What did you learn in China? Part 1 of 3

When going to China, I felt that I was going there to have awesome experiences and learn from them.  The awesome experiences did happen (and how!) but recently the question of what I learnt in China came to mind.  It is nice to do all this overseas travel, but you would hope to learn something while you are doing it!

With some thinking, I realised that there were nine major lessons that I have learnt from China.  I have divided them into three parts, and will tell you the lessons I learnt, and the experiences that led me to learning the lesson.

Lesson 1: Don’t worry about problems. You will be surprised what you can overcome.

How did I learn this?

• Thrusting yourself into a country that speaks a foreign language is always going to produce issues.  One of our largest was trying to register at the police station.  In China foreigners need to take their passport, rental contract and landlord’s ID number to register at the local police station.  Failure to do so makes renewing your visa difficult, if not impossible.   In one house that we lived the landlord steadfastly refused to give us his ID number.  Presumably as a tax dodge, the landlord came up with a stream of excuses as to why he couldn’t give us the number, including that he had lost his ID and didn’t intend on replacing it.  All seemed lost, until we complained to a policewoman about our problems.  She contacted our real estate, told them to solve the issue and we had the ID number within two minutes.

• Most people who have lived in China for an extended period have one horrible food poisoning story.  Molly and I had ours in one of the most beautiful places in the world.  We had travelled up to Lake Karakul, high in the Himalayas bordering Kyrgyzstan.  Suffering altitude sickness, and having struggled to hold food down for two days, Andrew H was in a terrible state, but was nothing on Molly.  Molly was in deep trouble if we did not get foods into her quickly.  We headed into the restaurant, only to find out they were out of everything except tasteless buns, a bland seaweed soup and rice.  For two hours, Andrew H nursed Molly, feeding her the concoction.  It was a scary and difficult time, but we did enough to keep Molly going.  Thankfully by the next morning we had recovered enough to enjoy the stunning scenery.  (many thanks to Andrew S for all he did for us in this tricky time)

The aftermath at the glorious Lake Karakul

Lesson 2: The world is not stable, but instability can bring amazing opportunities.

How did I learn this?

• China jobs for expats have a habit of disappearing or changing with little notice.  At one stage my job was suddenly changed and I was left vulnerable. Luckily I quickly found a job at the Department of Agriculture.  Working at the Agriculture office for five and a half months was a wonderful experience.  Amy, James, Nancy and Cindy created a positive work environment that was only punctured by regular games of table tennis.

DAFF staff - Great working environment, and then great people to hand around with (Sadly no picture of Nancy - too busy playing table tennis!)

• Beijing is an amazingly flexible city.  Go away for a week and you’ll come back to find half the shops had changed hands  and your favourite ice cream place has shut down.  The change did provide benefits however, encouraging you to go out and explore the changes and find yourself a new favourite ice cream shop.

Lesson 3: Abject poverty still exists, and we are fortunate to avoid it.

How did I learn this?

• People beg in developed countries, but the sheer scale of poverty only hits home when you are in a developing country.  Missing limbs and burnt skin are common among Chinese beggars, but the strongest impact anyone had on me was a lady who often lay near Tuanjiehu station in eastern Beijing.  She was young, but could not / would not stand, as the burns across her body were too severe.  In Australia, she would be treated and would probably lead a relatively normal life. In China, she is left to beg on the streets.

• China’s governance system leaves local governments with low tax revenues and high spending requirements.  To make up the gap, local governments seize farming land, selling it to developers for a fat profit.  The displaced farmers are given minimal compensation, leading many to end up in poverty.  Other farmers are left fearing the government could seize their property at any moment.