a sprinkle of television or video games thrown into the mix. Clearly I have not yet experienced the stimulating effect of a local Saturday night here....I must embark on this cultural journey....

Often, when I go around town to a restaurant, a store, the cafe, or to buy my groceries, to get a woman's attention I will say "Miss!" in Chinese, thinking nothing of it. Well I had been wondering why as of late I had been getting some rather distasteful responses to me hailing the waitress, storeowner, or hairdresser. My friend and colleague kindly informed me that to address someone here as "Miss" is the equivalent of calling them a prostitute, because those women of the night prefer not to be called by their names, whereas women who are not in that profession have names and are not addressed as "Miss." I learn something new each day.

The one thing I think I'll be much more appreciative of when I return home is the hours! People here work damn hard...and I'm not just talking about overtime hours at the office. Those are a given for any job. I'm talking about getting on the back of a motorcycle taxi only to learn that the driver has worked an 11 hour shift standing all day at the factory prior to starting an all evening shift as a bike driver, 7 days a week. Simply not the first case I've seen, either. Then we complain about things like 'late pages to production' or working 8 hrs on Saturday...wow. I see that these people who work 18 hours a day have families too, and I wonder how they can subsist knowing people like us go and sit in offices all day then complain we had to ride a half hour commute in traffic and eat lunch in the hot sun, because "oh my god that project is due and we have it SO hard for needing to think in our air-conditioned rooms and meet a deadline." Seriously.

**edit: "how [people] can subsist knowing people like us go and sit in offices all day then complain"--is by no means making a reference to one type of lifestyle being better than the other!!

On couples wearing matching clothes in China

I must say this is a very interesting phenomenon that is just not prevalent in North America: couples wearing matching clothes. This is not just meant to ridicule the notion of being matchy-matchy, but rather a comment on how this notion is executed with a great amount of sincerity and thought. Case in point: stumbling across a store specifically for this in Daliang (a city near Guangzhou) – a retail store selling shirts in the same colour and design for both male and female counterparts to wear at the same time. I’m not going to get into the hetero-normative assumptions of the store itself. I will just say that this sickeningly “cute” idea is part of the whole Chinese concept that “it’s better to be a part of something than an individual.” This is a prime example of how Eastern collectivism is in stark contrast to Western individualism. Here, I notice, it is very undesirable to a local to stick out and it’s better to do what you can best to avoid it. In my opinion, the matching clothes between couples—and sometimes even friends—is a great example of this. One thing’s for sure: as coordinated as you’ll ever find me, you will never see me wearing the same clothes as my counterpart.