One of the books I'm currently reading is from a popular travel writer Paul Theroux. Theroux's book, Riding the Iron Rooster by Train Through China is, as stated by the book cover, "an eye-opening and entertaining account of travels in old and new China".
And for someone who's been residing in China for a year now, I often found myself nodding to the thoughts and observation of Paul Theroux.
Here's the catch though...the book was published on 1987.
Nevertheless, some things are the same here in China. And here are some of my thoughts together with quotes from Paul Theroux's Iron Rooster (in random from different pages) thoughts/tidbits that I agree with because even as time passed by, they still remain the same.
1. Chinese cannot hide their interest in anything.
"The Chinese never seemed to hide their interest in anything. They stared frankly - when I opened my wallet they peered in, when I unzipped my bag a crowd gathered to look at my laundry. They are seldom alone; usually they were part of a watching crowd, which made it all possible. They were riveted by the freakish and the pathetic." (page 213)
I laughed when I read that passage. Why? Because I experienced the same thing on my train travels. One time when I was on the train from Guangdong going to Tianjin, I never said one word because I know I am going to be the center of attention in the train if one Chinese ever finds out I'm a foreigner (it's easy for me to pretend I'm Chinese cos I'm Asian looking). After a couple hours of what I thought was a success in hiding my true identity as a foreigner, one woman asked me something. At first I tried to pretend that I did not hear her, but she persisted and asked many questions so I told her that I am sorry cos I can't understand what she said cos I'm a foreigner (Duibuqi, Wo ting pudong. Wo shi way guo ren). Then everyone in my part of the train stared at me. And it was like that for the next 20 hours on the train. When I awoke the next morning, I saw the woman opposite my bunk staring at me as I opened my eyes. I looked at the person on the bunk up next to her's and he was staring all the same. I pulled my sheet up my head and went back to sleep.
2. The friendliness of the Chinese.
"Their attentions were sometimes bewildering, as when they leaned over my shoulder trying to read what I was scribbling into my notebook, or pressed their damp faces against my book, fascinated by the English words. But their curiosity and goodwill were genuine, and in general they were hospitable towards strangers and reasonably candid." (page 300)
This one is, in a way, connected to the one above. Yes, Chinese people are so friendly. If you've been reading my travel thoughts in Beijing you would know what I mean. Their attention could sometimes be bewildering cos they are constantly curious of someone or something that are not the same as them. I would speak English to one restaurant attendant and all the rest would gather to listen to my English. It's fun at times, but then later on you would like to be just normal and not to gather too much attention to how poor you are in your Chinese. I'm speaking for myself in here.
3. Ice cream for winter.
"People shopped, bought frozen food (melons, meat, bread) and licked ice cream. That was the most popular snacks in Harbin - vanilla ice cream. And the second most popular were small cherry-sized "haws" (hawthorn berries) which they coated with red goo and jammed on twigs." (page 318)
The quote above was Paul Theroux's observation in Harbin. I have gone to Harbin myself and I observed the same thing (aside from the fact that women in Harbin likes their hair to be really, really curly it almost look like they are wigs and not an ordinary hair). It was freezing cold outside and you'll see people joyfully eating ice cream (and some would pair ice cream with spicy barbecue, talk about an adventurous combination). My friends in Harbin asked me if I would like to try it out. The wind blew against my face and it felt like my face was slashed with a razor blade. I said yes to my friends and off we go. Very cold ice cream on my left hand, and the very spicy barbecue on my left. I survived!
4. Loud is natural.
"And they talked very loudly in that deaf, nagging and interrupting way, as if no one ever listened to them and they have to shout in order to be heard." (page 217)
Chinese people could be shy. I attest to that in the silence of my students when I start to ask something in class, or in how low their voices are in oral recitations. But in the restaurants, internet cafes, in buses and trains and in other public places - Chinese would talk very loudly. In other countries, or in the Philippines, one would get the attention of the staff in the restaurant by waiting to see him/her eye-to-eye then giving a signal that one would order, in China, people would shout "fuwuyuan!!!!" (meaning helper, attendant, staff). They talk loudly all at the same time and would smoke inside restaurants and internet cafes.
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