China. The word is so loaded these days. Communists, Confucius, capitalism, propaganda, pagodas, population control, Buddhism, dragons, gold medals, human rights, the Great Wall, the Great Leap forward, all these varied pieces of China’s history, both recent and long ago, come to mind when I think about where I am. No place is the same as it was twenty years ago, but China, from what I hear, has really changed.
This is my first time in Beijing, I’m here as a student learning Chinese language. It’s odd how comfortable I’ve felt here so far. Sure I’ve gotten sick a couple times already and can’t even comprehend how many people surround me, but all in all I feel very safe and not too alien at all. I do still fear crossing the street though, those cars and even busses really don’t stop for pedestrians.
While I’m here my assignment is not only to further my command of Chinese, but to reflect on my experiences engaging in Chinese culture. What to focus on though? Chinese culture is only somewhat familiar to me and is quite multifaceted. I love international politics and their domestic counter-parts, I enjoy both contemporary and classical music and their social implications, I like to understand why people speak in the manner that they do, I love food and how it connects people, and in general I like to observe conflicts and the reasons behind them. I am also very interested in what constitutes a “good Chinese girl” these days, I’ve heard this phrase several times and I’m not quite sure what it means. And what exactly about China has changed? I know the basics, the booming economy, the internet, the big issue of retaining sovereignty while integrating into the international community, but how is this changing China’s culture? It seems to me that I would have had to visit during the 1980’s and then come back now to really understand the impact, but I can’t so I’ll just have to ask. I think what I want to do is focus on a particular facet of Chinese culture and try to ask how it has changed in the last generation, or perhaps how it affects China’s relationship with the U.S. Both of these options sound particularly interesting, I just need to figure our which aspect of Chinese culture I want to look at.
Perhaps, being a female, I’ll look at what it is to be a modern woman in China. But, as I am an international affairs major, I’d also like to see how people feel about China’s growing dominance on the international stage. I’d also like to observe and talk about how the Olympics may or may not have opened China up—for instance, will I still be able to read the BBC news in a couple days? Maybe I’ll try each topic out and see which one fits best…
