Reflections of Beijing

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Reflections of Beijing

A photo journal of my experiences

Jayesh Sharma!(910025)

International immersion personal reflective report • EPGP, IIM Bangalore • 16 September

2009

Signs of modernity reflected in the window of an antiques shop

Jayesh Sharma ! 910025 ! Reflections! Prof. Ojha & Prof. Basu IIM Bangalore



Reflections of Beijing

A photo journal of my experiences

INTRODUCTION

The hotel, the stadium, a restaurant, and a view from the Wall

Early on in the immersion, the thought of a report started to fill me with dread. The

fear was never what to write, but how to capture the experience on pages. The idea of a

photo journal came naturally. Even apart from the adages of a picture’s worth in words,

the fact is that I was documenting the trip in pictures anyway. There the idea started



Methodology

The problem still remained, though. What am I to

talk about, and, more importantly, what can I

omit? Obviously there were tradeoffs to be made.

On reflection, I decided to talk about a few topics, which together could form

something of a big picture of my impressions and learning. I decided to select the

subjects closest to our activities. Thus interactions and places became a way to

understand the cultural aspects, Chinese food was a window into understanding our

(Indian) attitudes towards flexibility and change, as much as it was a way to experience

Chinese tradition first hand. In similar vein, I have tried to parse out themes relevant to

not only my experience of China but also to my learning from the Middle Kingdom. In

doing this I will try to talk about my preconceptions and prejudices as well as my

experience, and try to see where my understanding has improved.



OUR BAGGAGE

This photo

captures for

me something

very b as i c

a b o u t o u r

attitudes on

arrival. There

was, for a

significant number, a sense of doom and gloom, a fear of China. The fear of H1N1

seemed symptomatic of the atmosphere anticipating something bad to happen.

I personally never wore a mask, but that also had to do with the fact that I’m a doctor,

and knew the limited effectiveness of these contraptions. The thought of entering an

authoritarian state was there nonetheless. Although I have lived in Dubai, and know

well that modern “benevolent dictatorships” are not totalitarian in the Orwellian

sense, it certainly was in the back of my mind that the region we are entering is not

going to be friendly should something go wrong.

Another reason for the mistrust probably springs from our sense of competition, as a

nation. China is never below the radar for Indians and is seldom projected positively.

At best, its a country which has done well, with some lessons in infrastructure and in

developing a manufacturing base. Even as students of business we were unaware of the

enormous achievements of China. Personally for me, the dislike to communism per se

further fueled my antipathy.



More than anything else, we were unaware of the culture of the place. While it was

impossible for me to ignore the growing signs of nationalistic fervor in China,

especially noticeable during the Olympics, it was not clear what that nationalism was

based on. The reports of growing income disparity and regional unrest capture all

international headlines. There are the wishful predictions of progress leading to

necessarily higher demands for freedom. With such a convoluted basis for the beliefs,

its no wonder I was surprised.

To be fair, my prejudices were reinforced by the first interaction with Chinese people.

I’m referring to the staff of Air China. The unfriendliest airline I have ever seen. It was

hard for them to smile, service seemed a nauseating experience they wanted to get over

with. The guests on the plane were to them at best a nuisance, bordering on pestilent.

All in all, it was hard to see why anyone would travel twice in it. Chinese people, I

concluded prematurely, are grim, unfriendly, and speak English in a strange accent.

I was wrong.





The cuisine

continued to

surprise. The hot

pot was new for me

and brought to

mind a feature of

Wok cooking. The

idea of small bits of

meat and

vegetables that



cook fast is common to both. But what

the hot pot taught me was our attitude

towards food in particular, and change

in general. The suspicion with which

we approached was clearly seen in all

our eyes.

We searched to find the wok cuisine

we identified as "Chinese". In the end

I found a very good example of it next

to the hotel itself. After a very

challenging conversation with

the hotel staff, we agreed to

believe that the cuisine was

probably from Hunan.

Chillies were everywhere.

The highlight of that meal was



their rendition

of the Beijing

duck,

succulent and

spicy.

As we explored

Beijing, we

continued to

find several

examples of

cuisine both

beautiful and

delicious.

It was often familiar food

presented differently.



At other times, it was a bit

strange, like seeing turtles

being sold in a fruit stall, and

realizing a bit later that the

commonality between these was

they were both food.

The one myth was

that shattered was

that the Chinese

eat only meats. The

v a r i e t y o f

vegetarian options

was unexpected.

One of the Indian

expatriates told us

there is no such

thing as a purely

vegetarian cuisine in China. Which I’m sure is true. However, the preponderance of

both fruits and vegetables is enough to guarantee a very well balanced diet.



While the

food was

often

frightening, I

was usually

happy I ate it.

Even the most adventurous among

us sometimes missed the spices,

and when one evening we happened

upon Pakistani food, we went

attacked it with a gusto.

The food gave me some indication of the complexity of the culture, and its diversity.

The food told us how different we were, and that there is much common ground yet to

be explored between India and China.



PEOPLE AND INTERACTION

The one surprise for all of us was how friendly everyone was. It was often discussed

how much

“bhav” we

are getting

here. People

want to talk

to us, they

are happy to be photographed, and eager to be of

assistance. When they can converse, that is.

While the " guides were as guides are, reasonably proficient in the language of tourists,

the hotel staff was a surprise. In tourist markets there" usually were people reasonably

eloquent about what they want to say but very few people " in the university spoke good

English.



It took me a while to understand why it surprised me. We equate English with

education, but that's not so in China. The people who know English are those who

need to interact with foreigners. Thus even professors

who have not been abroad struggle with English.

Many of us speculated that there is a deep antipathy

towards west behind this reluctance to open. I differ. We

can think of several reasons behind the lack of English

knowledge, prominent in my opinion being a reluctance

to open the flow of information with the rest of the world.

The preponderance of evidence is against an outright antipathy to west. The brands,

the clothes, the style of contemporary architecture and design, the food, and a degree

of willingness to express themselves in public all suggest some fascination with the

western, especially American culture.

The premium brands often have hoarding in English only, but sometimes the names

make little sense.



There is no statement about China without a ' however ’. The fervor of nationalism is as

much about a sense of victimization as about their " central position in the world

civilization. This love hate relationship characterizes my impression of Chinese

attitude towards west. Not so different from our own, is it?

Towards India, I didn’t see any signs of

negativity, except one which I will

come to later.

People I met were in

general happy to interact, even though much of that was in the form of smiles, and

waves. They were not only happy with being photographed, they wanted to photograph

us, which was a surprising, especially as that was often accompanied by a compliment

on our looks. For many of us who have lived in and visited other places, this was a

pleasant surprise.



Another surprise was the sense of joy

visible in so many people. As someone

brought upon Soviet spy novels, I

expected grimness in a communist state.

At the least there should be some

evidence of paranoia.

Well, look at some of the

people I saw.

Even the harshest critic of

China would find it hard to claim these people were an

oppressed lot. At least they seem relatively happy with

their oppressors. Is it cultural? Do they feel more

comfortable with the order of a benevolent dictator

than the chaos of a democracy? I don’t have an answer,

but at least I have the question now.



OUT AND ABOUT

Infrastructure

The one thing that everyone

mentions when talking about

China is its infrastructure. It

hits you the moment you enter the

airport. From the vaulted ceilings to

the subway out of the terminal, its meant to impress. The one

aspect of infrastructure that caught my attention was transport.

From roads and fly overs to thoughtfully placed pedestrian walk

passes complete with a ramp for bicycles. The fixed infrastructure is in place.



Public transport

Even tougher than making road and bridges is making

the system work. And the system does work. The

subway runs smoothly, the roads are much less chaotic

than most developing societies, there are multiple

means of public transport, and they are all efficient and

cheap.



Personal Transport

No discussion of transport in China is

complete without bicycles, of course.

They are everywhere. They have their

lanes and they come in more shapes than

I thought.

The electric powered cycles are especially

interesting because they are essentially

filling a space left vacant by the ban on

motorcycles in the city. Can’t imagine that

order ever being issued in India.



Further on personal vehicles, its

important to note that the people

riding cycles are either young or

students. i.e., the supposed era of

almost entire China moving on

cycles is obviously over, and cars are

everywhere, from the most basic

Chinese

three

wheelers to

German

luxury

brands.

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