Ok, it's hard to put your ear to the ground and get the real skinny on what people are thinking in countries so far away from your every day experience.Here in Shanghai, talking to so many of the "best and brightest" yuppie business students over the years, in a country that espouses uniform educational resources and official government compliance to certain schools of "thought", you get to hear many of the same things over and over ad nauseum. Ironically, these things may be the "harmonious" party line, or they may be thought of as original thinking, but the truth is, it's always the same old song and dance.
As the Yiddish proverb states, "To a worm in horseradish, the whole world is horseradish".
At risk of seeming judgmental, I will instead attempt to describe the most common observations, opinions and reactions from the students themselves. Believe me - I've heard 'em all many, many times. This is not to say enlightened thought is nonexistant in China. Not at all. It is only to say that projecting one's own cultural sensitivity and relativistic regard onto the motives of others is sometimes as useful as sporting a partyhat in a petard fight.
[Now to add my personal value judgments from a sociological and psychological standpoint:]
Add to this the psychosocial effects of:
1. Information management & highly attuned perception management (delusion, brainwashing, etc)
2. Individual-invalidation and the need to continually reaffirm one's perceptions at others' expense
3. The Us-Against-Them foreigner dog and pony show - smiles, people!
4. Static concepts of Perfect Statehood
5. An unwillingness to criticize or self-examine or speak up in a group against offenders - let alone take action.
6. Lack of intellectual accountability / Diffusion of responsibility ("Mobthink") / the classroom option of tuning out without performance.
7. Social identity built upon the loadbearing Great Wall of racial discrimination
8. Unawareness of cultural biases
9. Social conformity reinforcement by mocking all difference
10. Anomie and opaque legal system / panopticon enforcement of authority / Rule of rationalization (not rationality) / asset vaporizing / no fundamental right to property/profit/home ownership.
11. Learned helplessness / apathy (flat affect)
13. Passivity and passive aggression as coping methods
14. Arrested development in the infantile "my world" stage
15. Single child spoiling
16. Communist "I want something for nothing" entitlement mentality
17. Unchallenged ethnonarcissism
18. Minds rigid with stereotype and fixed perceptions (i.e., all Chinese must be right-handed and heterosexual)
19. Scarcity mentality (One of the sacrosanct 36 strategies: grub every cent humanly possible)
20. Fundamental insecurity of collectivism that fuels inferiority/superiority complex
21. The antithesis of Zen's open-minded inquiry, which can only be characterized as the "seizing mind" - bending experience to rigid, pre-existing, self-serving concepts. Tea cup already full, and judging the teamaster's blend before it's even poured.
...And you are living during interesting times.
Conversely, some (many) will assume a norm where one doesn't exist at all; and you get a lot of varied opinions on topics, each one supposedly a commonly-held belief or "truism". I wish I had a kuai for every time I heard a conflicting stereotype about China.
Me being foreign, my opinion is of course invalid. My observations questionable, usually attributed to a "culture shock", since even us old hands are obviously little more than tourists - despite our ethnic family ties and years of residence. It's amazing we can even use chopsticks! But if there's one consensus I've heard, it's that anything that doesn't place China and the Chinese in the position of racial superiority and entitlement, it must be "racist". Meanwhile, my students elegantly avoid actual examination by someone who is a) educated, b) a critical thinker, and c) has actually lived in both countries usually being compared (US and China).
The best, most passionate, most erudite, socially-responsible, vocal teachers - never last. They are not tolerated and soon find themselves squeezed out. It is those of us who relax all academic standards, who smile while ignoring insult, who are not too physically atypical, and who don't care too much, who succeed. Especially those curiosities who speak the language!
In China, being seen as right is always more important than being right.
Negative outgroup bias and confirmation bias are the watchwords for what passes for classroom discussion. "If it's from a different culture, it's obviously inferior"; and "The only things I want to know about your foreign country are confirmations of my prejudices. I do NOT want my perceptions challenged, nor am I the least bit curious about the reality of the very different world with which I am utterly unfamiliar, but believe I understand completely." Any insistence upon challenging those perceptions will most likely be met with incredulity or fuming resentment.
So please allow me to write a few things which I've heard repeatedly from my Shanghai adult business students over the past five years:I've often heard:
China is safe.
China is safer than the US.
The US is more racist than China.
China isn't racist.
Chinese aren't racist.
I hate the Japanese!
Chinese always work hard.
Chinese food is the healthiest in the world.
The US media is nothing but propaganda.
Tienanmen Square 1989 was an incident of student violence that was restored to peaceful order.
I would like to go to the US to observe some technology and bring it back.
Americans hate their parents.
Chinese love their families (foreigners don't).
Foreigners hate Chinese.
Shanghai is better than US cities.
Watch? Bag? DVD?
China is a better place to work than the US.
The world should change to Chinese for international language.
China education system is equal but the US is not.
China is free, the US is not.
Foreigners, ha ha (followed by racist bemusement).
Smoking everywhere is normal.
The government will fix it. It's the government's responsibility.
China is better than the US for living
Chinese food is the best in the world.
Hashish?
You are wrong, what really happened was...
Perhaps you just misunderstood, they were just being friendly/wanted to sell you something
Oh you are paranoid.
Computer?
Chinese love foreigners.
Chinese are never rude.
Chinese are never rude to foreigners on the street. (Perhaps you misunderstood the language).
You are very lucky to be in China.
Massage?
You have many more opportunities in China.
I want to travel around the world. Of course I want to come back to China.
Foreigners are foreign even in their own countries. Chinese are not foreign anywhere, they are Chinese.
What job do I want? I want a high salary job.
The government would tell us.
Rolex?
You just can't understand Chinese news.
Chinese is more difficult than any other language on Earth.
English is easy. I very like it.
Which is the right word? Right or correct?
They were compensated fairly.
Yellow DVD.
Chinese always...
You're fat, ha ha.
It's boring.
Melamine isn't bad for you.
Lead paint isn't bad for you.
It's not the milk company's fault.
It's not my responsibility.
Watch. Bag. DVD.
Foreign cities are dirtier than Shanghai. (Wow, good luck with all that).
America is worse at (insert aptitude or injustice here)
Of course China is the best _______.
Rolex?
Foreigners are racist against Chinese.
Foreigners always hate Chinese.
Foreigners love to go to the tourist spots, ha ha.
Foreigners are wasteful.
Where are you from? (Crossing the street or in the elevator)
Foreign company cultures are ridiculous.
Foreign companies are racist, they don't let Chinese in high positions.
I want to use my company's technology and make my own company.
I would take any bribe!
You are so white!
I love white babies!
Watch? Hello, watch?
You are great!
You are so strong!
You are rich!
You must love living in China!
Black people are (I can't bring myself to finish this one, sorry).
I hate the French store
I love the French store
Massage?
Chinese women don't smoke.
Chinese aren't fat.
Chinese are good at cheating people; they are so clever.
There are no gays in China. (Yeah tell it to the metrosexual mall cadre "casually leaning" sneaking phone pics at the urinals).
He's not gay. He has a girlfriend. He's not staring at your member (every day), he's just curious about your body because you're foreign.
What do Americans eat for breakfast? What time do they wake up?
Western media hates China.
Animal.
Foreigners are dirty. They wear their shoes in the house. (Um, streets not full of shit, thanks).
You are foreign, you are lazy (ok, more often implied than mentioned).
You are up so early for a foreigner! (What? I was just being nice).
Look, foreigner!
Don't be obvious, but there's a foreigner behind you! (Turn, giggle, talk)
(Upon seeing a foreigner) Foreigners are... I went to a foreign place...Foreign this and that....
Foreigners care about philosophy, Chinese care about reality.
American food is KFC, McDonald's and Pizza Hut. We have that. Chinese food is better.
Religions are superstitious, ha ha.
Luck is the most important to be successful. Luck is more important than persistance or relationships.
The customer is god.
Money is god.
Of course if they have a beautiful picture on their resume it will help. The world is beautiful.
White devil.
Chinese medicine doesn't work on foreigners.
Coffee is bad for Asians.
I have no choice.
You watch TV every day. You are addicted to TV.
China has never done wrong to another country.
What happens in Africa is not China's business. We respect other cultures, unlike "American".
Chinese culture is being invaded by foreign culture.
Foreign holidays are just regular days. Spring festival is special. It's a new year! It's a time to pray for fortune, money and luck.
It's not my fault. It was...
It's not China's fault. It was...
You said ni hao. Oh your Chinese is SO GOOD!!!
Watch? Bag? DVD? Hello! Rolex!
And the most telling....
I can't.
Note that "Chinese" and "foreign" are by default a part of nearly every conversation or social interaction, whether mentioned or quietly employed as a filter to discount your observations. The interaction cannot stand without the discrimination. Race is the only issue, where foreigners are concerned.
And the phrases I have never heard?
- I don't know.
- It's my fault.
- If I could just interrupt
- Let me find out for you.
- No, thank you.
- Do you mind if I smoke?
- If I may play devil's advocate here....
- Just let me turn my ringer off.
- You were here first, you go ahead.
- The government made a mistake
- How can I adapt to an international company's culture?
- Here are some possible solutions....
- Our company bears full responsibility for the defective product
- Minority cultures are being destroyed and trivialized
- We must agitate for social change.
- Tell me about your outsider's perspective / developed economic perspective
- Half these Shanghai office towers / commercial developments are foreign-owned and already tried out in Japan.
- But if we put things into cultural context, we could understand the other culture better.
Things not said but thought:
- You have offended me by pointing out my mistake. How dare you act like I'm a student.
- You're not a teacher, you're barely a conversation partner; and I do know more English than you. Wait to see.
- I made no mistake. You misunderstood.
- You don't automatically assume Regions X & Y are clearly part of China. You hate China.
- If every monetary unit could be sucked out of the world and into China, it would be glorious!
- No amount of money is enough. I want more.
- I bought this watch on sale.
- If your opinion differs from a China bias in any way, you are an ignorant racist.
- Sure you can talk. But can you sing a love song? (Oh, I'm wrong. They actually do say this).
- Dance to my whistle, monkey boy!
Class activities that elicit inaction and silence, perhaps fuming resentment:
Brainstorm a T shirt design
Decide, as an office, how to respond to an emergency computer problem.
Come up with an advertising campaign for one product and explain your ideas.
Think of a product and make a company around that product.
Think of a company name/slogan/logo
Discuss these ads and their appeal.
Debate - anything.
Bias
Cultural relativism
China must develop X.
The WTO.
The US legal system.
Media freedom.
Religion.
Arts.
Press conference.
Describing bumper stickers from a catalog.
Regional Accents.
Company in crisis, brainstorm meeting.
Remember folks, if you say something often enough, quick enough, and loudly enough, and close your ears reeeeeeeeal tight,
- it must be true.
As I mentioned in a previous post, since the collective, harmonious citizen doesn't usually criticize, you have to assess their thinking from the mental frameworks around their fears and criticisms of outgroup members.
Hm, knockoffs, substandard products and services, and cash-only transactions are most telling characteristics of normal Chinese society, are they not?
A Couple Random Things to Illustrate how my China perspective has changed from living here:
Remember when that US Spyplane went down in China? They returned it dissassembled. At the time I thought it was a political statement. Now I know better. It was simply reverse-engineering, secret-stealing. and not bothering to reassemble it before giving it back because that would take effort. Nothing so moral as political righteousness ever really entered into it.
At the airport, the Asian guy walking around the gate waiting rooms, and then reappearing occasionally - yeah, he's looking for unattended bags to swipe. I see that guy now.
Chinese are not bad drivers. That's a stereotype. It's the expectation of rule-following that is just so ridiculous. And what does noticing something beyond ten feet in front of you have to do with anything?
And the award for the most insightful thing I've ever heard:
Black holes are not real. I don't believe in them. They have no relevance to my life.
Look, I'm as culturally-sensitive and respectful as the next guy. But in this case, somebody's gotta say something that doesn't involve sunshine and rainbows. Because folks, the regard just. ain't. reciprocated.
The short answer? If you value your own culture, don't let a wolf guard your henhouse.
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