China: more than meets the eye

(Outside the Forbidden City, Beijing)

KT and I are in Beijing right now after three days in Bangkok and a whirlwind 36 hours in Shanghai. The PRC is KT's home turf, having studied here during college and returned several times since, however even with a savvy guide fluent in Mandarin, China has been an entirely different experience from anywhere else we've been. In all respects, the eastern cities (Shanghai/Beijing/etc) are 'first world' locals with all the amenities you'd expect to find at home. There's no shortage of 2 RMB ($0.25) liter beers or $1.50 restaurant dinners; however, walk a few blocks and you can just as conveniently spend $12 on a movie ticket and $6 on the accompanying single scoop vanilla ice cream cone.

Even more surprising than the western prices is the fact that almost always its the Chinese rather than the tourists who are paying them. China is a country 1.3 billion (the US has roughly 300 million) and despite the fact that the majority of these people live in the mainland on relatively low wages, those in the cities are surprisingly affluent and wealthy. This affluence, combined with national pride, means that in China, unlike anywhere else we've visited, there is very little desire to learn English. From South Africa to Vietnam, every restaurant worker, street hawker, or hotel attendant had a working knowledge, if not fluency, in English since doing so was the only way to ensure their livelihood. However, in China, unlike the rest of these places, the majority of tourists are not American, Australian, or European, but rather native Chinese. Chinese, unlike most of the inhabitants of the countries we've visited, have the money to travel as well as the desire to do so at home rather than abroad. Even on a Monday afternoon the flag-waving, matching t-shirt clad crowds of Chinese tourists in Tianamen square and the forbidden city numbered in the tens of thousands. Although most street sings are labeled in both Chinese and English, almost all advertisements and non-government signs are completely in Chinese and hardly anyone, except in the nicest hotels, speaks more than a few words of English.

Being in a country which for the first time reminds you so much of home -- in its cleanliness, lack of fashion sense, body type, and taste for consumerism -- but at the same time is so alien -- in its speech and language -- has been an incredibly new experience. I don't know if my impression of China will be better or worse than any of the other cultures we've parachuted in on, but so far I do know it'll be different. Keep an eye on the flickr gallery for photos; access to the collaborative web 2.0 tools that we take for granted at home is tenuous, if legal, but I'll do my best to keep it updated.