“Mr. Shi’s daughter, a straight-A student in the States, enjoyed the convenience of transportation in Connecticut…”
I do believe there is a section of the Connecticut General Statutes that expressly prohibits the use of the words “convenience” and “transportation” not just in the same sentence, but together on any single page of text.
Sarcasm aside, Connecticut is a state that at times can give Shanghai a run for its money in the gridlock department. I was raised and until recently, lived in Fairfield County, CT, home of some of the worst traffic in the United States. The Merritt Parkway is simply not constructed for 21st Century motorists, and I-95 has been under construction for over 22 years. I-95 was built in 1958 with a design capacity of 60,000 vehicles/day. Today, it carries at times more than 200,000 vehicles/day. Granted, it isn’t Hartford, but I can’t imagine things are much better up there. Connecticut is a suburban state, so public transportation is sketchy at best.
The cities (Bridgeport, New Haven, Hartford) are decaying and undesirable places to live. I am surprised that Mr Shi and family had a positive impression of Connecticut after having had to live in low income housing in Hartford. Those are pretty rough places, and Hartford has a problem with gang violence.
I was going to have to live in low income housing in Connecticut. I fled to the wide open prairies of Kansas.
And now for something on-topic…I find Mr Shi’s characterisation of the United States as China’s “arch enemy” to be interesting. I have never heard anyone say anything like that during my travels in the PRC. Granted, the US and PRC are forming a vigorous rivalry, but most Chinese I have spoken to have been ambivalent about it or at least don’t regard the US with anywhere near the level of derision with which they regard Japan. I certainly don’t blame them for being angry about the 1999 Belgrade bombing and the 2001 spy plane incident. While I am sure that the US government will never tell us the *real* circumstances around the Belgrade bombing, I am pretty convinced it was intentional, and as for the spy plane incident, well, we were spying on them and we got caught. Three(?) innocent journalists were killed in Belgrade, and in Hainan, one young man doing nothing more than defending and serving his country was killed, leaving behind a wife and young child. As an American, I felt that the US government response to these incidents was arrogant and disrespectful, and could have been handled in a more diplomatic way. I mean, if we’re going to spy on other countries, we could at least have some sort of contingency plan for when we get caught.
However, in my experience with Chinese, I often found myself getting more worked up about these issues than they did. Mr Washburn, have you discussed these topics with any other Chinese? I’d be interested to know how they responded.
I do apologise of I am infusing too much personal opinion into my comment. I am not trying to provoke a fight, I just want to understand how Chinese really think.
I do very much enjoy your writing, Mr Washburn. I am extraordinarily jealous of this wonderful opportunity you have to travel around China. I am looking forward to your future entries.
I wish you all the best.
-John.
On Sep 24, 2004 9:29 PM, pete said:
The first thing I was taught by sophomores at the university in Beijing where I was a teacher in 1997-1998 was that China was in competition with the U.S. and intended to be number one, with one student’s index figure pointed in the air. Having lived in China for several years now, I would say the Chinese who think about such things believe and want China to out do the U.S.
On Sep 24, 2004 10:19 PM, Eric China said:
Dan, I am very sorry that you suffered from the chinese bureaucracy and corruption. I dare to say that all the cost for dinner, hotel, luxury cars and “wonderful place” is not paid by Mr.Shi.
They thought they lead a very wonderful and “rich and colorful” life, but for me i just think of a term “utterly worthless person”.
Why cannot they do anything for the poor? why donot they have any feeling about your meaningful report? i just puzzle that why such thing can be dug out by a laowai?
I dare to say that Dan just reported the truth with a good insight. I just hope that this can be reported by chinese people not only by laowai.
I would like to suggest you contacting with more common people, not official
Eric
On Sep 26, 2004 9:25 AM, Jane said:
Hey… I know them! (Mr. Shi and Mr. Wu). Well, not personally, but my parents know them! What a tiny little world we live in….
On Sep 28, 2004 4:33 PM, Diana said:
Hey Dan,thanks for your vivid story as you always have.After carefully read your story in Shenyang,I am so surprised,or say shocked by its ending.I didn’t expect that much difference even between big cities in China,at least I know all my Christian friends are being respected here in SH instead of keeping it as a sectret !However,your surprises make the story more like truth.Just try to visit some of those uninterested university websites such as Georgetown in SH or even all over the country :they are all BLOCKED…
On Sep 28, 2004 7:10 PM, Guoqiang Shi said:
Dan,
This is most interesting story I have ever read. I have to say there are really cultural differences between us. My daughter and I laughed all the way when we read your story. Thank you again for your work. One reader who commented on your story thought that the expenses incurred during your stay in Shenyang were covered by the local government or the university. He was wrong. We only use our own money to treat a friend, especially a one from America. Hope to read more of your “discoveries” about my country. Tell me if there is anything more I can do for you. Good luck!
On Sep 28, 2004 10:04 PM, Eric said:
Mr Shi, I have to say sorry for misunderstanding. I cannot say that to a nice and friendly person. but definitely what I mentioned is a typical chinese way we have encountered many times this summer. Sorry again!
It is always interesting to know how others with a different background look at the same issue. However, I think, Dan, you are not quite “laowai” regarding your insights and reactions on what you encountered during your trip around China. Hopefully, you will be quite well ‘immersed. Bon voyage!
On Oct 3, 2004 2:49 AM, SHUSHU said:
I just want to point out something for Eric
You said:
“I just hope that this can be reported by chinese people not only by laowai.”
You see, corruption among bureaucracy in China is no alien to Chinese people. They don’t need to “dug it out”, and because the problem is so vast, it is almost an informal kind of custom. People destaste the way to use money to bribe officials to get what they want, but again, this problem is way too vast to fix it overnight. If you can’t change it, what can you do? Go along with the flow is what most people choose to do. However,there’re cases concerning corrupted officials, and couple huge ones in recent years; serious consequences did take places. So, it’s still a long way to go.
The people in Shenyang, and dongbei as a whole, are very friendly, as your experience shows. Having my laojia be Harbin, I am very excited to hear about your experiences there. As for Shenyang, the city has changed a lot over the past few years with a lot of new buildings and a seemingly growing population of foreigners. New buildings, some of them interesting, some of them insane looking, have started going up, but it seems that inequality is growing faster in Shenyang than a lot of other places, or maybe its just more obvious. I doubt you had any chance to see the area of Tie Xi, but it is prime example of the decay of the iron rice bowl/rust belt or whatever else you want to refer it to.
On Oct 8, 2004 10:28 AM, Michelle said:
Wow, Dan. Awesome to read. I just found your site and clicked on Shenyang because 10 years ago we lived and taught in Jinzhou, about 4 hours south of Shenyang. We had friends teaching in Shenyang, and spent some time there with them and with some of our students who were from Shenyang. We’re living in HK now, but really want to go back to dongbei and see our friends and see the changes in 10 years (Cities we visited were Shenyang, Chifeng (in Inner Mongolia), Dalian, Dandong, and Harbin for the ice festival). What vivid word pictures!
On Oct 23, 2004 9:27 PM, fallen elf said:
The problem of pollution has become one of the most serious ones facing the whole world. One thing be to blame is vehicles. I hate vehicles, especially the smog emitted from the rear of them. Nowadays even some rich countries in the world encourage people to use bicycles instead of vehicles to reduce the degree of pollution and the traffic jam.
On Oct 24, 2004 8:26 PM, Paul Ho said:
Hi Dan,
My girlfriend thinks your diaries make fantastic reading and showed this story as an example to read. Great stuff! Greatly enjoyed it.
I would just like to add some balancing comments in response to the following:
***
The Chinese claim that Japan has never formally apologized for war-time atrocities committed in the first half of the last century, and they use this claim as an excuse for a blanket hatred of all things Japanese. Well, not all things. Chinese people seem to really like Japan’s cars, electronics, music, food and fashion. It’s just all Japanese people that they hate. That’s all.
***
Sure, a state-run media likes to remind its people of the atrocities committed by the Japanese in order to ensure that flames continue to burn.
However the nearest apology we’ve heard from a Japanese leader about the War (on the occasions they use that word) were of a “remorseful reflection”, and even that angered certain elements of the Japanese government.
I’ve also noticed ‘long memories’ amongst Koreans, Philipinos, British veteran POWs, amongst others.
I was born and live in Britain, which like the USA is lucky enough not to have been occupied within living memory.
On Nov 15, 2004 4:31 AM, Jiang said:
What a wonderful article, nice job! Enjoyed immensely reading it.
I lived in “Dongbei” from 1984 to 1993. I was born and raised in the south. I liked the straightfowardness of the Northeasterners. But the hostability of the Northeasterners comes at a price: you have to accept things their way. It can be very intrusive sometimes and makes one feel very uncomfortable. It seems to me that the Northeastern regions are the most corrupt regions in China as it is attested by the arrest of many top officals in Helongjiang province. Northeasterners are more daring in their wrongdoingings.
The ideal Chinese is one who is born in the South and spent some time in the North—People like me, haha, sorry for the unabashed self plug.
I have been living in the States for 11 years now and at times, I felt very bored and longed to go back to China; I am still thinking about going back. But articles like this put me right back to where I am. The rampant corruption, the run-down exteriors of many buildings (nobody seems to care about the outside of their apartments), polarization of rich and poor, social injustice in many aspects greatly dampened my interest in going back.
I went to a border town with North Korea “Tu-men”.
People there had very low opionion of North Korea.
I did breathe an air of relief when I looked across the Tu-Men river at the North Korea town. We are free at last; but people over there are still under tight “cultural revolution” style control.
On Dec 18, 2004 2:12 PM, CJ said:
Hi Jiang
But China still supports the leader in North Korea. China is his only allied in east Asia.
He kills millions of his own people because he take the food right out of their mouth, only for personal gains. He is so afraid, that more than one out of 5 is in his army.
How to deal with such a guy ?
The story is featured with vivid scenes and incisive comments. Dan should be a powerful writer as well as a man of insights. Though it is from the perspective of a Laowai, everything he recorded is absolutely true. Being a native Shenyang Ren, I echoed many of Dan’s experiences. They are so familiar to me. This is one of reasons that prompted me to read this long story in one breath. And it made me thinking for a considerable long time. My heart was heavy loaded. Even though the author might not be aware of or quite fully understand what had happened, he at least touched something which was very close to the core of our culture and society. Dan’s story left me many shocks. I took a long time to think about them. The fact that his story is objective and absolutely true was a bitter blow to me. I was blown, not by things that I never realised, but by those that I had taken for granted. In retrospection I found in many cases the Chinese way was so disappointing. When I say the Chinese way, I refer to Guanxi, abused hospitality, Mr Zhao’s bombardments on Shenyang’s past glories, Chinese people’s ambiguous hatred of Japanese and love of Chairman Mao, the chaotic traffic, and prevailing corruption, etc. All these are deep-rooted in our culture and society, and they have become a part of our life, so no matter right or wrong, one has to live in that way, unless he wishes to be singled out.
In this sense, I am more concerned about Mr Shi. Perhaps Mr Shi is in a dilemma of loss and gain. Many people like him, who received success in China and enlightenment in abroad suffer from an inner struggle. They have to choose to live in China, for prestige, secured well-off life and family warmth at the expense of freedom and career pursuits, or abroad, for career pursuit and freedom at the expense of prestige, secured well-off life and family warmth. It’s no easy choice, and is hard to tell which is better. It is logical that successful people should be intelligent. However, the cost of intelligence is, ironically, happiness. The working class are easy to be satisfied, simply because they know little about their sufferings. Still remember Plato’s cave story: who are more miserable, those who never know that they are watching shadows or those who know but are unable to shatter the chain?
On Mar 11, 2005 9:17 PM, Blair said:
wow. I just was browsing the site for the first time and just chose this story randomly. If all of your entries are as poingnant and well-written I have many many hours of reading ahead of me! I know this will make a great book because there is so much information and insight and your “reporter” style is so engaging. Thanks! I live in Shanghai too so I want to read more about your experiences there. Although it sounds as if your stint at the University is up?
20 Comments
Fascinating.
Here’s the clincher, though:
“Mr. Shi’s daughter, a straight-A student in the States, enjoyed the convenience of transportation in Connecticut…”
I do believe there is a section of the Connecticut General Statutes that expressly prohibits the use of the words “convenience” and “transportation” not just in the same sentence, but together on any single page of text.
Sarcasm aside, Connecticut is a state that at times can give Shanghai a run for its money in the gridlock department. I was raised and until recently, lived in Fairfield County, CT, home of some of the worst traffic in the United States. The Merritt Parkway is simply not constructed for 21st Century motorists, and I-95 has been under construction for over 22 years. I-95 was built in 1958 with a design capacity of 60,000 vehicles/day. Today, it carries at times more than 200,000 vehicles/day. Granted, it isn’t Hartford, but I can’t imagine things are much better up there. Connecticut is a suburban state, so public transportation is sketchy at best.
The cities (Bridgeport, New Haven, Hartford) are decaying and undesirable places to live. I am surprised that Mr Shi and family had a positive impression of Connecticut after having had to live in low income housing in Hartford. Those are pretty rough places, and Hartford has a problem with gang violence.
I was going to have to live in low income housing in Connecticut. I fled to the wide open prairies of Kansas.
And now for something on-topic…I find Mr Shi’s characterisation of the United States as China’s “arch enemy” to be interesting. I have never heard anyone say anything like that during my travels in the PRC. Granted, the US and PRC are forming a vigorous rivalry, but most Chinese I have spoken to have been ambivalent about it or at least don’t regard the US with anywhere near the level of derision with which they regard Japan. I certainly don’t blame them for being angry about the 1999 Belgrade bombing and the 2001 spy plane incident. While I am sure that the US government will never tell us the *real* circumstances around the Belgrade bombing, I am pretty convinced it was intentional, and as for the spy plane incident, well, we were spying on them and we got caught. Three(?) innocent journalists were killed in Belgrade, and in Hainan, one young man doing nothing more than defending and serving his country was killed, leaving behind a wife and young child. As an American, I felt that the US government response to these incidents was arrogant and disrespectful, and could have been handled in a more diplomatic way. I mean, if we’re going to spy on other countries, we could at least have some sort of contingency plan for when we get caught.
However, in my experience with Chinese, I often found myself getting more worked up about these issues than they did. Mr Washburn, have you discussed these topics with any other Chinese? I’d be interested to know how they responded.
I do apologise of I am infusing too much personal opinion into my comment. I am not trying to provoke a fight, I just want to understand how Chinese really think.
I do very much enjoy your writing, Mr Washburn. I am extraordinarily jealous of this wonderful opportunity you have to travel around China. I am looking forward to your future entries.
I wish you all the best.
-John.
The first thing I was taught by sophomores at the university in Beijing where I was a teacher in 1997-1998 was that China was in competition with the U.S. and intended to be number one, with one student’s index figure pointed in the air. Having lived in China for several years now, I would say the Chinese who think about such things believe and want China to out do the U.S.
Dan, I am very sorry that you suffered from the chinese bureaucracy and corruption. I dare to say that all the cost for dinner, hotel, luxury cars and “wonderful place” is not paid by Mr.Shi.
They thought they lead a very wonderful and “rich and colorful” life, but for me i just think of a term “utterly worthless person”.
Why cannot they do anything for the poor? why donot they have any feeling about your meaningful report? i just puzzle that why such thing can be dug out by a laowai?
I dare to say that Dan just reported the truth with a good insight. I just hope that this can be reported by chinese people not only by laowai.
I would like to suggest you contacting with more common people, not official
Eric
Hey… I know them! (Mr. Shi and Mr. Wu). Well, not personally, but my parents know them! What a tiny little world we live in….
Hey Dan,thanks for your vivid story as you always have.After carefully read your story in Shenyang,I am so surprised,or say shocked by its ending.I didn’t expect that much difference even between big cities in China,at least I know all my Christian friends are being respected here in SH instead of keeping it as a sectret !However,your surprises make the story more like truth.Just try to visit some of those uninterested university websites such as Georgetown in SH or even all over the country :they are all BLOCKED…
Dan,
This is most interesting story I have ever read. I have to say there are really cultural differences between us. My daughter and I laughed all the way when we read your story. Thank you again for your work. One reader who commented on your story thought that the expenses incurred during your stay in Shenyang were covered by the local government or the university. He was wrong. We only use our own money to treat a friend, especially a one from America. Hope to read more of your “discoveries” about my country. Tell me if there is anything more I can do for you. Good luck!
Mr Shi, I have to say sorry for misunderstanding. I cannot say that to a nice and friendly person. but definitely what I mentioned is a typical chinese way we have encountered many times this summer. Sorry again!
It is always interesting to know how others with a different background look at the same issue. However, I think, Dan, you are not quite “laowai” regarding your insights and reactions on what you encountered during your trip around China. Hopefully, you will be quite well ‘immersed. Bon voyage!
I just want to point out something for Eric
You said:
“I just hope that this can be reported by chinese people not only by laowai.”
You see, corruption among bureaucracy in China is no alien to Chinese people. They don’t need to “dug it out”, and because the problem is so vast, it is almost an informal kind of custom. People destaste the way to use money to bribe officials to get what they want, but again, this problem is way too vast to fix it overnight. If you can’t change it, what can you do? Go along with the flow is what most people choose to do. However,there’re cases concerning corrupted officials, and couple huge ones in recent years; serious consequences did take places. So, it’s still a long way to go.
The people in Shenyang, and dongbei as a whole, are very friendly, as your experience shows. Having my laojia be Harbin, I am very excited to hear about your experiences there. As for Shenyang, the city has changed a lot over the past few years with a lot of new buildings and a seemingly growing population of foreigners. New buildings, some of them interesting, some of them insane looking, have started going up, but it seems that inequality is growing faster in Shenyang than a lot of other places, or maybe its just more obvious. I doubt you had any chance to see the area of Tie Xi, but it is prime example of the decay of the iron rice bowl/rust belt or whatever else you want to refer it to.
Wow, Dan. Awesome to read. I just found your site and clicked on Shenyang because 10 years ago we lived and taught in Jinzhou, about 4 hours south of Shenyang. We had friends teaching in Shenyang, and spent some time there with them and with some of our students who were from Shenyang. We’re living in HK now, but really want to go back to dongbei and see our friends and see the changes in 10 years (Cities we visited were Shenyang, Chifeng (in Inner Mongolia), Dalian, Dandong, and Harbin for the ice festival). What vivid word pictures!
The problem of pollution has become one of the most serious ones facing the whole world. One thing be to blame is vehicles. I hate vehicles, especially the smog emitted from the rear of them. Nowadays even some rich countries in the world encourage people to use bicycles instead of vehicles to reduce the degree of pollution and the traffic jam.
Hi Dan,
My girlfriend thinks your diaries make fantastic reading and showed this story as an example to read. Great stuff! Greatly enjoyed it.
I would just like to add some balancing comments in response to the following:
***
The Chinese claim that Japan has never formally apologized for war-time atrocities committed in the first half of the last century, and they use this claim as an excuse for a blanket hatred of all things Japanese. Well, not all things. Chinese people seem to really like Japan’s cars, electronics, music, food and fashion. It’s just all Japanese people that they hate. That’s all.
***
Sure, a state-run media likes to remind its people of the atrocities committed by the Japanese in order to ensure that flames continue to burn.
However the nearest apology we’ve heard from a Japanese leader about the War (on the occasions they use that word) were of a “remorseful reflection”, and even that angered certain elements of the Japanese government.
I’ve also noticed ‘long memories’ amongst Koreans, Philipinos, British veteran POWs, amongst others.
I was born and live in Britain, which like the USA is lucky enough not to have been occupied within living memory.
What a wonderful article, nice job! Enjoyed immensely reading it.
I lived in “Dongbei” from 1984 to 1993. I was born and raised in the south. I liked the straightfowardness of the Northeasterners. But the hostability of the Northeasterners comes at a price: you have to accept things their way. It can be very intrusive sometimes and makes one feel very uncomfortable. It seems to me that the Northeastern regions are the most corrupt regions in China as it is attested by the arrest of many top officals in Helongjiang province. Northeasterners are more daring in their wrongdoingings.
The ideal Chinese is one who is born in the South and spent some time in the North—People like me, haha, sorry for the unabashed self plug.
I have been living in the States for 11 years now and at times, I felt very bored and longed to go back to China; I am still thinking about going back. But articles like this put me right back to where I am. The rampant corruption, the run-down exteriors of many buildings (nobody seems to care about the outside of their apartments), polarization of rich and poor, social injustice in many aspects greatly dampened my interest in going back.
I went to a border town with North Korea “Tu-men”.
People there had very low opionion of North Korea.
I did breathe an air of relief when I looked across the Tu-Men river at the North Korea town. We are free at last; but people over there are still under tight “cultural revolution” style control.
Hi Jiang
But China still supports the leader in North Korea. China is his only allied in east Asia.
He kills millions of his own people because he take the food right out of their mouth, only for personal gains. He is so afraid, that more than one out of 5 is in his army.
How to deal with such a guy ?
Dan, great article and keep up the excellent work!
BTW, to John who made first comment, I am fairly happy with the traffic in fairfield county, CT. :)
I-95 in NY section is far worse!
Dan, great article and keep up the excellent work!
BTW, to John who made first comment, I am fairly happy with the traffic in fairfield county, CT. :)
I-95 in NY section is far worse!
The story is featured with vivid scenes and incisive comments. Dan should be a powerful writer as well as a man of insights. Though it is from the perspective of a Laowai, everything he recorded is absolutely true. Being a native Shenyang Ren, I echoed many of Dan’s experiences. They are so familiar to me. This is one of reasons that prompted me to read this long story in one breath. And it made me thinking for a considerable long time. My heart was heavy loaded. Even though the author might not be aware of or quite fully understand what had happened, he at least touched something which was very close to the core of our culture and society. Dan’s story left me many shocks. I took a long time to think about them. The fact that his story is objective and absolutely true was a bitter blow to me. I was blown, not by things that I never realised, but by those that I had taken for granted. In retrospection I found in many cases the Chinese way was so disappointing. When I say the Chinese way, I refer to Guanxi, abused hospitality, Mr Zhao’s bombardments on Shenyang’s past glories, Chinese people’s ambiguous hatred of Japanese and love of Chairman Mao, the chaotic traffic, and prevailing corruption, etc. All these are deep-rooted in our culture and society, and they have become a part of our life, so no matter right or wrong, one has to live in that way, unless he wishes to be singled out.
In this sense, I am more concerned about Mr Shi. Perhaps Mr Shi is in a dilemma of loss and gain. Many people like him, who received success in China and enlightenment in abroad suffer from an inner struggle. They have to choose to live in China, for prestige, secured well-off life and family warmth at the expense of freedom and career pursuits, or abroad, for career pursuit and freedom at the expense of prestige, secured well-off life and family warmth. It’s no easy choice, and is hard to tell which is better. It is logical that successful people should be intelligent. However, the cost of intelligence is, ironically, happiness. The working class are easy to be satisfied, simply because they know little about their sufferings. Still remember Plato’s cave story: who are more miserable, those who never know that they are watching shadows or those who know but are unable to shatter the chain?
wow. I just was browsing the site for the first time and just chose this story randomly. If all of your entries are as poingnant and well-written I have many many hours of reading ahead of me! I know this will make a great book because there is so much information and insight and your “reporter” style is so engaging. Thanks! I live in Shanghai too so I want to read more about your experiences there. Although it sounds as if your stint at the University is up?
Although it sounds as if your stint at the University is up?
True.
But I still live in Shanghai.
Thanks for the kind words.