TripDingo

Foreigners tend to fall into two categories when it comes to their preconceived notions of China. On one end, they think China is still some horrid backwards country mired in oppressive totalitarian communism. On the other end, you have those who see a picture of Shanghai’s Pudong skyline and marvel at how fantastically modern China has suddenly–and magically–become.

The former comes to China and pretty much sees everything as a confirmation of their prejudices. They usually cannot help but feel profoundly superior to the locals and natives of China. The men, at most, might help themselves to the many pretty young things as their wallets overflow from an advantageous exchange rate. The women, however threatened they feel by a nation full of women several sizes smaller and oh-so-exotic, console themselves with their false prudish civility.

The latter comes to China and is almost instantly disappointed by how right the former was. “Dear God,” they say to themselves, as they witness migrant workers beneath the gleaming steel and glass skyscrapers hock a fat chunk of phlegm onto the sidewalk. They watch the mob rush to get on the subway before letting anyone in the subway get out first and are appalled by the lack of logic or common decency. They line up at McDonald’s only to be utterly disgusted when a local cuts right in front of them and places an order with no regard whatsoever to those waiting.

If you’re lucky, these foreigners will have the decency to be politically correct and try to offer some positives to their experience. If you’re not, then you just have to put up with their douchebaggery until you can offload them.

Yet, do the foreigners really have the wrong perceptions of China?

To some degree, we can blame some for sheer utter ignorance. The former group, those who persist in thinking China is some third-world country totally devoid of any freedoms, opportunities, or smiles certainly qualifies as simply being uninformed to the point of idiocy. The latter, we can blame them for being so barren of any historical context that they’re foolish children for buying into propogandic postcard imagery. 

But, the interesting thing about China is that it lives up to both conceptions. It is both incredibly modern…and incredibly not. It is a place where technology has outstripped society. You have five star hotels and high-speed magnetic levitation trains but you also have rampant littering and the lack of service culture. China can look good from afar, as a whole, but don’t look too close. Admire the economic growth, the advancements in technology, or the shiny new buildings…but don’t look too close. If you do, you’ll see the disparate growth, the pirated technology, and the poor quality of contractors who cut corners and construction workers who only understand “good enough” and not “just right.”

China is not a country of abject poverty and repressed citizenry. Nor is China a land where the exotic, mystical past meet a cutting-edge modernity. 

China is a place of change and contrasts. Both good and bad. For better and for worse.