In search of the ‘real China’

Do all foreign visitors change their perception of China after visiting the country? No, they don't. Certain travelers still view it as a rather backward place. When they are faced with something that doesn't match their expectations, they feel awkward or disgusted. Let them be, I say. There's no point trying to explain to them the intricacies of China since many are only here to travel and shop, not understand.

My mother came to visit this summer with yet another one of her friends. This woman had a clear predisposition about the Middle Kingdom as unclean, but a haven for cheap, knockoff handbags.

When she first wandered around Beijing's hutong, she felt like she'd hit the bull's eye with her perceptions of China. "See? I told you the place is a bit of a mess. Look at the kids peeing anywhere they want," she mused. "Why do women cook on the street, and what's that smell?"

She seemed quite content with the temples she had seen and with the shopping she had done at night. But most importantly, she seemed pleased that her assumption of China was accurate.

The following week we visited a coastal city. High-risers, immaculate streets, Western-style shopping centers and stylishly dressed young people roaming around left her puzzled. "This doesn't look like the 'real China,' but it's a pleasant surprise" she proclaimed. She had spent less than a week in the country. How could she know what the "real China" looks like?

A few days later we were back inland and some of the places we stayed at during our travels had few or none of the standard amenities many Westerners are used to.

"What happened to the 'civilized China' we had had just been to?" my mother's friend quietly enquired, despite enjoying fresh air in a picturesque village.

By that time I'd become confused about the meanings of the words "backward" and "civilized," just as I had no idea about what was "real China" and what wasn't.

I wish I could ask somebody, but anybody who has spent any amount of time here knows the "real China" can't be so simplistically defined.

Whether it's Beijing central business district, a rundown hutong, a coastal metropolis or a remote rural village in a landlocked province, all these represent the "real China." It might not be easy to tell apart fake from real in the Silk Market, but it is definitely not hard to tell what the "real China" looks like. All one has to do is to look around them, wherever they are.

By Peter Krasnopolsky