Family

There is a great sense of community here among families. Grandparents down through grandchildren, cousins, uncles, aunts, all of these people can often be found under one roof. But as a whole, I don't feel a sense of community in the larger cities. The real communities seem to be those that remain somewhat rural. I imagine it is not unlike New York City, or London. In the big cities, there are just too many people to know, too many to be concerned with.

And there are SO. MANY. PEOPLE. I can't even begin to fathom. There are apartments and dormitories everywhere. Land is a precious commodity, so a single towering building could have thousands of tiny rooms that they call apartments, or a few luxury apartments more reminiscent of the condos in downtown San Diego. Just by driving by a building you cannot tell how much of that building is industrial, business, living space, or even vacant.

The need for housing here is tremendous. So much so that buildings are built in stages, and as soon as one stage is complete (like one floor, or one quarter of the building) they will begin to move people into the completed rooms. Unlike the construction I have witnessed in the US, here the insides of buildings are completed first, to allow for habitation, and the outsides, such as the finishing concrete, paint or stucco or tile, come at a later time, or sometimes not at all. It makes me question the stability of some of the buildings that tower but are constructed only of layers of substandard bricks, but I suppose there is no choice as to where you can live. The worst cases are people living in the garages that I mentioned in an earlier blog. These garages are used as shops and pool halls, but when they close up at night, they are a dry and relatively safe place for some of these people to rest.

I think as capitalism encroaches, the attitude of helping your fellow man, your brother, is fading in that all too common every man for himself mentality that brings out the worst in humanity. I don't know how China will survive her own economic boom. Although I have to say, I expected to get a pair of Calvin Klein jeans here for cheap and found them to be MORE expensive than in the states. This is a new era for China, in many ways, from economical and political, to the implications of being open to the world on her own identity.

One such example of this "open China" that I find potentially detrimental is the issuance of "Chinese" and "English" names at birth. Each Chinese person that I have met has two names. One that I have to be coached to pronounce, and one that I pronounce better than the owner. For instance, the twelve year old girl that I met the other day had a Chinese name of (phonetic here) Chiang Lin Lin, and an English name of Tamara. Her mother, who owns the company that supplies our product, is Judy, I don't even know her Chinese name. I am often handed business cards with two sides. One in English and one in Chinese. The names do not match. My side will read Joe Wang, and the other side will read Wu Chang Hua, in Chinese characters. I admit I was shocked when I arrived at my first hotel and was greeted by "Amy" but I was also greatly saddened. There is a great deal of history, care, and decision that will go into naming my own children, I would hate to see them shirk that for something more common, just as much as it would surely disturb my parents if I started to call myself Jane. Then again, these "English" names are also decided by the parents, in most cases, but I still find it awfully sad. Any friend that I have ever had with a difficult to pronounce name I have learned, and then been closer to them for being able to communicate with them on that level, even if it is only their name that I know in their native culture. That, at least, is something.