Another week, another world
Well, it must be time for an update while I’m sitting here on my day off. I’m lucky enough that my timetable for teaching only stretches to from Monday-Thursday afternoon, which leaves me time to go off and see things around China, however, due to lack of planning and foresight on my part I’m not going anywhere this weekend. However, I will be watching one of my students take part in an English competition and I have been coaching his speech, so if he wins, maybe that will be an endorsement of my teaching. Just maybe…
The Calming Effect of Water
Well last weekend, myself and the Jones boy took a trip with some of the other teachers from Huanghuai University to a lovely place called Boshan Lake. This turned out to be a relaxing and fun day in sunshine that was certainly not promised at the start of the weekend. The climate here in Zhumadian (河南省) is strange. Apparently it borders the warm temperate zone of northern China and that of the sub-tropical zone you find across southern China. It has been getting gradually warmer here since we have arrived, but thankfully whilst reaching 35 degrees in the middle of the day, it is a reserved, dry heat that we experience; a far cry from the kind of sticky, humid, heavy atmosphere that seems to descend in the UK now whenever the temperature tips over 25 degrees Celsius. This seems to continue for 2 weeks or so when all of a sudden, the wind grows whilst the temperature stays the same or even rises before we are then blessed with 2 days of thunder storms. Anyone who has ever lived in this sort of climate knows that this is to be expected with the constant cycle of dryness building up the moisture in the air to the point where it just needs to fall down again. The great thing about this is that it’s amazing for crop growth: Henan province is often referred to as “the engine of China” as it is a central region for growing spring onions, wheat and sesame, and it thrives. The drawback of this of course is that Henan is essentially seen as where all the hill billies live and the Henan dialect is the equivalent of some deep southern drawl in the ‘States! So much for speaking 普通话!
So last weekend saw the onset of one of these spectacular deluges of water that was accompanied through Friday night by spectacular flashes of sheet lightning and thunder. It’s not enough to keep me awake, but it’s fun to watch out of my bedroom window. Come Sunday, the day of our trip to the lake it started off grey and with a few puddles still around. The trip started off with a search for diesel for the bus the university has hired. It seems that petrol is in short supply around Henan and Zhumadian is no different. Many of the petrol stations were filled with lorries and trucks waiting to fill their tanks so we went to a few less “reputable” places that were willing to sell a tank full for our trip.
Finally arriving at the lake, the sun had started to burn off the early morning haze and the first thing I noticed was just how much fresher the air seemed there than that of the city a mere 40km away. We parked outside a small farmers holding with baby chickens running amok and the children of the house chasing them around. It was fun to watch. A short walk down the hill and across some farmland laden with wheat ready for harvesting brought us to the edge of Boshan lake.
Boshan Lake:
The size of the pond could not be seen from here as we hidden at a small end of the lake where a tiny brook drained into it. Owing to the weekends rainfall ,the lake – we were told, was uncharacteristically murky as a large amount of silt had been drained into it over the last two days. This put a stop to any ideas we had of a brisk swim in the water, which was a shame, but a small loss. The university had kindly chartered a small tug for us to traverse the waters and we were informed that we had come by this route across the fields to avoid the “tourist” prices that we would have had to pay had we arrived from a more well trodden route, which can only be a good thing.
So we started out across the reservoir, a nice relaxing ride over a vast expanse of water and my first thought was that I can see why so many people choose to live by the sea and those who go sailing feel some kind of bond with the wet stuff. It really does have such a wonderfully calming effect. After a half hour of floating across the huge pond, we alighted on an island that had a large amount of steps moving up towards it’s peak. We clambered up for some amazing views of the lake through the trees. Here we also found some monkeys caged that were apparently used in the filming of a famous (in China) Chinese TV series called “Journey to the West” about the first monks who travelled to bring Buddhism to the people from India. I’m not sure if they were looked after by anyone, if at all, as they were very willing to accept titbits from the tourists.
So on our way from here, we moored at a little guest house built grandiosely on the banks of the Lake where we had a delightful lunch that consisted mostly of what we think was fresh catches from the fisherman on the lake. The dishes were exquisitely flavoured and the fish delicate and wonderfully fresh. It really was superb with much fun had by all.
Following the brief distraction of lunch we alighted on an island that literally glistened. Strewn all over the forest covered landscape were large slabs of granite, which over the years had clearly been eroded and thus seeped into every part of the island. The soil, the steps of the path and everything around it sparkled with with the rock that ran through it. No wonder then, that the place was aptly named “the magic path”. We took a brief walk up this path that was littered by bamboo forest and lush green ferns that followed the winding course of a small brook that cut through the middle of the small isle. Along the way we encountered a veritable horde of vendors all peddling flora that they had foraged from the woods. A multitude of different mushrooms and the prize catch which were large turtles that were kept in a variety of washing up bowls. It would seem they were very willing to cut them open and cook them into a soup right there and then.
A Weekend in the City
Well, all in all, it was a pretty fun and relaxing day out that was well worth the early rise out of bed. It most definitely was a different experience to the hustle and bustle of Beijing (北京). Beginning with an overnight sleeper train from Zhumadian to the “North Capital” it soon evolved into what I was hoping was not going to be to be a comedy of errors. Upon arrival to our hostel we find that our Visas were not valid due to the inequities of our esteemed hosts and the local police authorities. Our temporary visas had run out the day before and only a desperate call to the Dean of our university and the promise of a photocopied fax of our valid visas would convince the owner of the “Zhou Long Hostel” that we could stay! One expensive steak later and a trip to Tiān’ānmén Square (天安门广场) to see the one of the world’s most iconic public open spaces and we ended up in this plush Duck restaurant. Supposedly the best in Beijing.
Well, that lived up to it’s reputation, but we couldn’t stay out long. At 6.20am the next day we had a trip to The Great Wall (长t). This was an amazing 12km walk up and down the ancient wall, China on one side, Mongolia on the other; I think it was made somewhat more memorable by the fact that we were caught in the tail end of the cyclone that hit Burma! A little scary knowing we were the tallest things on top of the wall with the lightning pounding the ground around us, but what an experience.
We capped this glorious day off with a night out on the town in Beijing. There is a road that the authorities have decided to kindly rename “Drinking Road” as it has more than 3 miles of bars and clubs along it’s pavements. This was a last resort of course (!) as a fruitless search for some live music that was promised made us all turn to the bottle. It turned out to be a surreal experience when come 3am I was standing on a dance floor with a Lychee Martini in my hand and my vision swirling. At this point it was time for me to go home. Paul having also decided it was time to leave, got in a cab with me.
Unfortunately I had forgotten the name of our hotel and the cab had already been taken by a Chinese person. Of course for Paul this was not a problem. “I don’t care Greg” was the only answer and off went the cab, the stranger and Paul. I would not see him until the next morning. Here things got a little more abstract as I could not coax an intelligible answer from Gareth who was away with the fairies whilst simultaneously having his face sucked off by a German girl. So I wandered off to find the hotel myself. Maybe an hour later and not knowing where the hell I was, I briefly remember meeting a strange Irishman and then seeing the bright lights of the Comfort Inn, I walked in there. Unable to focus on a map, I managed through the magic of Google to find my hotel name. Turns out it was a mere 60m down the road from where I was. Practically next door! Oh how relieved I felt. Well, the calamities did not end there, missing the bullet train home I had to negotiate a place on the sleeper back to Henan which arrived in the wee hours of the morning. It was a fun weekend punctuated by moments of madness but oh so different to the peacefulness of the lake!
Oh my face, I seem to have lost it!
Well, I can get to my thoughts for the week out now the travel log has been relayed. I promised in the last post that I would get to the phenomenon in Chinese culture that is “losing face”. This is a concept that seems to arise an awful lot and one of the few times when we as Westerners may start to feel that China has some deficient social policies.
I am sure we are all aware of the concept of “losing face”, that is, an acute embarrassment that we feel when our shortcomings or flaws may be exposed for all to see. It pains many people, but sometimes it cannot be avoided and more importantly may be essential for personal growth or our own quest for progress or happiness. However here in China, the idea of loosing face is tantamount to a crippling disfigurement or family loss and they will go to great lengths to avoid the effects of it. This idea of avoidance is so entrenched in Chinese culture and at such a fundamental level that it is actually a detriment to their progress and their amazing work ethic.
We first experienced this ourselves within days of arriving in the Middle Kingdom when discussing the prospects of our teaching not just English but university subjects to the students. It would seem our “benefactor” who helped introduce us into the employ of Huanghuai University when convincing us to teach these extra courses, had neglected to mention a few details critical to the success of these classes. As a non exhaustive list these factors included: there was no actual syllabus for the course, we could have taught anything from a vast subject and it may or may not be applicable to what the students need to learn. Course texts were non-existent. That is we would have been teaching from ancient textbooks that cover long since out-dated information. Lastly, the students we were expected to teach had a minimal grasp on the English language and therefore teaching a course of advanced, subject specific terminology would have been a waste of time on a massive scale. This all had not occurred to our organiser and several desperate attempts to get us to still commit to this ridiculous idea of teaching were made, including threats of sending me home, all in some kind of vain hope that she would have to admit her mistakes and misleading actions to the people at the university. All, so she would not lose face. Even though in the long run, and the other teachers agreed, it would be more beneficial for the students to be taught in Chinese and have decent course objectives.
This is not the only time we have encountered this. At English corner, we discovered that in the Chinese work environment, people are expected to choose one career and stick at it all their lives, possibly at one company. Again, where this practically silly idea pervades another walk of life, our students informed us that even if a person is unhappy in their role, or maybe suited elsewhere, even another company, the employee will stay there and not attempt a change. All from the fear of losing face with their colleagues about their inability to do their jobs or look like a failure. The same goes for the marriages that I mentioned last week. Some people will endure an unhappy, sometimes even childless existence because of the risk that they could induce their friends, family or community to label them incapable. Students will not answer questions in class, not because they are embarrassed, but because if they fail, they feel that they will drop a peg or lose another face in the eyes of their peers.
This attitude we are told, invades every possible element of Chinese life. Unhappiness, incompetency, unfulfilled dreams, safety, efficiency, education, politics, or even doing the right thing will come second if there is a chance that the involved parties may lose some of their standing in the eyes of the wider world. To many of us that may seem simply absurd and even living here, I can tell you, it’s something I am struggling to understand.
What the Great Unwashed are saying