for comparison

i thought i'd rattle off some preconceived notions i had about china pre-travels (i wrote these before i left) as a point of comparison for the end of the trip. they are based on fact, hearsay, media, and a week trip to shanghai three years ago to visit my brother and his girlfriend becky, who's from beijing. they're not that flippant so you'll probably want to skip them, unless you're really bored or would like a glimpse into my vast ignorance.

preconceived notion #1: the commun-ist-ication bubble
when i visited shanghai we heard by word of mouth that there had be some protests in another part of china during our stay, but of course no mention of it in the media. i couldn't help but think how savvy the government's modern tactics were for maintaining control...let people talk as much as they want because as long as they can't find out what's going on elsewhere in the country in real time (via internet/television/radio) than they can't organize. because it is a HUGE country. even though its very cosmopolitan, shanghai felt isolated in a way, provincial, because of the control over national communication

preconceived notion #2: 'there will always be more'
my favourite chinese saying courtesy of becky. it makes me laugh in a crying kind of way. it was her response to my query about how chinese people reacted when they heard about the governments' quelling of protests elsewhere in the country. of course she meant 'there will always be more people', not protests, or crackdowns. i'm interested to see what social coping mechanisms develop in a country w/ a population density of 138/km2, coming from a country where its 3.2

preconceived notion #3: nothing phases these guys
this is another impression from shanghai. it seemed like the chinese population knew they had this vast history behind them, with sea changes over successive regimes: imperial, ideological, or otherwise. i can see how that could make a person feel insignificant in relation to this huge machine, and hence apathetic, but more than that it seemed to engender this intense pragmatism: life goes on so lets get on with it...but not too seriously.

preconceived notion #4: totalitarianism's not what's it's cracked up to be
i was shocked in shanghai how unbrainwashed people were. maybe that was naive of me but its true. it seemed like outside of the han stronghold in the northeast people pretty much went on with their lives unfettered by the affairs of the communist government, like there was a nunspoken understanding: let us go on with our lives and we won't rebel against you. it also sounded like if you were in the far west of the country 'going about your life' could mean a lot of different things depending on which of a hundred minority groups you belonged to. again, this might have been brutally ignorant i had not idea china was such an ethnic party. i kind of thought the communist government has successfully homogenized everyone but turns out i was wrong...or maybe not....we'll see :D

preconceived notion #5: a lack of appreciation/respect for women
what can i say. the paperwaves are filled with talk of female euthanasia, and i'm probably gonna be subconsciously watching for grandmothers slapping their little granddaughters in the face and then giving their little grandsons candy apples. raise the red lantern and some other chinese films probably haven't helped.

preconceived notion #6: a high level of appreciation/respect for women
well its still technically communist!! and 60 years of ideology and institutionalized gender equality have to add up to something...it seemed to in syria at least (i mean the post-communism = feminism 'lite' thing)...but maybe that was just a cultural...i might have to hold off until i visit cuba & russia before i pass judgment on this assumption.

thats all for now. i guess all my others are too ingrained to even realize i have them. isn't bias fun.