It’s quite an oddity, isn’t it? When you think about it, when was the last time you saw a department in, say, the UK or the US touting the nationalities of its own faculty? But, when you closer, there’s nothing odd about it at all. It’s yet another reminder of how China still devalues being Chinese.

It all began with the Opium war in the 1840s, when the British seized Hong Kong, which remained in British hands up until 1997. That was the first time China was so humiliatingly defeated on its own soil. Soon, China was sliced and diced like a poor piece of Beijing duck by the foreign powers who were desperate to capitalize on trading opportunities with the Middle Kingdom, but despising of the harsh and limited legislation which had previously made it difficult for them to get in. Dalian, Tianjin, Shanghai, Xiamen, Hankou, Guangzhou — all, and much more, were conceded to the foreigners by China, which became increasingly fearful of the military might and strategy of the British, French, Russians and other foreign powers. By the time China did finally defeat a foreign power, the Japanese during World War II, for the first time in over a hundred years, there was such a depressingly long list of defeats at the hands of foreigners that somehow the damage had already been done, leaving the Chinese with one conclusion: foreign is better.

Not surprisingly, pretty soon being associated with something foreign meant higher status: getting a foreign degree to learn foreign technology and ideas, wearing expensive foreign fashions, living in a community named “Santa Fe” with foreign-style homes, driving a luxury foreign car. But topping this list has always been that coveted foreign citizenship.

To understand this in action, consider the movie Drifters, about a young Chinese man named Hong from Fujian who was deported from the US to his hometown and . The man fathered a son in the US, but even though the son is back visiting his hometown, he cannot see the son — a son that the grandparents call an “authentic American citizen”. In one scene, the grandparents even claim that the son is protected by American law. They are, in every way, far above the lowly Hong, who is not an American and only but a migrant laborer who failed in his attempt to stay in the US.

It is such a sad state of affairs that Chinese look to passports as a sign of status and value — especially so on this top-ranked university’s website. For them, it was not enough to boast of their faculty’s scholarship and research; they had to show how many Americans were on their staff to lift themselves up, because someone must have inherently thought that, if people considered them all to be Chinese, then surely their department would not have been nearly as good. It isn’t being Chinese or American that makes us better or worse — it’s what we do with our lives that counts.

I look forward to the day when China no longer feels content to look to foreign citizenship, items and ideas for their value, but instead to themselves — to the ingenuity, innovation and leadership that has distinguished China in the past, and bring them to a new and brighter future.

It takes a certain kind of person to live in China now….Someone who can see true meanings, someone who does not only want the world better but believes it can be made better, and gets angry because it is not done, someone who is not willing to hide himself in one of the few good places left in the world–someone who is tough!

It would be nice, wouldn’t it? If only you weren’t sleeping with the enemy.

I should know. As close as China and the US have come in recent years, they aren’t putting their arms around each other like the US and Britain. And yet, even with all of the strides we have made, somehow somebody (such as Tim Geithner) has to pull out the China unfairness card (in this case, on the artificial value of the RMB) and, before you know it, we all feel like enemies again.

I wouldn’t necessarily mind it, save that this silent quarrel wreaks havoc upon our lives in curious ways.

As I think about my future — which currently means a move back to China with the husband after gaining his PhD — there are so many bizarre details that no couple should ever have to face…but we will. Take for example, having kids. If we go back to China and, say, decide to have children, the kids can either be US citizens or Chinese citizens, but not both (and if they are US citizens and then I take them out of the country, they need a visa to come back in). Then there’s the fact that merely being married to a Chinese man does not automatically grant me a green card. Fortunately, there is at least a Chinese green card system, but in China I have to live there continuously for five years before I’m even eligible.

I could only imagine how more horrendous it would be if our two countries were at war.

Except, I don’t have to — Pearl Buck imagined it for me, and for the rest of us, in her book Patriot, which follows the world of I-wan, a smart young man who faces the unthinkable: being married to a woman from Japan, a country invading China.

I-wan is not only married the the enemy – he works for them too.

I-wan’s father sends him to Japan, after being outed as a revolutionary, to work for his longtime friend, Mr. Muraki, an import-export businessman who lives in Nagasaki. His love for Muraki’s daughter (who eventually becomes his wife) blinds him to the reality behind the antique Chinese vases and scrolls and jewelry that pass through his inspections in the warehouse (let’s just say, this merchandise probably wasn’t bought gently, or even at a fair price). But by the time he realizes the betrayal, things are already headed for disaster. His best friend in Japan is sent over to China for battle, and, in a drunken stupor, admits to mindless acts of hatred, such as ravaging teenage Chinese girls to death. Meanwhile, once the war is underway by Japan, Muraki, who I-wan’s father had long praised as an upstanding citizen, is quietly confiscating letters between father and son. As for the media, the headlines in Japan are filled with mindless propaganda, such as how the Chinese welcome the Japanese invasion, leaving out footnotes of horror like the Rape of Nanjing.

As I-wan’s anger grows, it becomes even harder to reconcile reality with his domestic life. He dearly loves his wife, an obedient, thoughtful woman who eschews politics, and instead puts her energy into providing I-wan with the best food, family, and relaxation. Yet, can he see beyond her country to embrace her for the person she is, and not her nationality? Worse, he fears that his sons, growing up in Japan, will never love and experience Chinese culture.

While I-wan considers what to do for his country, his revolutionary communist past could jeopardize all of his efforts, and even put him at risk of being labeled a traitor by Chiang Kai-Shek.

There are ultimately no easy answers for I-wan, though I will say he follows his heart without betraying his family.

There are no easy answers for me and Jun, either. But one thing I know is this — he’s the best thing that ever happened to me, and he’ll never be my enemy.

Perhaps then, days such as these, there is nothing more comforting than literature that not only understands us, but uplifts us with the resilience of humanity in the face of hardship. Or, to put it simply, misery loves company.

If you’re looking for such a literary companion — and specifically a China-related one — you may enjoy Pearl S. Buck’s Dragon Seed. (Note to loyal readers — yes, I’m stuck on Buck as it were, and no, I have no idea when this love affair with her writing will end.)

Dragon Seed takes place on the eve of the Japanese invasion in East China (what seems to be the Shanghai area and surrounding environs), so it has all of the makings of a glorious disaster, far worse than our own. Yet, it is the perspective that gives the story its charm — that of Ling Tan, a farmer so fiercely devoted to the Earth that he even believes his earth stretches all the way to the other side of the planet (beware foreigners on the opposite side), and his family, which consists of his wife, Ling Sao, three sons (Lao Ta, Lao Er, Lao San) and two daughters (X and Panhsiao).  When the first signs of war — bombers flying over Ling Tan’s home — touch the land, no one, not even Ling Tan, believes there is anything of great concern to farmers like him. A country like China, with thousands of restless years of rebellion, infighting, warlords restling for power and the like, has endured regime change so often that people like Ling Tan only care for the safety of his land and family. But this time, it is much more than a new set of rulers sweeping out the old — it is ruthless destruction, completely divorced from all of the mores and values that, in good times, embody humanity. Soon Ling Tan finds his two prized possessions — land and family — in jeopardy, and can no longer hide from the pain of war.  It truly pales in comparison to our economic losses.

If the East-Ocean people (as the Japanese are referred to in the story) aim to dehumanize the area, it is Buck herself who saves humanity by bringing us such vivid, delightful characters who represent Chinese culture, yet have personality of their own. Naturally, being the feminist I am, I adore the strong women. There is the fiercely independent Jade, wife of Lao Er, who persuades him to buy her a book even if he cannot read, and who marches with her husband to the West, heavy with child, to escape the oncoming soldiers. There is also Ling Sao, Ling Tan’s wife, who, while occupying herself with many of the typical duties of a housewife is nevertheless stubborn and independent in her own right (refusing to leave the home, despite Ling Tan’s pleading at one point) and still the loveliest woman in the world to her dear husband. Panhsiao, while an unplanned child for the family, still longs to learn how to read and write even if she is a girl.

Along the way, complicated characters make trouble for Ling Tan in his fervent quest to save his land and family. There is a dodgy opium-addicted cousin, a somewhat traitorous merchant son-in-law, and even the war-torn personalities that emerge from his oldest and youngest son.

The story ends with Ling Tan asking “Is there not promise of rain?” — only to be told “only a promise” by his son. Things are never the same after a crisis, and so it must be for Ling Tan as he rises like a phoenix from the ashes of conflict. But just as we must face economic difficulties before us, no matter what, there is always a promise of something better, if only we have the patience to wait for it.

Happy reading!

So…here’s a short list of what I’d like to see in the Middle Kingdom in 2009, and after. It is NOT a prediction; I am not honestly sure if or when any of these will happen. This is also in no particular order:

Stop following the US

For years, China has looked up to foreign countries as a model, the way younger children look up to their older siblings. But most of all, they’ve looked up to the US. We’ve been one of their “model siblings” for years. So it isn’t surprising that, after goading and coaxing from above, China has embraced capitalism (with Chinese characteristics, of course) and moved towards privatizing EVERYTHING. Privatization was supposed to mean better transparency and better pricing (because of competition) for all, so big brother US told China.

Well, that was until we all found out this year that big brother US was peddling some rather dangerous stuff, and hanging out with the wrong crowd.

I know some might call me unpatriotic for saying this, but I’m going to say it anyway: Big brother US is no longer a model for China, and quite frankly needs to go into rehab. (I should have seen this coming, even when I was at Global Sources — somewhere in 2005 I started noticing that, for China exporters, they had to meet higher standards for the EU, but not the USA. Hmmmmm….)

If China is looking for a new model, I’d say, why not instead aim to emulate countries that embrace socialism (ie taking care of your own), yet also achieve a good balance of transparency and keep the economy running. I’m not 100 percent sure who would be best, but Canada, the UK, and France all come to mind

Residency Reform

Ask anyone in China, and they’ll tell you that one of the biggest problems in society is residency — or hukou. That ID that decides which city you officially are a resident of, and what benefits you get. Currently, if you live in a big city such as Beijing or Shanghai, you get better benefits. If you live out in the countryside, you get less. So, naturally, everyone in the countryside hopes to go to the city, just to live a better life, and they have to jump through extraordinary hoops just to get there. My friend Peter, for example, spent years studying for the postgraduate exam just to get into university in Beijing, all for the purpose of getting a Beijing hukou, so he could have the right to settle there

Instead of making people twist and turn just to live where they want to live, I’d love to see the hukou system reformed, so that people can decide for themselves.

Share Colleges with more Small Towns

If you’ve ever spent any amount of time in China, you’ve probably noticed that all colleges and universities (we’re talking higher education, here, not vocational/training) tend to be in the larger cities. In fact, arguably the larger cities hoard all of these great institutions. It’s a shame on many levels. Smaller cities miss out on the benefits of having a college or university within the town, which can be a much needed source of talent, culture, and even innovation that spurs economic development.

Cities such as Hangzhou have been moving colleges out to “College Cities” in their suburbs (which are still within the city limits). What I want to know is, why can’t they share their colleges with smaller towns in the region? For example, neither Fuyang nor Tonglu (two towns in Hangzhou’s jurisdiction) have colleges or universities. Wouldn’t it have been nice to move these schools out there instead, and share the benefits that they bring to the areas?

This model is very common in the US and other countries. Jun and I currently live in Pocatello, Idaho, a town that thrives because of the presence of Idaho State University.

I hope that the next time China considers moving around colleges, it will think of cities in the countryside as possible recipients.

Conquer Noise Pollution in the Countryside

This is a personal, but sobering, one — and a side of the environmental debate we don’t hear enough about. My in-laws live out in the countryside, but ironically suffer damaging noise pollution almost 24 hours a day from factories that were haphazardly built near residential homes.

I’d like to see China pay more attention to planning in the countryside, so that these honest, hardworking people do not need to suffer from the side effects of noise pollution. As it is, my mother-in-law has battled high blood pressure that is likely the result of the noise.

Love Little Girls More

This is social wish. We all know how much the 宝孙子 (treasured grandson) is favored above all in China — so much so that residents of the countryside can have a second child if their firstborn is a girl.

Abortion or abandonment are all too common for girl babies. The result is that the sex ratio will be so skewed by 2020 that many young men will be unable, as my Chinese friends say, to solve their “personal problem” (getting married). Think serious social unrest.

Traditions don’t change easy, and it’s not just peasants. I once heard my boss — a modern young woman from Taiwan — say that she wanted to sell desks in one of the rows in our office, just because every girl (or boy) who sat there ended up with a baby boy.

Let’s hope that women will no longer be seen as “water thrown away” from the family, but instead as treasured members of the family who do more than just give birth. If not, soon there won’t even be enough of them for the men who will grow up in a few decades. (Maybe I should consider starting up a business to connect more foreign women with Chinese men?….just kidding!)

Happy New Year, everyone! 新年快乐！

In case you didn’t follow the news, there was a ballot measure in California, Proposition 8, that would ban gay marriage (in opposition to the California Supreme Court decision this summer making gay marriage legal). Proposition 8 passed on Tuesday.

Here’s one of these so-called pundits weighing in on Phoenix News why overseas Chinese families would support Proposition 8 （八号提案）：

那么华人到美国以后，尤其第一代移民打拼，都是为了为孩子创造一个良好的教育环境和生活环境，现在生活环境已经被毒品弄得痛苦不堪，现在又弄出一个同性恋出来。

(Rough translation: After Chinese go the US, especially the first generation of immigrants, they want to create a healthy environment for their children to live and study. Now this living environment has been made miserable by drugs. And now homosexuality has been brought out as well.)

Yes, that’s right — having homosexuals in your community is as bad as widespread drug abuse.

But wait, the hatred doesn’t stop there. In the same discussion, he goes on to castigate the African American community as well:

现在在华人当中，两件事情是最让家长头疼的：一个是女儿嫁给了黑人，一个是儿子变成了同性恋。那个是整个是做父母的就就要跳楼了。

(Rough translation: For today’s overseas Chinese, two things would be considered the worst headache for parents: one is your daughter marrying a black man, one is your son being gay. If this is true and you’re a parent, you would jump off a building.)

Excuse me?

Look, I know that many Chinese and Chinese parents have a very traditional perspective on the world. And I know there is still racism in China. But these two pundits are supposed to be well-educated, and representing Chinese as a whole. Their words (and positions as professors, for that matter) add credence to what are, in my opinion, some dangerously divisive and hateful ideas.

I give the host credit for at least calling them out on their words:

你说一个女儿嫁给黑人，一个是同性恋，这俩都是偏见哪。照所谓政治正确的立场来讲，这不都是偏见吗？

You say a daughter marries a black man, the other is homosexuality, these are prejudice. From a politically correct perspective, aren’t these all prejudice?

Fair and balanced in China? Phoenix News, you’ve got a way to go.

First, the numbers:

Unsurprisingly, over 65% have heard of iPhone, and among this group, more than 85% are willing to actually buy an iPhone if it’s available here in China.

While the iPhone is not yet *officially* available in China, the price sure won’t be a bargain once it hits the Apple store. This is, after all, Apple quality — you get what you pay for. A cursory search came up with one store in China selling an iPhone for 4,300 RMB (~$600 USD). Still, that price is still well above the average salary of a young person living in major cities such as Beijing or Shanghai (around 2,500 – 3,000 RMB).

There’s more:

Findings show that Battery Life, Memory Size, Style/Design are the top features when picking a phone for all consumers. The difference between iPhone lovers and the not yet converted is all about branding. The non iPhone lovers prefer Music and Camera features rather than being wooed and indoctrinated by the hip Apple brand equity.

I found it telling that the style/design was up in the top three, and also that branding plays a major role in wooing people over to the iPhone.

When I was in college and studying US culture (we read Neil Postman — classic!), our professor once asked us what the real symbol of US culture was. None of us even came close to his response: the car. It made sense because it is something so deeply a part of people’s lives, and, more importantly, it has become a way to express one’s values. Patriotic? Buy American (i.e. Ford/GM). Green? Get a Prius. Wealthy? Show it off with a luxury car (Mercedes, Porsche, etc.). The associations could go on and on, but I think you get the idea.

I have to wonder if the mobile phone is becoming the symbol of China, in the same way. While there are cars in China, not everyone can afford them. But everyone — yes, even those guys out in the fields in the countryside — has a mobile phone. And people are willing to spend thousands of RMB just have the “right phone”. Including getting the hot new iPhone in China (once it gets to China, that is).

I remember back in my office in Shanghai, when the girls in particular seemed obsessed with their phones. They hung all sorts of trinkets and pictures on them. One girl had no qualms about purchasing a mobile phone that had to be more than half of her monthly salary.

What do you think? Are mobile phones the new symbol of China? And how will the iPhone change the landscape?

But some reports during this time are worth noticing since they implicate the original meaning of the tomb sweeping festival—emphasizing close family relation and filial piety. In a report, two sons do not want to take care of their widowed mother, refuse to meet her, and even do not phone the mother for months. The old mother expressed a thought provoking complain about her sons: “They do remember to sweep family tombs during Qingming. But why they could not have been nicer to me?” There are other reports that people compete in how many fireworks set and how much joss paper is burned.

Just like an old saying:” It would be better to consistently support the living than lavishly celebrating the dead.” The essential meaning of filial piety should be taking care of parents when they are living.  A better time to show respect and appreciation for parents would be when they are alive. People who focus on the formality of burning joss paper and setting fireworks in front of the tombs neglect the essential meaning of the festival. Their lavish behavior is selfish in that they only care about their own face, and it is unhealthy for a society in that it espouses waste of social resources.

First, robbery, theft and fraud reveal a robber’s intention to get desired things through illegal means. The young generation born in 1980s and 1990s faces far more material attractions, such as computers, cellphones, and mp3s, than the previous generations. And they are given more than former generations. They are used to asking for more and getting more. But their parents’ limited ability could not satisfy their children’s unlimited desire for more. The delinquents’ committed robberies suggest these kids did not acquire and act on the social values that encourage success through hard work.

Second, intentional injury and rape indicate a disrespect of the well-being of others, besides a serious crime. Those delinquents show an extremely self-centered view of the world, in thought and action. In the delinquents’ mind, they are the only people who have feelings and rights. They lack an adequate capacity for emphasizing with others.

Third, gang fighting shows a belief in solving problems through violence. Society should provide multiple paths for peaceful resolution of disputes. In addition, society, community and family should model settling disputes and venting emotions through peaceful means.

Further reading:

China Youth Crime ‘in Rapid Rise’ – BBC

Crimes by Juveniles rise, China says – New York Times

College entrance exams in China usually end in June and a new term starts at the beginning of September. But the anxiety among students and parents from college entrance exams is still lingering.

Students and parents not only care about whether they can enter college, but also whether they can enter a prestigious school. Anxiety, therefore, accompanies their expectations. For many students, once they get their scores on college entrance exams, they decide to enroll themselves at a school that focuses on preparing for the next exam.

In Shanghai, the Municipal Institution for Educational Testing reveals that more than 100 students who are not matriculated by the key universities refuse to go to other colleges that are considered common four-year schools, and that over 5,000 qualified students give up their opportunity to go to a three-year college. Most of these students will end up enrolling at schools that prepare them for next year’s college entrance exam, so that they can compete with other examiners for a spot in prestigious universities such as Beijing University and Qinghua University.

The market for remediation schools is prosperous. A small town called Shangdundu in Jiangxi province in southern China attracted nearly 10 thousand students from all over the country to attend the two schools there for exam preparation. The attraction is because of the two schools’ mystical success — 50 of their students, or 1/3 of their entire student body, entered Beijing and Qinghua University this year. The 20 students admitted by Qinghua University weren’t first-time test-takers. An influx of examiners into the town increased demand for housing, elevating rent and apartment prices there. Restaurants and internet cafes mushroomed within few years. The pedicabs and peddlers in the peasant markets are getting better business. Even selling boiled water around the schools becomes a thriving business.

A researcher at the Central Educational Science Research Institution analyzes that about 30% of the examiners every year are doing it at least the second time. In 2007, there are 3 million second-time examiners. Spending 3,000 yuan (~$400) each for enrollment fees in preparation school, these students feed a 1.2 billion-dollar exam preparation economy, not including the cost of living and learning materials.

Why would so many young students spend a whole year reviewing the same old exam materials, when they could be learning new things in college or doing something more worthwhile? One culturally related reason is the conformity among Chinese. People tend to blindly follow the main stream. The whole society identifies with the idea that going to key universities and choosing so-called hot majors is the sole bridge to becoming a valued talent. On job market, the primary criterion for selecting an employee is whether s/he graduated from a prestigious school. The concept of hierarchy is deeply rooted. Even in graduate school recruitment, the candidate’s undergraduate school is an important factor.

This unhealthy and unproductive aspect of Chinese culture is not left unnoticed. Just like an accomplished Chinese scholar puts it: when half of the students in China do not want to go to Beijing or Qinghua University, it will indicate a breakthrough in our educational reform and concept of talent.

References (Chinese news sources):

http://www.news365.com.cn/jj/200708/t20070816_1536794_1.htm

http://society.people.com.cn/GB/1063/6168738.html