Conclusions: TIC.

At last we arrive at the end of my time in China, and the end of this travel journal and essays. Although “How was China?” is far and beyond the most common question I received when returning Stateside, I also had to ask myself, “What is China?”

During the middle of the semester, we watched the movie Blood Diamond. Although focusing on African conflict diamonds, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character used one line my roommate Christian rehashed. “TIA,” remarked DiCaprio, “This is Africa.” Christian quickly adapted the line “TIC–This is China.” A facebook group quickly followed, and I will let the description speak for itself.

Every walk down the street and see a bike stacked with numerous barrels of old trash? Do you regularly buy yams on the street? Are you more worried about being hit by bikers than cars? Does a sketchy guy sell you meet on a stick, and you like it? Does your haircut come with a happy ending? No elevators in your hotel? No deodorant in the supermarket? No Wikipedia?

This Is China, mate. Better get used to it. In America its bling-bling, over here, the bling is fake and shouldn't cost you more than 20 kuai.

So enjoy China, buy your meat on a stick, drink alcohol out on the street and set off your fireworks. And if you see something strange, just remind yourself, "T.I.C."

Quickly, this became the shorthand for anything out of the ordinary, impressive, or frustrating about China. (At some of our worse moments, it was suggested it be replaced by TFC–This Freaking Country). In a scary moment, I was heading to dinner with some German students I had met at Model U.N., and, prompted by the bad traffic, one muttered, “TIA.” What? He continued: “This is Asia.” From an American Movie, about South Africa, seen by Germans, in China, applied to Asia–the exact same line used by American students in China as well. Whoa.

I recall bristling at the notion that I would somehow become “multicultural” when I left; I remember thinking, I like being a midwestern American! I still do, but near the end of the trip, as I was walking back to my hotel after mailing some of my stuff back to America, I realized that I actually knew far mor than I would have thought. In the space of an afternoon, I had packed my stuff, found a taxi, directed the taxi to the Post Office (the location of which he did not know) using limited Chinese and hand signals, mailed the stuff to the U.S., and walked back to my hotel, all without breaking a sweat. I daresay I would never have had the ability or the motivation to try even half of this when I arrived. Perhaps there is more to this than I thought.

So what is China, exactly?

• The most populous nation in the world, with an ethnic majority comprising 91% of the population.

No matter what your background, you were either white and western, or Chinese. As me, Mr. America, was consistently mistaken for being a red-bleached native, every person of non-Chinese descent was spoken to in the same language: English. Practical? Yeah, probably. Frustrating? Definitely.

• A nation experiencing a resurgence of Nationalism.

Although understudied, this is perhaps one of the key factors to consider when examining China and the Chinese psyche today. Nationalism, by definition, requires a nation, and China was not a nation in the classic nation-state mold until 1912, when the last Imperial Dynasty fell and the Republic of China was formed. Today, after only fifty four years as the People’s Republic of China, the nation has a short history, but chock full of fascinating events.

Used to being the “middle kingdom” (which translation, “zhongguo,” literally means China), China suffered a string of defeats at the hand of technologically and militarily superior forces starting in the mid 1700s, exemplified by the Opium War, where the British Navy more or less singlehandedly defeated the entire Chinese military. More recently, the Japanese invasion and continued tension is another example of the “humiliation” China continues to experience. This mindset goes a long way to explaining China.

A case in point is the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade. Whether it was a mistake or not, China could interpret the bombing in one way: a blatant attempt for the U.S. to use its military might to once again “humiliate” China and put down the nation. Peking University students, it must be noted, once again led the charge for reform, culminating in a thousand-strong march through the streets of Beijing to protest outside the American Embassy. Ironically, most of those thousands of students went back to studying for the U.S. GRE test, and applying for a U.S. visa the next day.

As I alluded to, most Chinese I met are atheistic. I cannot help but wonder if their need to believe in something, to find a meaning for life, is expressed in their belief in themselves as a people–as Chinese.

• A communist nation.

Despite the “capitalism and democracy lite” that the government impresses on you, this is first and foremost an authoritarian government that effectively controls the political and most of the economic institutions in this nation. Most of the stories I covered earlier in the short essays.

• A nation where, despite the image of a“communal” culture, personal survival can sometimes be emphasized at the expense of the common good.

This maxim came in handy in Shanghai, when we stopped a robbery. No kidding: we were walking across a street, and noticed a man walking his bike across the street. No, strike that, we noticed the man next to the man on the bike, who was crouching down, and clearly attempting to pull something out of the bag on the bike. And we, the Americans, had to shout and scare him off. Later, Steve’s Chinese girlfriend noted that we shouldn’t have done that–after all, he might have had a knife!

• A nation of both a repressed economy still controlled by the central government, and the purest form of capitalism known to man.

I realized finally about a month in why the Chinese storekeepers are so persistent and annoying. This is the only way they can make a sale. Because every single product is exactly the same, from store to store, city to city, a personal appeal by the shopkeeper–or sales clerk–is the only way to earn the sale. That being said, when in Xian and browsing through the shops, the absolute best storekeeper was the lady who simply welcomed us to her store and let us browse silently.

• A nation where, despite the reputation for the more “genteel” culture, personal manners can easily fall by the wayside.

It struck me at dinner with my parents, about four months into my time in Chian, just how much China had destroyed my table manners. During the course of dinner at a fancy restaurant, where distinguished guests such as Henry Kissinger had ate, I achieved the following:

▸ Shouting across the room at a fuwuyuan.
▸ Blowing my nose into my napkin.
▸ Pulling the breading for the Peking Duck out of the dish with my hands.
▸ Eating directly off of the serving tray, bypassing my plate.
▸ Grabbed at the food the moment it arrived at the table, instead of waiting for it.
▸ Holding my fork with my fist, instead of properly between my forefingers.

The sad thing is, it took me halfway through the meal to realize this, I had become so accustomed to eating this way. Ah, China.

• A nation where, all this considered, one can still find moments of personal gratification.

Two moments stood out for me. The first came in Tibet, when in a fast food restaurant I was, once again, spoken to in Chinese. I responded in English, and instead of laughing, the girl working the counter smiled and proceeded in English. After ordering, she politely asked where I was from, and we held a nice short conversation about where I was living, the fact I was South Korean, and even out of courtesy switched back to what I knew of Chinese for her sake.

The second moment came at the very end, the last night in Shanghai with my family. In the bathroom, waiting to wash my hands, as usual, several Chinese cut in front of me. This is not uncommon, and certainly I was used to it. I evil-eyed them, and to their credit, instead of turning back and ignoring me, they moved away and let me move forward. Amazing.

• A nation that is still one of the most fascinating nations on earth.

Despite the sour tone, I enjoyed my time in China very much. As the third largest, and most populous, China is huge, and encompasses dozens and dozens of distinct cultures, people, and ways of life. With a history stretching back thousands of years, America is very much a young child in the long run. Yes, as I like to point out, we do have twelve aircraft carriers and effective nuclear supremacy over China, but I would be foolish to ignore the inherent power of China in the future. The men and women I met were, mostly, polite, friendly, unfailingly curious, and unerringly hard working–although I certainly met my share of denigrates, con men, and rude people. It is a nation of fascinating history and inherent beauty, and some of the most disgusting locales I’ve seen in a long time. So, what is China? Well, dare I say it, This is . . .