An Indian in China
I’m back to blogging after a hiatus resulting from various travels, including several weeks in China. To begin with, I thought I would share a few observations from my time there. I do not profess to be a China expert, and likely will never be, so treat these merely for what they are: uninformed observations by a visiting Indian, scribbled some 25,000 feet over Henan province on June 4.
1. Superb Infrastructure, Terrible Service. China’s famed physical infrastructure is everything is is said to be and more. At the same time, personal services are not just sub-standard, they appear to be inversely related to cost. Say what you will about the visitor’s experience to India—chaos, delays, squalor, potholed roads—but when you pay that little bit extra for quality service, you expect to get it.
2. Rising Prices. Inflation has been pretty remarkable, with some goods and services in parts of Beijing costing not much less than what you might pay for a comparable product in, say, New York or Tokyo. Tourist entrance fees, for example, are remarkably high for visitors, and unlike in India differential rates are not offered to locals. Despite that, domestic tourism appears to be booming.
3. A Sense of History. The CCP, unlike our own enlightened leadership, has grasped the importance of communicating the country’s history to the public at large. The results are fantastic museums and historical sites, most of which are beautifully curated. There is also an extraordinary willingness to rebuild, renovate and reproduce when necessary—many of China’s oldest sites, I was surprised to learn, are entirely modern recreations. The person of Qing Shi Huang (259-210 BCE), considered the first emperor of unified China, is widely revered. Periods of Tang and Ming supremacy are also portrayed with a nationalistic nostalgia. At the same time certain historical episodes receive little attention. The Taiping Rebellion and the Korean War, to pick two examples, seem to be largely overlooked in the historical record, as presented to the public.
4. Mao’s Mixed Legacy. Not only are the worst excesses of the Cultural Revolution ignored, they seem to be a source of embarrassment, and are even openly mocked. The destruction of cultural relics from that period, for example, is seen disapprovingly, and many of the symbolic trappings of equality associated with the early years of the People’s Republic have been dropped. According to an article in one of the state newspapers, even the word “comrade” (“tongzhi“) has morphed into a term used by members of the Chinese gay community to refer to one another, creating a rather amusing dilemma for China’s internet censors.
5. Youth Not in Revolt. Young Chinese seem largely content with the political leadership for providing them with greater opportunity than their parents could ever have imagined. They are generally encouraging of state-supported development, which would mean their “getting rich.” There is a downside, of course: beggars are not an uncommon sight, although abject poverty of the kind widely seen in most major Indian cities is not visible.
6. Religion’s Prevalence. For a country that has been officially atheist for the past sixty years, it is remarkable not just that religion is very much alive, but that it is also often vibrantly on display. Buddhist pilgrims and strong Buddhist iconography (such as the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, known in China as Guanyin) are found all over. But what I found even more surprising was the prevalence of Islam in the Chinese heartland, at least as a cultural identifier (I had always associated it with the Xinjiang and the northwest). Muslim restaurants are among the most popular. The historical capital of Xi’an boasts a mosque and a Casbah-like Muslim quarter. And Muslim scholars and officials (such as the mariner Zheng He) cast large shadows over Chinese history. A rickshaw driver even offered his services believing me to be a fellow “Mussulman”!
7. Embracing Western Culture. Western cultural icons are exceedingly popular, especially with younger Chinese. Cristiano Ronaldo and Michael Jackson seemed to appear on as many billboards, posters and t-shirts as top Chinese figures such as Yao Ming. The most ubiquitous Western brands would probably include Audi, KFC and Lady Gaga. At the same time, there appears to be no contradiction in outwardly embracing Western cultural trappings. English-speaking Chinese often introduced themselves with a European name, whereas longtime residents are expected to pick up a Chinese name. In India, we see Indians using “foreign” names and foreigners adopting Indian names as pretentious or, at least, affected. Identity, in that sense, appears more fluid.
8. Sociable People. The Chinese seem very, very fond of their children. And they are also surprisingly gregarious. The elderly population in particular, is remarkably active and social by the standards of other East Asian and Western societies.
9. Garish Aesthetics. The western conception of Chinese aesthetics is all about purity and simplicity: from calligraphy and jade figurines to feng shui and Ming vases. This stands in contrast to the vibrancy and garishness associated with its southern neighbour (remember Diana Vreeland’s pronouncement that pink was “the navy blue of India”?). But I was struck by the general gaudiness of Chinese culture, in the form of shiny sequins or harsh, clashing colours. This comes out of a longstanding tradition. Museums contain some remarkably tacky artistic specimens, many over a millennium old. The famous terracotta warriors of Xi’an were not originally the buff colour we see now but were instead luridly polychrome.
10. Low-Level Dissent. Political dissent appears to be tolerated, although within strict bounds. You see small-scale, peaceful protests being held away from major roads and public attractions. The English-language state media pokes casual fun at China’s ‘net nannies.’ At the same time, China is the only place in my experience where—under certain circumstances—locals come under more suspicion and are subject to greater state scrutiny than foreigners.