Whirlwind Guangdong Tour

Today was the last day of the conference. So naturally, we skipped town and zoomed around the countryside instead of attending.

We got picked up by Dr. Lo's sister-in-law, to take a tour of her husband's company, and also to be shown around the countryside. The business was sort of neat. They make a device that takes cars with a bent frame and straightens them. We got to see it in operation. Dr. Chen detected a flaw in in the way they set it up, and they had a big discussion about physics, in which it turned out he was right.

After that, we went for lunch. I was able to experience more delightful Chinese cuisine. Like snake. And Chicken's head. I took some pictures of the other things the restaurant had. Any animals you see in the pictures are designed to be eaten. G.R.O.S.S.

Time to talk about the Chinese road system. I have divined the reason why Chinese people in Canada walk across roads without paying attention to cars. It is because in China, cars wander across sidewalks without paying attention to pedestrians. There don't appear to be any such thing as traffic laws, only traffic suggestions. Cars travel at an arbitrary speed, at an arbitrary place on the road (sometimes on the right side), arbitrarily honking their horns. Traveling anywhere is exceptionally terrifying.

Furthermore, it isn't just cars on the roads. There are people in mopeds, bicycles, pedestrians and motorized carts, who all feel that they have every right to be in the middle of the road doing whatever speed they like. Unlike in Canada, where when you are on a bike and a car is bearing down on you, you move to the side of the road, here, they just continue blithely along inches from the car's bumper. Why everyone in China hasn't died in a car accident is completely beyond me. I'm not sure how it is that I haven't died in a car accident yet.

We saw some beautiful countryside. I love mountains, and China has some absolutely gorgeous ones. We went to Bai Shui Xi mountain, which has China's largest waterfall falling off of it. The waterfall appeared to be coming out of the top of the mountain. I have no idea how that was happening. It was crazy. And very lovely.

Once we got outside of Guangzhou, it was very interesting to see the complete change in terms of quality of life. Every building is run down, dirty and small, unlike the clean, sparkling skyscrapers of the city. The people wear rags, and carry stuff around on their carts, instead of cars. What's worse is the attitude of the upper class Chinese towards these people. It is like they are a lesser form of people. They are not respectful to their waiters (no tipping in China) and interact with the lower classes only when it is necessary to get a service from them. The workers in the factory I visited make about $1000 yuan per month. That's about $130 CAD. Per month. I make 4-5 times that, and I am a student. It is quite frankly appalling.

Furthermore, the Chinese have an unfortunate attitude towards women. It is not that the society is misogynistic. It is the incredible weight that Chinese place on physical appearance, especially for women. I have never once heard a Chinese person praise a woman for her brain, although they are constantly talking about how smart and competent the men are. It is not the men's fault, it is everyone's fault.

China's problem, I think, is that they have an upper class living in the 20th century (not the 21st, despite their modern looking cities), and a lower class living in the 19th century, or earlier. The peasants are just that: peasants. They are not like Western farmers, who are respected, they are like the peasants of feudal Britain.

That said, knowing what I do about Chinese history (which I will not wax eloquent about at this stage), it is absolutely incredible how far China has come in the last century. 100 years ago, China was an empire ruled by a 3 year old child, which was completely unable to fend off the British or Portuguese, and which was hardly respected at all throughout the world. Shortly after, China descended into a dark ages, with Warlords ruling their own little Kingdoms. 75 years ago, China was engaged in a civil war. 50 years ago, China surprised the world with its incredible strength during the Korean war. 30 years ago, the starvation and poverty that was rampant at the time started to be solved. Today, China is a leader in the world economy, and is poised to become the next superpower. From a disintegrating fuedal empire to an economic powerhouse in 100 years is phenomenal. I suspect that the attitudes which are holding it back will change soon enough, because China has shown itself to be adaptive in the past, and I think it will do so again.

I believe that at least part of the reason I feel this way is that I have been steeped in Western values from the time I was very young, and I find it very hard not to judge according to them. The Western Values of equality and respecting people's differences are not so well supported here, and I won't deny it is hard to get past. However, I also think the Chinese could teach us some things about patience, and about the importance of industriousness. The Chinese love hard work. It's a big part of their culture that working hard will bring you rewards, and who can't agree with that?