The term “middle class” is relative per country. Recently, ADB released a report (Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2010) early this year and mentioned that China’s middle class is numbered at 817 million. The report defined the middle class as those consuming between USD 2 to 20 a day. The middle class is also divided into 3 levels: first class, second class, and third class. Within China’s middle class, 303 million are at the lower level. Once they experience a crisis, it is easy to go back to poverty level.

The concept of “middle class” is pretty broad. If you have a monthly salary of RMB 6,000, that is considered as middle-class salary. Salary is just one of the key indicators. Another is how you compare to the standard of living in Shanghai. Besides Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, Shanghai is probably the closest to being “international” in standards; so it could be the most accurate “middle-class” benchmark. Otherwise, how come many expatriates identify with Shanghai?

Life as a slave–the “middle-class” dream

They are the middle class. House slaves. Car slaves.

Beijing University of Technology and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences published a paper that talks about the social strata construction of people living in Beijing. At least in Beijing, the middle class is composed of more than 40% of the population, numbering around 5.4 million. Their average monthly salary is RMB 5,923.18.

This statistic received various responses: how do you say one is middle class?

China does not really have a generally accepted definition of “middle class”. One could take the average monthly salary of RMB 6,000 as a starting point. But the people who made the report may have their own criteria. I think the starting point is too low.

How the middle class is being “strangled”

China’s so-called middle class is saddled with lots of pressure: house, car, credit card, kids…the establishment of an olive-shaped society seems far-fetched. As mentioned, from the figures above, once the 303 million experience a crisis, they can easily go back to poverty level.

Owning a house

In order to pay for your dream home, you pay off the mortgage around RMB 7,000 monthly from your salary. The rest will go to your basic expenses. Have you saved anything?

In the Fourth Ring Road in Beijing, average price per square meter is RMB 35,000 to 40,000. In order to own at least a 100-square-meter space, one would need at the very least RMB 40,000 to 80,000 annual revenue. And one needs to work nearly 45 years.

This means that if you started working at 20, by the time you turn 60, you still can not afford to buy a small 100-square-meter space.

Daily increase of fuel prices

You make a one-time purchase of a really cheap car, but then the price of fuel is very volatile, increasing almost daily. Even the price for parking is tagged at RMB 15 per hour. You go out and watch a movie at a discounted rate of RMB 40. However, the money you saved you pay for the parking–RMB 45.

Kids’ basic expenses is more expensive than the adults’

As we all know, there are safety concerns with regards to the local products; so we have no choice but to buy imported ones. And of course we have the best hopes for our children, so scrimping on their education is unheard of.

The middle class have their own vanity. Some really insist on buying imported products. So the money you earn locally is spent on the more expensive goods from abroad.

Here are stories of some middle-class Chinese: I earn an annual income of RMB 200,000, but I am not happy at all.

Case No. 1

Because I have a family of my own, I also have my own house and car–make that 2 cars even. Though my annual income is RMB 200,000, life is not happy at all.

Our monthly income is totaled at less than RMB 20,000. Maintaining 2 cars costs RMB 4,000. Food, at the minimum, costs RMB 3,000. And then there are a lot of bills: water, electricity, gas, cable TV, telephone, internet–all of that amounts to around RMB 1,000. The kid’s allowance is RMB 2,000. When I eat and have fun with my friends, that is RMB 1,000 off my pocket. Repair of miscellaneous items that can break down, etc. is pegged at RMB 500. Caring for the elderly at home (because both parents are busy with work) costs RMB 2,000. What’s more, the a-yi’s salary is RMB 2,000. Total expenses is RMB 15,500, with RMB 4,000 remaining. That RMB 4,000 is then set for any unexpected expenses. For example, if the furniture is too old already and can not be repaired anymore, we have to buy new ones. From time to time, there are relatives who needs help financially, so they would “borrow” money from me. What else is left?

Case No. 2

This man was promoted from junior account manager to senior account manager. His annual salary also increased from RMB 4-50,000 to RMB 300,000. Just looking at the salary, he is considered “middle class” already. But it has been 8 years since his promotion and he is still living in a rented apartment in Pudong whom he just considers as a “nest”. “I do not know if you could say I am middle class. This kind of middle class–is this success or failure?”

Case No. 4

Wang Yan went to the United States for her PhD after graduation and worked in a litigation firm in Washington. Her husband (also a graduate student) decided to go back to Beijing, so Wang Yan followed as well. From an “American” lawyer, Wang Yan became a “Chinese” lawyer. Good educational background, decent work, and decent income–Wang Yan accurately depicted China’s “middle class”. But she could not help but laugh, “Me? Middle class? Middle class should at least own some assets. I do not even have a house. What ‘middle class’ are you talking about?”

Wang Yan continues, “In the United States, everyone is so afraid of unemployment. As long as you have work, you have financial security. In China, it definitely is not ok if you do not have work. However, if you have work, you are afraid to go to work due to fierce competition and endless overtime.”

Such is the life of the Chinese middle class. Agree or disagree?

If you are Chinese-American or have similar experiences, please share your views below.

After settling in the United States for quite some time, I have unconsciously adapted the local customs (like how they say, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”). Cultural differences have started to blur, and I do not think much about them anymore. After all, having lived in China for many years and now walking along American streets, I still get to see my parents from China who visit me. But after staying for a certain period, my parents would get lonely; as they do not know how to speak in English. They especially wish to chat with fellow Chinese. When I speak to them, I get snippets of information that one can not find in the Internet. Their observations to the American lifestyle remind me that cultural differences between living in China and the United States are, in fact, everywhere.

Glass Doors

When Dad and Mom came to the United States, they did not lack in praises for the house. Everyone has their own bedrooms; the kitchen has a big refrigerator; there is a front yard, a backyard, and garage; and there are many bathrooms–all convenient and comfortable. However, they were not used to the glass doors at the first floor. My mom, who is from southern China, is worried what if someone breaks open the glass doors. I would explain to her: in the last decade, there has been no such thing happening in this small district. And if someone does break-in, what would they steal? Everything is insured so the loss will not be that great. (The only steal-able item is the laptop, but it is not as if the contents are very important.)

Anyway, breaking-in is a serious crime in the United States. So there is not a lot of these people who are so desperate that they would break-in homes, especially in small cities. No matter how I explained it to her, she can not seem to be satisfied with my answer.

Large-Size Beverages

When I brought Dad and Mom to eat in the fast food joints, whether it be in McDonald’s or KFC, they see that refilling drinks is always for free. They do not really go to fast food joints–this concept of free refill is so new to them. They could not understand why Americans would still order the large-size drinks if they could refill their cups for free. The prices of medium and large drinks do not vary that much. But for the small cups, there is a cost difference of 39 to 49 cents (USD). Or maybe is that Americans are too lazy that they find refilling to be too bothersome? This is not quite right though. Fast food drinks are easily obtained outside the counter. You can get as many as you want. I have not really thought about this as I always get the free water whenever I eat at fast foods. I also do not ask other people about this.

A Chinese friend told me a story which might help me understand how Americans think. He and his American girlfriend ate at a restaurant. Girlfriend wants to drink English tea (which my Chinese friend has never tried before). He was curious, so he tried it and found out that adding milk and sugar to his tea is not bad tasting at all. Adding more water to tea is free of course. So he drank cupfuls more. His girlfriend find it embarrassing to explain to him that what he is doing is not exactly fair. If he wants to drink more tea, he should buy another cup. My friend’s observation is that there are Americans who take advantage of the free refills, but there are only a few of them.

Holiday Gift-giving

Gift-giving during holidays is very common in the United States. But Dad and Mom found out that gift-giving is not the same in China and the United States. They said, the gift-giving tradition here is that you give gifts to the people with low incomes such as the school bus drivers, the janitors, the office staff, etc. They do not give gifts to the ones in higher position. And the gifts are not on the expensive side, mostly gift certificates worth USD15-20 or a box of chocolates. Neighbors also exchange gifts like homemade cakes and USD10-bottle of wines.

I explained to them that gift-giving in the United States is done mostly to express thanks. The Chinese also have this saying, 礼轻情意重, meaning little gifts could have profound meanings. Anyway, why would you give gifts to those with higher salaries or higher position than you are? It would be weird, and they will likewise feel it to be unnatural. If you give gifts due to self-interest, it would not really solve the problem. You can not really decide the fate of something though an action alone. In other words, the power of the American superior is actually very limited. Giving gifts to solve a problem might make your relationship complicated resulting in an awkward situation between the two of you. I also feel this explanation is not enough. But having no experience working in the United States makes it difficult to say how the American boss and employee relationship works.

Greeting Strangers

Dad has this habit of exercising on the lawn, doing his daily Tai Chi. People would stop by and say hi to him like old friends. He would ask, you just moved in recently yet how come a lot of people know you already? I would then answer that it is pretty normal for strangers to just greet each other here. After that, Dad no longer practices Tai Chi outside, exercising at the back instead.

Another time, Dad and I were driving along the highway when the car suddenly broke down. Many drivers stopped by to try to offer assistance. Dad thought that it was weird many would show concern. But I have already been accustomed to this attitude.

Adopting Children With Disabilities

Dad and Mom were most surprised with a family raising five kids with disabilities. This family lives at the end of our street. What shocked my parents was that how they can take care of that many kids and all of them with varying levels of disabilities at that (and lastly, all of them coming from Vietnam). It is difficult to raise one healthy child, what more with a child who has disabilities (and make that five of them)?

I did not ponder too deeply on this question anymore as I know a lot of American families living in the same situation. One of my work colleagues, together with his wife, adopted two “black” kids. One of them is five years old and before the adoption, they already knew beforehand that he is a special child. Another kid is 14 years old who is suffering from diabetes. That kid has been to several foster families thus collecting not a few bad habits along the way. By the way, my colleague and his wife are “white” and just in their 30s. Because they have adopted these two children, they have also thought about having their own child. Last week, my colleague told me his wife is pregnant. Dad and Mom are always skeptical when I tell them these stories. Maybe I should take them to my colleague.

The city fills with nostalgia whenever the Mid-Autumn Festival draws near as the holidays always translate to family reunions. But urbanization and commercialization seem to have replaced this nostalgic feelings with…practicality. Could it be that the cultural significance of the Mid-Autumn Festival is already lost among today’s generation?

According to Xiao Yang, “The Mid-Autumn Festival holiday is too short. After going home, I need to come back immediately after a few days.” This is her third time spending the holidays alone in Hong Kong.

Xiao Yang was born in 1986, a native of Jinnan. Even before she stopped going home for the holidays, her attitude towards the Mid-Autumn Festival is already muted. In order to feel festive, she would go out with her girlfriends to spend the festival on the school grounds.

But after staying in Hong Kong University, she realized the importance and how luxurious it is to go home. “For us born in the ’80s, except for rent, food, and basic expenses, we are basically 月光族 (monthly salary spenders). The return home ticket from Hong Kong to Jinnan will cost me RMB 2,800. Even the round-trip from Shenzhen will already cost RMB 1,500.”

Homesickness is inevitable. When walking along the streets of Hong Kong during the Mid-Autumn Festival, she would miss the leisurely life in Jinnan.

Earlier this year, she used her wages to buy her parents a computer with webcam, so they could chat and wish each other blessings while looking at the full moon together from their part of the world.

Although she is closer to home, Xiao Zhang has also decided not to go home for the Mid-Autumn Festival. “When you are young, the holidays is the most important thing in the world. But as you get older, you realize you do not need to go home.”

Xiao Yang and Xiao Zhang represent the majority who thinks it is not necessary to spend the holidays at home. Before the actual date of the Mid-Autumn Festival, several websites made an online survey that said 21% netizens encourage people to go home during the Mid-Autumn Festival. 42% said better go home during the National Day instead. A small 9% thinks going home at least once a year is enough.

To return or to not to return–this has become a hot topic during these times of the year. According to Professor Wang Zhongwu of Shandong University, those born in the 60′s and 70′s see these reunions as an emotional need. They also feel tremendous pressure from the society in making rational decisions.

As for those born in the 80′s and 90′s, they feel no such pressure. Holidays are primarily for rest and entertainment. Many young people use this time to travel outside the country.

“However, people should still try to go home for the Mid-Autumn Festival,” Professor Wang said. “Close relationships with the family is still the most important.”

Disclaimer: The descriptions maybe on the sarcastic side; but I do hope you take them at face value, see the humor injected by the author of the article, and think about the social classifications and the circumstances surrounding them instead.

I. Extreme Poverty Level (Completely Impoverished; Destitute Level)

Individual monthly income is below RMB 1,000. Annual household income is below RMB 30,000.  They are mainly the unemployed and the beggars (lower-end). These groups of people are primarily local Shanghainese.

Their mode of transportation is the bicycle. On certain occasions they would take the public transport. Ever since, they have not set foot outside of Shanghai. Their pockets mostly contain loose change; and when they walk along the streets, their eyes would shift to the ground from time to time hoping to find more loose change. They do not buy new clothes. They do not have meat for their meals. They can be seen lining outside the supermarkets as early as before 8am to buy the cheapest vegetables. Their mode of entertainment is watching television and strolling in the parks.

They live in shanties or resettlement houses in the outskirts of town. Outsiders (non-Shanghainese) live in bridges, public squares, or wherever they can get a night’s sleep.

II. Working Class

Individual monthly income on the average is RMB 1,000 to 3,000. Annual household income on the average is RMB 30,000 to 50,000.

Generally, they are the sales persons, construction workers, waiters, corporate/government personnel among others. Financially-minded (?) beggars can be considered to be part of this class as well.

Shanghainese and non-Shanghainese have the same social status.

Main mode of transportation is the public bus and the metro. If they could take the bus, they would not take the metro. Their bags consist of 3 things: transportation card, umbrella, and lunch box. They record their daily expenses religiously. Their mobile phones can only receive calls and can not make outgoing calls. Girls enjoy shopping but can only afford to go to Qipu Lu (Qipu Road). They have 1 or 2 branded cosmetics and bags, which they must use when going out. When meeting people for the first time, the first thing they will ask is “How much money do you have with you right now?” When eating out, they never foot the bill. They like going to the bargain stalls with friends. The guys do not have girlfriends. When do they, it is temporary only. They have a pair of leather shoes but can have several rubber/training shoes. They never buy new clothes as well. Married Shanghainese are NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) and depend on their parents. Their main form of entertainment is watching television and surfing the Internet (same as the middle-aged and elderly).

They live in small neighborhoods with their family. Non-Shanghainese rent one-room apartments. They do not dare think of buying a house or a car of their own.

III. White-Collars

Individual monthly income ranges from RMB 3,000 to 10,000. Annual household income ranges from RMB 50,000 to 150,000.

They are mostly the civil servants and staff working in private corporations, technical/skilled personnel, middle managers of enterprises, self-employed, and starting businessmen.

They are the majority in the community and not to mention the ones feeling the most pressure from work and society.

They use private cars or the metro as their mode of transport and occasionally ride the taxi as a last resort. Non-married Shanghainese white-collars have a carefree lifestyle. But once they get married, they start feeling the pressure from their children’s education, the mortgage, etc. As such, most white-collars go DINK (Dual Income, No Kids). Since high school, they have “branded” dreams–dream of getting the newest car models, gadgets, etc. At the same time, they look down on their fellow white-collars, preferring to speak in the local Shanghainese dialect as opposed to Mandarin. Their life is free and easy, oftentimes full of contradictions; but in reality they are the most not confident among the “7 social classes”. They like karaoke, eating out (they are in the know where is the newest restaurant in the block), and sometimes the 小资‘s like travelling around the country.

The non-Shanghainese white-collars are decidedly the most miserable. Their greatest dream is to buy their own house. They have a girlfriend for many years and live in a really small apartment (20sqm). Those younger than 30 years old are idealistic fellows. But once they reach 30, reality finally sinks in. They enjoy surfing the Internet, watching television, strolling along the park, sometimes spend the weekends in hotels, and treat friends for a meal.

Shanghainese white-collars live with their parents. Non-Shanghainese white collars rent apartments. On cases, they buy their own houses and pay the mortgage the majority of their lives. Once they grew old, they live with their kids and use their retirement fund to pay for the house’s bills.

IV. Middle Class

The starting annual salary for individuals is RMB 150,000 to 400,000. Annual household income is RMB 200,000 to 500,000. They also have RMB 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 in assets.

These are the executives of private enterprises, civil servants with “hidden” or “gray” incomes, senior technical staff, owners of private enterprises, and people in the performing arts.

They have a private car most probably in the RMB 100,000 to 200,000 level. On rare occasions, they would take the metro. And when chatting with friends, they like to complain about the traffic jam. Most of them are married, but some regret it. Either they already have extra-marital affairs or are prepared to have extra-marital affairs. The single ones have girlfriends but keep changing them. The women wants boy-friends but are not interested in boyfriends. The elders close to them are not their parents. The women close to them (the guys) are not their wives. Their mobiles phones are either busy or can not be reached. They could be in a meeting, are driving, or flying (in planes). Eating out is a form of entertainment (client lunches, dinner parties, etc.). Singing is a form of courtship (?) (抱妞). Looking for women is “work”. Looking for a wife is a “family responsibility”. The women are not “Misses”, rather they are 女强人 (strong women). From being meat-eaters, they become vegetarians. From driving their own cars, they turn to jogging instead. The Shanghainese do not like using their dialect. Instead, they speak in English. The outsiders, on the other hand, do not speak Mandarin. Instead, they like to use the Shanghai dialect.

Majority of these middle-class are in the process of paying for their homes. A few have their own 2-room houses already.

V. Wealthy Class (Millionaires)

Individual annual income is stable from RMB 400,000 to 2,000,000. Annual household income is stable from RMB 500,000 to 2,000,000. They have assets worth RMB 50,000,000.

These are the business owners and executives of really big corporations, celebrities, and the second-generation rich. As for non-Shanghainese, there are a few only.

They are high-end car-buyers. BMW’s and Mercedez Benz’s are status symbols. They have at least 2 cars. They do not need to work, and the majority of them are married (just waiting for the second, third, fourth marriage). Those who are not married would not get married at all. They start not looking for lovers anymore as they have mistresses instead. They start playing golf, take boating as a hobby, and listen to concerts. They rarely eat out as their mistresses will cook hotpot for them. They have 2 to 3 phones with one of the numbers only a few people know. They only use the Internet for work (not for entertainment) and occasionally watch television and read high-end magazines. After work, besides socializing in dinner parties and others, they go to their mistresses to relax. The women like going to salons and working out at the gym…and may start their menopause early.

They live in inner subdivisions and/or holiday villas.

VI. Wealthy Class (Billionaires)

They are at the top of the pyramid. Annual income is RMB 2,000,000 or more.

They are the entrepreneurs or those senior officials waiting for their retirement.

They have 3 to 5 cars, 3 to 5 businesses, and 3 to 5 mistresses or lovers. Majority of them are over 40 years old and married and would not divorce their wives because of a lover. They have extreme attitudes when it comes to work–they can be workaholics or do not like to work at all. But in terms of their emotional and spiritual health, they are unfortunately empty. Their family situation is also extreme–broken family, separated for many years or is together (looks good as the dead water on the surface). Half of their lives are in Shanghai, while they spend their other half abroad. Most of them have foreign green cards (or are permanent residents abroad). Their kids study in international schools. Wealth to them is nothing at all. They begin to have concern for the poor and charitable foundations. No phone numbers on business cards as most probably the number you know is just one in a dozen. They participate in fewer business meetings. They frequent golf clubs, yacht clubs, race courses, and other high-end places. Except for eating, going to the toilet, and sleeping, they have other people doing stuff for them. Some of them have 1 to 2 friends who really share a hobby or interest with them.

They live in inner subdivisions and villas. They might not even know how many houses they have all-in-all.

VII. The Reserved Wealthy

They never have to work a day in their lives or even feel the existence of money. They go everywhere, around the world. Their parents and/or them control Shanghai and/or China’s economy. They have a say in its financial direction.

They have every material item to their beckoning. But they would never drive a BMW or Mercedes Benz. They have servants to cook for them. They eat out only at 5-star hotels. And they do their shopping abroad like Hong Kong or Thailand.

They do not look much differently from ordinary people. They do not have a must-go place or a must-do thing-to-do. But they also can not go to a lot of places, can not do a lot of stuff. They have a lot of money and a lot of time in their hands. Their actions affect the fifth and sixth groups.

They live in the Xintiandi area or the old-fashioned mansions in Binjiang District. Most of the property are not in their name, but they are the actual owners.

Chinese Squat Toilet

This is not a how-to guide to using the toilet in China (though the title might hint otherwise). But in order for a man to live properly (take note–properly and not necessarily comfortably), he needs at least 3 things: food, bed, and toilet.

In any place I go to, I always make it a point to check out the toilet; because toilets are, after all, a necessity of life. And I guess for foreigners visiting China for the first time, one of the most important Chinese terms to learn is 洗手间 (xishoujian) which stands for “washroom”.

Another Chinese term to learn is 厕所 (cesuo) which means “toilet”. However, a tour guide shared with me that the word itself is not exactly the most proper term to use. I guess what she means is for a girl like me to enunciate. How ironic, as I have been using that term since forever with my Chinese teachers in grade school up until high school.

I learned recently that there is another more polite toilet phrase to use. 我要唱歌 (wo yao changge). I want to sing a song.

At first I thought she was pulling my leg, as tour guides normally do. But even people in the Internet are talking about it, so I guess there should be some truth to it.

The story goes  like this–

A little boy and his grandmother are going to a formal dinner party somewhere. In order for the grandson not to embarrass himself, the grandmother taught him to tell her “I want to sing” instead of “I want to pee” if he needs to go. The grandchild behaved as he was told to do so and earned the praise of his grandmother. That same day, in the middle of the night, the little boy suddenly felt the urge to use the toilet. He went to his grandmother and informed her, “Grandma, I want to sing, I want to sing.” Still groggy from her sleep and could not understand why her grandson would want to sing in the middle of the night, she told him, “Ok, well then just do it ever so softly in my ear.”

And well, we all know what happens next.

Another story goes like this–

Way, way before in the mountainous areas, the toilet system is very simple. They just dug a pit with wooden frames above for squatting purposes. There is a curtain covering the area, but of course there is no lock. Since both men and women share the toilet, people using it sing to inform those waiting outside that there is somebody inside. And I guess you could say the tradition stuck.

As the forumer noted, the words 唱歌 (changge) “sing a song” and 歌厅 (geting) “karaoke hall” came from the Yunnan; Guangxi; and Xiangxi provinces. [The tour guide who told me this story came from Guangxi.]

This is interesting as China is a very big country, and I think there are different ways of saying you want to go to the toilet wherever you are in the Mainland. At least in colloquial terms. I have never encountered the phrase in Beijing nor in Shanghai.

But one thing is for sure–another toilet speak I can say everyone in China is familiar with is 拉肚子 (laduzi) or “diarrhea”. I first used this term in Shanghai during my language study. [Ok, not use as in "use". But darn it, everyone dishes this out freely.]

I guess you could say there is something comforting with the term laduzi. The slang isn’t as horrible as it sounds in the English language. I mean, just the thought of saying you have diarrhea out loud is embarrassing enough as it is. However, if you announce to your friends and colleagues you have laduzi, they seem to even sympathize you. It actually sounds…funny, cute, or silly. Now I am left wondering which I like more–”singing a song” or laduzi. With a country that has 5000 years of squatting history, both of them sounds just right.

Do you know of any other useful local toilet slang in China?

On the 3rd of August in Hebei Province, at the Shijiazhuang Ring Road Bus No. 1, a 70-year old grandfather with a cane stepped inside to take the public transport. At that time, the bus is already full of people. Many were already standing.

Two youngsters in front stood up to give their sit to the elderly. Who would have thought–the old man just waved no thanks to them and walked straight to the back. He saw a seat which was occupied by a little girl and requested her to let him sit instead. The girl was wearing headphones and apparently was listening to music.

Seeing the girl made no response whatsoever, the old man pushed the girl and reacted loudly, “What bad manners! An old person is in front of you, and you do not automatically understand that you should give up your seat. What kind of upbringing is this?!”

After being pushed, the girl removed her headphones and realized what just happened. “What did you push me for?! Can you not say it a nice and proper way? Besides, were there not some people who gave up their seats for you in front?”

Unnerved at the girl’s tough attitude, the old man sat down on the girls legs instead. The girl was taken aback that she pushed the old man away angrily and took out her cellphone ready to dial 110.

Fortunately, the passenger beside her was able to hold on to the old man; so he did not fall to the ground. At that point, the driver stopped the bus at the curb while many of the passengers scurried out. Then that was the time the argument between the old man and the young girl stopped.

Reactions online–

The old man did not mean what he did. But this is just plain exaggerated!

Obviously they are a bunch of rogues. The Public Security Bureau should punish this sort of people.

Don’t know what they’re thinking–it’s all very silly.

So far, it seems that many agree that the old man was wrong–

Little Girl vs Old Man

But it does get a little frustrating when people do not give up their seat to those in need. The rule is (as it is repeatedly reminded in the bus and metro) to let those in need seat first. By “in need”, it means the elderly, the weak, and the pregnant.

Not wanting to sound self-righteous, admittedly, it is not in China that I “learned” that sometimes you should be “selfish” when it comes to taking the public transport. Though it is in China that I first used the phrase “fight for your seat”. So childish of me, I know. People really push you around, so I justify “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

What are your views on this?

As a student in Shanghai, I got used to hearing the term laowai (because of the number of 外国人 in the city). Probably the most neutral way to explain the word is that it is a term for a foreigner in China.

I have always thought that “laowai” is a term of endearment made by the Chinese to foreigners. It was just recently that I learned that some feel that the term is condescending. Check this blog post by Tom Vamvanij on the myth that won’t go away.

I would not go on a lengthy discussion on what I personally think of the word anymore, because then I would be part of the group engaged in this never ending debate. Instead I turned the table around and just asked some Chinese friends on their thoughts on the term.

Me: What do you think of the word “laowai”?

Chinese friend: It is a very colloquial term. Other than that, I do not know what else to think.

Me: Oh! So would you call me “laowai”?

Chinese friend: No, I would not; because we are already familiar with each other.

Me: I thought using the word “laowai” is a term of endearment. Like if the 2 persons are very close.

Chinese friend: This is hard to explain. However, generally, Europeans and Americans are the laowai. Asians are not really referred to as laowai.

I had this thinking that “laowai” is reserved for males. So–

Me: What if the foreigner is a European/American girl? Will you call her “laowa”i?

Chinese friend: This is not clear to me as well. Maybe if we are not close, I will probably call her “laowai”. But normally, I do not have this habit of calling foreigners “laowai”. Foreigners and Chinese are all the same to me.

I made a mistake of asking a Hong Kong resident.

Chinese HK friend: I call foreigners 外国人.

Me: You do not call them “laowai”? Why is that?

Chinese HK friend: There is no why. We just do not have that term in the Cantonese dialect.

And finally–

Me: What is the term “laowai” to you?

Chinese friend: Ah?! You want me to explain that in Chinese?!

Me: Sure, why not.

Chinese friend: Ok–”laowai” is what the Chinese refer to those from outside the country. It simply means foreigners.

Me: Is there a negative connotation to it?

Chinese friend: Generally, we Chinese use “laowai” to call foreigners. There is no bad meaning to it.

Me: So would you call me a “laowai”?

Chinese friend: Of course not. I know your name, so I would call you using your name. But then for example I am on the streets with someone else, we would whisper, “Hey, look at that laowai…” It just means we know he or she is not Chinese.

Me: Is that so? Because I have been hearing/reading stuff that some foreigners do not like the Chinese to refer to them as “laowai”.

Chinese friend: *laughs* Maybe it is because they think the term is anti-foreigner. But really, there is no negative connotation to it. However, it also depends on the situation. Privately, for simplicity’s sake, we use “laowai”. Other words to use are 外国人 (waiguoren) or 外宾 (waibin).

So, what do you think of the term “laowai” now? I think some people are just being paranoid.

Ok, that’s a mean way of saying it. But anyway, let’s proceed.

My Latvian classmate in Fudan is a volunteer, like me, at the World Expo. She at the Latvian Pavilion. And I at the Philippine Pavilion. So as fellow volunteers, we can relate to each other when we talk about the Expo horrors we encounter with our pavilion visitors who are majority Chinese.

I love China and the Chinese people. Let’s be clear on that, but I just had to laugh when she said that the Chinese are robots.

Me: Why is that?

Yana: Well, you’ve been to our pavilion right? [Editor's Note: More on the Latvian Pavilion very, very soon. But in the meantime, read about it in Adam Minter's Shanghai Scrap.] So I assist them in the computer raffle. And they’re very excited, you know. But most of them DO NOT EVEN KNOW WHAT THE COMPUTER RAFFLE IS ALL ABOUT [Yana was sounding very exasperated already.] And when we tell them that they have won, they don’t know why they won. They can’t connect the computer raffle with winning. The Chinese just think automatically. Go with the flow, because everyone’s doing the computer raffle.

Now you know why the Chinese do better in TOEFL and other standardized exams. [Gaokao was just over weeks ago, by the way.]

[Yana concludes.]

I was reminded of this after reading Dan Harris in his China Law Blog. He quoted Modern Lei Feng on why China can not form a world-class soccer team. Here it is:

Soccer Can’t Be Taught. ‘The sports China excels in, ping pong, badminton, diving, weightlifting, etc., are all sports that are focused on a repetitive motion. Practicing the same motions 1,000 times a day, day in day out will perfect your skills and lead to success. Soccer doesn’t work that way, it isn’t possible to “teach” the game in the same way. Players need to be creative, anticipating not only what the opponent will do but what their teammates will do, and everyone needs to work together as a team, not just 11 individuals. In China, more often than not, the team’s play a rigid form of soccer, lacking the creativity and the flair you see elsewhere in the world, and when players display that flair, it often fails because teammates don’t expect it. Young Chinese talent needs to go overseas to train and play against other people, to build up that mental database of different ways to play and different systems.”

So are Chinese robots? You decide.

One of the themes of the US Pavilion is the involvement of Chinese-Americans in the society of the United States. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton highlights this in her opinion-editorial piece at Global Times.

She mentions both the more famous ones…

One of the most moving exhibits they will find there is dedicated to the millions of Chinese-Americans who have contributed so much to the cultural and economic development of the United States. From Yo-Yo Ma to I.M. Pei to my Cabinet colleagues Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Chinese-Americans have achieved great success in business, government, the arts and sciences.

…and the rest of the Chinese-Americans in general.

But at the US Pavilion, we also celebrate the lives and contributions of all the Chinese- Americans whose names are unlikely to ever end up in the newspapers. Thousands of them have sent photographs and testimonials documenting the Chinese experience in the US, parents and children, teachers and students, small business owners and hardworking professionals – a true pageant of American life.

Probably the largest cultural group in the world are the Chinese. This is because an indication of cultural survival is the continued use of traditional language and dialects, and Mandarin has the largest number of native speakers in the world. You would be surprised to know that English ranks only third.

Joy Luck Club

The Chinese diaspora began many years ago. This mass emigration mainly occurred in the 19th century to 1949 due to harsh lifestyles and political unrest in the Mainland. Many of these oversease Chinese have established themselves in specialized industries in the places they are residing. For example, Southeast Asian Chinese have made a name for themselves in the field of business. And like Clinton mentioned, Chinese-Americans (generally North American Chinese) are known in the arts, academics, and sciences.

However, the one thing I noticed is that even with this worldwide diaspora, the Chinese relate to each other more in terms of ethnicity rather than nationality. For example, one is not just an American. Even if you are not ethnic Chinese (meaning you are “mixed-blood”), you are still Chinese-American. Think “Joy Luck Club”. [This is my observation only from my interactions. Feel free to contradict.]

Going back to Hillary Clinton, it’s interesting to note how she bridged the Sino-American relations through their people (and emphasized heavily on it in fact). In one of the videos showing inside the US Pavilion, she described the United States of America as a “nation of immigrants”. I wonder how other mass-Chinese-immigrated countries are taking this topic (or if they are taking it at all) especially that the main visitor to their pavilions are the native Chinese themselves.

But then, I think this has also something to do with how assimilated a Chinese-[insert nationality] is with their surrounding Chinese community and China. Intermarriages are common in the United States whereas maintaning a communal identity among themselves is still regarded as important in other overseas Chinese communites.

Aside from the architecture-and-learning-from-each-other’s-culture publicity, the World Expo can be seen like a Chinese homecoming of sorts. It is when the younger generation touches down to their ethnic roots and discover more about themselves.

Last year, I read about the homeland tours where Chinese orphanage adoptees from the United States are encouraged to come to China so that they could simply connect to their “homeland”.

That term again–”homeland”. What is home and homeland? Relative terms which I think are subject to debate.

Examples–

This is so-and-so food…with CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS.

That movie was okay. Though it has lots of CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS.

This music…can’t you hear the CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS?

Ugh! I can’t take those CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS.

Let’s tweak the CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS into something else.

Seriously, from the above sentences, could you extract the meaning of CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS? I looked it up in Google. Even they gave me automatic answers like “internet with Chinese characteristics” (interesting how is that), and Chengdu Living wrote a post entitled “The Cliche Generation with Chinese Characteristics”. Some excerpts from that post–

The 90后 love to have fun and ridicule the Party for the old, plodding dinosaur that it is, but as we all know in the US, this adoration of the Cliche as a means for rebellion leads to couch-surfing and a slow but final dis-engagement from civil society….The older generations tend to see the 90后 as empty people who want to have the best looking cell phone and the coolest fashions with the least amount of responsibility. These kids need to be entertained, the old folks say, or they get bored and do nothing. Foreign media have tried to understand this group of kids and pigeonhole them as best they can, but the real truth is they cannot be categorized and that is why they will have more success than any other generation in changing China.

Hmmm…that post enlightened me, I think, on what Chinese Characterisitics are. So I searched Wikipedia for another definition.

Wiki has “Socialism with Chinese characteristics”.

“Socialism with Chinese characteristics” is an official term for the economy of the People’s Republic of China which as of 2009 consists of the state having ownership of a large fraction of the Chinese economy, while at the same time having all entities participate within a market economy. This is a form of a socialist market economy and differs from market socialism and mixed economy in that while the state retained ownership of large enterprises, it should not use this ownership to intervene to change prices which are set by the market.

I wonder if you could associate “Chinese characteristics” with those memes that start with “You know you are Chinese if…”. And there are a lot of these online!

Here’s a blog post about marketing foreign brands with Chinese characteristics.

Could you boil down “Chinese characteristics” into one single entity? In this essay, Joseph S. Wu attempts to do so. He takes a fairly academic approah to it. Like somehow feeding the Chinese stereotype. But it’s weird actually–when I talk amongst my friends, something with Chinese characteristics is met with knowing laughter. Though I’m not really sure if we’re all talking about the same “Chinese characteristics”.

I’m just thinking–it’s pretty ironic that a country with billions of people would be constrained to the “Chinese characteristics”. Or not. China is a different world on its own. If you remove the “Chinese characteristics” in one thing, what is it left to it then?