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By Ben Weyman, Class of 2013
As we soon depart China, I decided to take a look at our trip through this country by examining the things that I really enjoyed, as well as some of the things that I was not as fond of here.
The Good
The title of this post is a little misleading because I am going to devote much of this blog only to the things that I have truly enjoyed here in China. First and foremost are the many historic and cultural sites that we have visited in our time here. From the Pearl Tower and Cemetery of Martyrs in Shanghai to the Terra Cotta Soldiers and Great Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi’an, and finally, to places like the Great Wall, Temple of Heaven, and Summer Palace in Beijing, China has supplied a great many places to visit, each of which was special for its own reasons.
In Shanghai we were able to go to one of the tallest towers in the world (the Oriental Pearl Tower) and stare down to the ground from an observation deck with a glass floor. We were able to go to a street full of antique (and some not so antique) shops to buy trinkets. I saw one of the most extraordinary shows that I have ever witnessed in the Shanghai Acrobatic Show. Most importantly, though, we were able to attend class and interact with Chinese students and talk with them about political issues ranging from the possibility of democracy taking root in China, how the issues surrounding Taiwan may be resolved, the appointment of the new leaders in China, and our own political and electoral process.
Beijing offered more attractions than we could possibly see in the short time we were there. Two days at the Summer Palace allowed me to see some of the palace complex, including the marble boat that is docked there, and some incredible architectural designs, especially in bridges; that was not nearly enough time for me as I still did not see at least half of the giant complex. Our trip to the Great Wall was incredible, and I am still astounded by the size and length of the Wall as well as the ambition that must have been required to undertake such a project. Hongqiao Pearl Market was both one of the most rewarding and most frustrating shopping experiences I have ever had. I feel like I was able to buy a lot of things that I really wanted for a very good price, but the process of haggling to reach those bargains was often overly elaborate and exhausting.
Throughout all of China, we have also been able to see many temples and other religious structures. For a nation whose professed religious ideals do not extend past Confucian philosophical teachings, there are a great number of grand and beautiful temples, including the Great Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi’an, the Jade Buddha Temple in Shanghai, and the Lama Temple and Temple of Heaven in Beijing. Each of these temples was impressive and is even more so when you consider that they are not and have never been supported by a majority of the Chinese population.
One of the great overarching themes of my experience in China was just experiencing the sheer size of everything. In Shanghai there were malls that grew to six and seven stories situated right next to another mall of the same size that was next to yet another mall. The city itself can only be described as sprawling. From the top of the Pearl Tower, we still could not see the end of the city in any direction. I realize that the city did in fact come to an end at some point, but it became increasingly difficult to visualize that end. The Great Wall was the same. While we were driving to the Wall and once we were on it, it became difficult to even think that there had to be an ending point and a starting point. Even outside of these, there were many things in China that were impressive simply in the fact that they were so massive. At the Lama Temple, there was a statue of Buddha that stood over 25 meters and was carved from a single sandalwood tree. At the Pearl Market there was an entire floor devoted solely to selling pearls. The thing that I will remember most about China is the immensity of its structures.
The Bad
Considering the great cultural and historical items discussed above, it is reasonable to assume that a “Chinese” culture would be readily apparent. In many cases, though, this was not true. Very often it appeared that people in China would use American or Western things simply because that is the more popular option here. We frequently passed people on the street who were wearing clothes with English words or letters that were simply jumbled together. I remember passing one person who was wearing a Boston Red Sox hat with a New York Yankees jersey, clearly oblivious to what those things actually were. Even the cultural and historical sites seemed like purely tourist attractions to the Chinese themselves, as if they had lost their actual cultural value. In an international relations class that I took last semester, we talked about American “soft power,” especially when looking at China. In class we said that one of America’s greatest strengths on the international stage (and one of China’s greatest weaknesses) was the fact that the people of other countries would rather be like us and embrace our culture than their own. In class I was actually very skeptical about this idea, especially with regard to China, where there is such a rich history that it would be unnecessary to use someone else’s. However, everything that I have seen in China supports the claim put forth in class. If America’s greatest strength and China’s greatest weakness comes from soft power, then from everything I have observed, America really could not have any more of an advantage.
The Ugly
Even despite this apparent cultural apathy, there was really only one thing that I would file as a genuine complaint against China: the pollution. We talked in class here about how China is one of the least environmentally friendly places in the world, and I think you would be very hard-pressed to find a location more devastated by pollution. With a couple notable exceptions, the sky has been a greyish-brown color the entire time in Beijing, and the smog has actually cut visibility by miles. I did not realize how bad the smog actually was until it cleared up temporarily after a rainstorm and I saw that we were actually surrounded by mountains that had been invisible the day before. Even just walking long distances is more difficult in China than at home because it is so much harder to breathe the air here. I am not normally an advocate for placing the environment first on a policy checklist, but in China it is a real and serious problem that needs to be dealt with quickly.
Now we are getting ready to head back to the States, and, while I will definitely be glad to be home, I will miss the historical sites, the food, and the friends that we made here.
Now we are getting ready to head back to the States, and, while I will definitely be glad to be home, I will miss the historical sites, the food, and the friends that we made here.
Ben Weyman, from Alexandria, Ky., is a senior McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville and is currently studying in the People's Republic of China. He is majoring in political science and history.