Webdiary columnist Phil Uebergang [1] has just returned from China. Phil's last piece for Webdiary asked How healthy is Australia's secularism? [2]
by Phil Uebergang
Two months ago my partner started a 3 month work contract in rural China, so rather than flying home for her mid contract break we reversed the travel arrangements and I met her over there.
My trip started in Shanghai, then I flew Beijing to make our rendezvous. From there we did a tour of the incredible Great Wall and caught a train south to the historic village of Pingyao, then on to Xian and the terracotta warriors. We finished the journey back in Shanghai for shopping and luxury.
Three weeks is both a very short and very long time for a first visit to this huge and enigmatic country. Once the initial shock of China is dealt with, a process of trying to generalise the country begins. But as each generalisation seems to contradict every other, the realisation sets in that there are far too many layers of complexity to Chinese culture for generalisations to mean anything. But if I had to sum up China in one sentence it would be this: What will happen next?
It is a chaotic nation in which everything seems to be happening at once. The immense building projects underway, the masses of factories and power stations pumping out unbelievable smog, the huge coal fields and endless villages - you can't help but wonder, constantly, where China is going with all this.
The Cultural Revolution did not so much create a clean slate upon which to build a new China as it left a pile of smoking ruins requiring a lifetime of rehabilitation. It is not yet an international standard holiday destination because China is still fundamentally utilitarian, and can be quite an unattractive and difficult country. It lacks the romance of Europe and doesn't quite have the sense of adventure of Africa. For my money, if you're after that once in a lifetime experience then the African safari wins hands down. But China is a safe place to travel, if you can somehow stay off the roads, and it presents unparalleled intellectual challenges for the visitor.
The Chinese are tough beyond words and they work constantly, with that ever burning desire to put food on the table, maintain face, and give their kids half a chance at a better life. Productivity levels tend to be low, since capital is tight and imagination quashed. While there is an obvious improvement in outlook and even physical appearance in the younger generations, there is still too much work carried out in rather poor fashion. Will this situation change? China will only really move ahead if it does. Or perhaps it will be a result of progress. It is for this reason that we must be wary of Chinese investment in Australia, since they seem to have little empathy for the benefits of quality investment in knowledge, safety or capital infrastructure.
Similarly, there is a marked difference between the huge amount of new construction going on as compared with the level of civil maintenance. New buildings soon look old. It has the potential to drive a Westerner to the point of despair, especially when combined with a generally poor understanding of hygiene, a poor sense of social cooperation, and the lack of ability to clean and tidy properly. There is not much in the way of genuine pride in presentation, apart from that necessary to show face. But this might also change, because the Chinese are nothing if not determined.
It is in the exciting, burgeoning megopolis of Shanghai that such change is most obvious and/or possible. Shanghai is leading China into the future both economically and culturally, as it opens its doors to reality and re-becomes one of the world's great cities. We had the fortune to be introduced to Shanghai by one of Australia's accomplished expats - she was a foreign student in Peking during the dark years of the early 80's which began a relationship with China that reached Ministerial level, she is fluent in Mandarin and is now one of the first foreigners to have started a private investment bank there. It was a privilege to experience the city through the eyes of someone for whom the drastic changes taking place have real meaning.
The Australian relationship with China may be subtle, but it is strong and runs deep. Australia was there first, and our statesmen are taken seriously. Our friend pointed out some of the surface indications of this relationship - an inordinate amount of Aussie produce on the supermarket shelf, our wine in the cellars, and a disproportionate number of Australian owned quality restaurants.
While Shanghai, as of old, represents seemingly limitless foreign opportunity in China, the rites of entry are fraught. Breaking into China for business is a gruelling war of attrition against institutionalised nepotistic corruption and bureaucratic incompetence. But for the eventual winners there is no doubt that the rewards are great. China's growing middle class is several times the size of Australia's population, yet currently is only a fraction of its potential.
There is a growing divide between the rich and poor, as the rich have been gaining their wealth at an alarming rate. But the Chinese have an extremely clever, intrinsic understanding of money. Consequently their economic management has been superb and there is a stated commitment to address the necessity to control the rapid growth of the past two decades in favour of effective infrastructure development.
At least this is what the commentaries in the highly readable English language newspapers claim which, although tending strongly towards a positive outlook, offer great insights into China for the uninitiated. But if Shanghai is anything to go by then there is strong evidence that there is some truth in these opinions.
So where is China going? The current leadership seems capable, relatively liberal and forward reaching. I can envisage two scenarios for China's future. One is to suffer yet another failure of leadership resulting in chaotic stagnation. But the other is to follow its current path of relentless change, which will lead to a future of question marks for the entire world.
This path has issues that require negotiation. The environmental problems are grotesque. Coal is China's second currency, but with structured growth this should change to a reliable grid energy network, for everyone. Despite the protestations of many over Australia's position regarding Kyoto, the more high quality thermal coal we can deliver to China's furnaces, the better it will be for the world.
There is still an absurd adherence to the cult of Mao. His portrait needs to be torn from the gate of the Forbidden City and the mausoleum recreated as a monument to the suffering of the people before any nation can consider China to be politically or culturally mature.
Nepotistic corruption and incompetence is endemic, indeed almost cultural. To solve this problem may well be China's greatest challenge. In an issue close to home for me, most of the coal mining deaths in China are caused by blatantly corrupt management. While there is talk of addressing these issues, and many others, the proof will be in results.
This issue also raises a question mark as to the intrinsic value of individual life in China. I witnessed two overt examples of repression during my short stint. The first was in attending church in Shanghai. While religion is now supposedly legal in China, the reality is a little different. Churches are extremely rare, although there are a growing number of Chinese language congregations. I went to one of the few English speaking services in Shanghai and it was packed to the rafters with expats - it is still illegal for locals to attend these services. The denial of religious freedom to 1.4 billion people for so long is a staggering concept.
The other example was a conversation we had with an English speaking Chinese engineer. This young chap had worked internationally and spoke reasonable English. He was reading a book on Chinese history, and was quite shocked and emotional to be learning for the first time of the centuries of suffering of ordinary Chinese people. He compared this history with the political climate of today, praising the West for its freedom of speech. Apart from his obvious sense of repression, we were intrigued by the fact that Chinese history is still so effectively censored in their education system.
The last word goes to my quietly courageous girlfriend, living and working patiently in the reality of China, surrounded by avian flu and unremitting poverty. Life for the majority of Chinese today is still very different to what we are used to.
She writes:
"The little roads here are noisy again due to the great rush to finish harvesting. Ancient loud three-wheeler trucks for the 'wealthy' farmers are piled high with corn, millet, soya beans, apples, sticks or hay. For the poor farmers a small cart, also heavily loaded, is pulled by either the son or the old farmer himself!
A few rice paddies are dotted around but the climate and water availability aren't suitable. They can only plant one rice crop a year in comparison to the South West where up to 3 crops are planted per year. The various grains are thrashed by hand on the roads and also laid out so that the cars and trucks can drive over them and separate the wheat etc from the chaff. All the cows, goats, geese and chickens walk over it as well, so one gets a nice mixture of manure, rubber from the tyres and various other pollutants in your steamed bread for breakfast.
When I go for my short afternoon walks up to the mountains I often encounter farmers both male and female carrying huge sacks of corn on their backs, negotiating the steep slopes and stony paths with great agility. On some tricky spots they've realigned the stones on the path to make it a little easier. Each farmer has been given a plot of land by the government and it's nearly impossible for them to move to another area as there's no land available and they probably wouldn't be able to afford it even if there was.
After school the children also help in the fields. One particular noticeable difference between China and both South America and Africa is the lack of kids running around and for that matter dogs and cats as well. In this particular area they can't afford to feed a dog or cat, especially not as a pet although they do breed dogs for their meat, big huge ones!
Interestingly there are many satellite dishes perched precariously on balconies and roofs. Mobile phone towers are also abundant - so are mobile phones, particularly for the young people. So even in these poor rural areas people are connected to the world and most people have mobile phones and TV sets rather than running water or books in their houses.
Are the people happy here? This is a very difficult question, and I believe that particularly the farmers don't have the time or the energy to ponder this. Most of their work is still all done manually - even the plough is pulled by one or two men. If you have an ox to pull it you are very fortunate. Everything is hauled up and down the mountains on foot, not many mules or donkeys are to be seen. This also leads me to wonder why we are served donkey meat when you hardly see any donkeys. Has the donkey died of old age or disease, or is it even donkey meat at all? It is best not to ask too many questions about the food being served.
For the labourers building those bridges and the miners shovelling everything out by hand, they consider themselves lucky not to have to earn a meagre living by the vagaries of farming."