China in Six Words

I was once posed a question that left me speechless.

My friend leaned over to ask, nonchalantly, as if proposing we order another beer, “If you had to describe China with six words, which would you choose?” He paused, giving me a second to process, and continued, “You don’t have to explain, just give me six words.”

Staring up at the sky, considering each adjective that came to mind, I struggled to come up with six that really fit. My friend eventually went off to talk with someone else as I drifted into my own world of thought.

Political, corrupt, and frustrating came to mind first. But then I doubled back. My experience in China was most certainly not 100% negative, but only one positive adjective seemed sufficient. China is fascinating.

China has one of the oldest civilizations on the planet but is far from the most advanced. They have the largest population but will never be the most efficient. Today, China is known as the world’s factory.

In previous centuries, China invented some objects and ideas that are very important to today’s societies. The world can thank China for bristle toothbrushes, fireworks, gunpowder, the calendar year consisting of 365 days, and paper currency. The list of inventions coming from the Chinese nation is extensive, but these were all created hundreds, maybe thousands of years ago. In the last five decades, the progress China’s economy has made is astounding and often unbelievable unless you see the numbers for yourself.

China is really adept at taking an idea and reproducing it in massive quantities at a shockingly low price. But, none of these ideas are their own ideas. When they start a business, it’s because they’ve seen it successfully done elsewhere. When they manufacture a product, it’s because they’ve seen it worn or used abroad. China is a dependent nation.

The average Chinese citizen is still very dependent on their government and what the government chooses to teach them. China’s economy is without a doubt growing, but this is all on paper. The livelihoods of some people are improving. The quality of education for some is increasing. But, the majority of the population still struggles in a way most of us can’t imagine. They haven’t been raised in a culture that teaches them to take care of themselves; they still very much rely on the government to lead them through life.

In China, the smartest achievers in school are shuffled into politics and government. Why not share the wealth? Spread the intelligence of your citizens to science, literature, and education! China is political. Politics are their number one priority and they intend to keep it this way.

Unfortunately, everything is accomplished with money in China. With money you can have more than one child. With money someone can get visas for people who shouldn’t have them. With money you can get yourself out of trouble with the police. With money, someone can buy their way into an advantageous educational system that their test scores did not earn. China is corrupt.

When given information, they accept it, they seem to understand, but nothing is absorbed. I often feel as if the Chinese are robots. China is frustrating. It’s frustrating that when a problem arises, a solution is always found. A week later, the same problem arises and we return to square one. I often find myself thinking, “Why are we having this conversation again? We talked about this last week and agreed on the most efficient, convenient way to handle this situation for both of us.”

I decided to learn Chinese. I let the communication issues go and assumed too much information was being lost in translation. When misunderstandings arose, I first spoke English and if in any doubt, I repeated everything in Chinese. And then it continued to happen.

What I wasn’t prepared for when I decided to move to China was how deep the f a k e n e s s truly ran. Relationships dipping deeper than the surface with a Chinese person is rare. The smiles and greetings one receives upon arrival are often far from genuine. Items bought in China are of the worst possible quality. The quality of education in most Chinese universities is lackluster. Teachers rarely have a passion to be there, few students are driven to put forth their best effort. Once you’re hired, decisions are not based on your degree, skill, or work ethic. Decisions in the workforce are solely based upon your monetary value to the company and whom you might know. What one might believe to be a solid friendship often means very little, products with expensive price tags often fall apart upon use, and top quality, professional looking schools rarely have the teachers to live up to the first impressions.

As was told to me before arriving in Pudong Airport, Shanghai: “You just have to go to China. There’s nothing I can tell you. It’s a country you need to experience for yourself. Then, you will understand.”

This advice seemed vague, but turned out to be true. In China, nothing is obvious, few things are clear. If only given six words, I would describe China as fascinating, dependent, political, corrupt, frustrating, and fake.

If you’re curious, then I can only give you the same advice that I received. Go. Experience it for yourself.