Mid-Term Report

Expierences of Shanghai

Class
Chinese Culture

Program
2014 Autumn DBIC
Chinese Economy and Culture
WS 2014/15

Shanghai University

Thuy Linh Ho
14D62006

Shanghai, October 29, 2014

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION 3
1 CULTURAL DIFFERENCES 3
1.1 ARPARTMENT 3
1.2 FOOD 4
1.3 CABDRIVERS 6
1.4 TRAFFIC 6
2 DANING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 7
3 SIGHTSEEING 9
3.1 PAINTERS STREET 9
3.2 FAKE MARKET 10
CONCLUSION 12

Introduction

China is a growing country and is constantly under change. There would be nothing more exciting than getting the opportunity to be a part of that.
When I had to choose a destination abroad to do my semester, it was clear it would be China. I made this decision for a number of different reasons. I had heard many good things about China and became fascinated by its tradition, culture and people. China sparked my interest since I wanted to choose a location furthest from home, and one that is completely different than where I come from. The difficulty of learning to adapt and immerse myself into the Chinese culture is a challenge I would like to face. This really puts me to the test as I realized that my theoretical knowledge was no match compared to my practical knowledge. I kept being surprised, again and again, as I noticed how much I was capable of. I wanted to give it a shot. Thus, I had the idea that I could move to Shanghai for 3 months.

1 Cultural Differences

When I arrived to Shanghai, it did not take me long to realize that we have different views on manners and common courtesies.

1.1 Arpartment
My friends and I arrived in Shanghai a couple of days before the beginning of the semester. We had planned to look for an apartment off-campus. In a 2-3-day span, we had worked with two rental agencies and took a look at three apartments. It was quite exhausting to say the least, looking at apartments that all seem to not feel like home.
We stayed a whole week at the campus until we found a fitting apartment. The rent is quite high, nearly comparable with the prices in Berlin. We were four German students moving in the new fully-furnished apartment which we shared with two other Chinese girls and one Canadian boy. It is a pretty lively neighborhood with a lot of coffee shops, bars, restaurants nearby and a food market around the corner. It usually takes us 45 minutes to get to university by metro and 20 minutes by taxi.
All in all, there are some things we noticed about renting an apartment in China: paying the rent, electricity, gas and water are kind of a pain, requiring long waits at the bank. The rental agency also required a "management fee" of 1000 RMB and a deposit of more than 3000 RMB from each of us. That was a lot of money and we were not prepared to pay all of it immediately. The agency we were hiring did not clarify the terms which leads to many misunderstandings.
Despite all that trouble connected with the housing, we are very happy to find a comfortable place to stay in the end.

1.2 Food
Before travelling to China my anticipation to experience new culinary experiences was immense. In Germany I only encountered Chinese food in a brief and incomplete manner, so I was excited to try some ‘real’ Chinese dishes.

My first introduction to Chinese food was in Shanghai Pudong airport. Bombarded with an imposing array of Chinese characters and bizarre looking products, I headed for the stand situated closest to the door. I actually wanted to try something new so I went for a package of green pocky sticks, which I thought, would have a lemon taste. Unfortunately, I found out it was made of wasabi. I must have looked weird, standing there coughing while eating the sticks but I still think it was an amusing experience.

Being here for more than almost 2 month, I already consider myself as a Chinese food expert. Why? Well I have to mention that my parents are from Vietnam. I grew up with Asian food ever since I was kid.
"The Vietnamese eat everything with four legs, except tables.” That is what my parents use to tell me and I think the same goes for the Chinese. Wild animals, household pets, reptiles, amphibians, insects — if they can find a tasty way to prepare it, they will eat it.

But there are still some differences between Vietnamese and Chinese cuisine. Especially, the way the Chinese use to prepare it but also some of the ingredients. I have eaten at a dozen Chinese restaurants back home in Germany but it is still not comparable with eating at a restaurant here in China. There are some things I noticed:

Most Chinese waiters and waitresses do speak English unespectedly well. Even the menus are mostly translated either. Sure, in less touristic places the communication in English would not go that smoothly and the menu will be entirely in Chinese but so far, we have not had any trouble ordering our food. And if you are lucky, you can expect the menus also to be filled with pictures, which is really nice.

Something I did not know either is that there is not much tipping in the Chinese culture. You order your food and you pay the price as advertised on the menu.

In many cases, the bowls, plates, and the cutlery will be brought to the table entirely wrapped in plastic. My Chinese roommate explains to me that some restaurants do that to show its cleanliness and hygiene. We used it once and we were charged with a small fee, which was not a problem at all.

Altogether, I would say many dishes I tried on the streets are part of the daily life of Chinese people and are easy to cook. That is why we have decided to have dinner at home more often with my Chinese roommates. We have a blast each time when we prepare the food together. Egg Fried Rice, for example, only takes minutes to cook. Others, such as dumplings, noodles and fish dishes, take longer, but still consist of only a few simple steps. Many of the ingredients are available at the markets or at local supermarkets nearby.

In the following I will share some of the delights.

1.3 Cabdrivers

There are quite many taxis in Shanghai. Usually, I do not need to wait for more than five minutes to catch one. Cabdrivers are really fun to talk to, even though they do not understand everything in English. Although most of the cabdrivers treat us friendly and politely, we have to be careful not to be tricked. Some of the drivers try to take the longest route possible as soon as they notice that we are foreigners. There are times when they do not even want to turn on the meter and charge you with enormous fixed prices. We also figured out that it is wise to take the receipt from the driver because if one of us would forget something, this is the only way to possibly get it back.

1.4 Traffic
The traffic is really scary sometimes. There are traffic laws and street lights, but I would say those are more of guidelines than actual rules. People drive on the wrong side of the street, pile four cars into three lanes, etc. We had to be extremely cautious on the street until we have adapted to the environment. Another difference are lines; they do not exist. People will cut you in lines anywhere and everywhere, especially if they feel you are taking too long. But I think we will get used to it after a while.

2 Daning Elementary School

About a week ago, I had what was easily the most adorable time of my life. Through a project in Chinese culture, we were invited to the Daning Elementary School to teach a class of motivated kids something about other cultures.
We were a mixed group considered of four different nationalites. Spending the whole afternoon interacting with the students was so funny and personally rewarding at the same time. None of us did even want to leave at the end.

Surprisingly the kids were not shy at all. They had no problem walking right into us as soon as we entered the classroom. I have never received so many hugs in such a short period of time. Kids were coming up to me and just chatting away in Chinese because they have not quite grasped the concept that I only understand English. I have gotten to the point where I just nod my head and pretend to understand because I think that is all they are really looking for.

I also have never been so amazed at the speed with which Chinese students can complete lessons. We taught them four songs in four different languages: Vietnamese, German, Russian and English. They were able to remember the lyrics within five minutes without even looking at them.

During an interview with some students we were quite impressed by the huge amount of students who were interested in international studies and cultures. They desire to master a foreign language so they could do their graduate work abroad.
Overall, I really had a good time with the kids. They are so cute and very lovable. It made me smile to see how happy they all were to see us and to be having a presentation.

Due to everyone's efforts, things went very well. It was a great cultural exchange and definitely a memorable experience.

3 Sightseeing

3.1 Painters Street

Painters Street is a small lane in Xujiahui with 40 or so shops and galleries offering a wide variety of frames and paintings in oils or watercolors. Many of the artists have their own pieces along with some copies of famous art works.
We have decided to take our time and enter as many shops as possible. I think it is necessary to spend at least an hour to discover all the great pieces individually made.
What impressed us the most were the meticulously realist Michael Jackson and David Beckham potraitures.

We could actually find anything for any budget. Some of the most ambitious works cost tens of thousands of RMB, but you can also get paintings for less than 300 RMB. There are also more stalls on the second and third floors in the attached building. It was a fun way to spend a couple of hours.

3.2 Fake Market

We all know there are fake markets in Shanghai such as the Qipu Market or the Taobao City Market. As one can imagine all the products sold in the fake market are, well, fake. Its unbelievable but they offer a wide range of all different kind of things. You can purchase bags, shoes, dresses, toys, brand name clothes, jewelry, watches and much more.

I have a blast everytime I visit one of the markets. The local people always try to convince us that their products are of top quality and different from all the other products, which are sold in the surrounding stores. They start with an extremely high price and hope to get the most out of it. After a while we figured out that it is better to start at a lower price than the price that is on our head. We use to compare the prices to those in Germany, which is the first mistake to make. You can bargain for just about anything. The more confident we became the better the deals we got. It is also helpful to have the ability to speak a little Chinese. Actually nothing is more fun than to slow down, get a little bit lost and taking the time to oberserve everything.

Conclusion

I am beginning to understand that cultural differences are much more than just differences in language, food, appearances, and surroundings. I think it is more important to immerse myself in the culture here and accept the things just the way they are. A big test for me was getting used to how different the culture was: the way people interacted with one another, the cleanliness of the apartments and hospitals, and the aggression on the subways. I kept telling myself how different and bizarre this was, but I was wrong. I was using my own biases, my views of my culture at home, and imposing them on what I was seeing here. I think that every new student same as me should get rid of any presupposed judgments before coming to China. During my stay in China I've gained everything from experience to new friends and food that I'll only be able to taste in Shanghai. After living here for over one month now, the challenges I have faced and more importantly overcame have truly set me on a positive and confident path for when I return back to Germany.