Conversation: Number Five

Cheng and I met in our usual meeting space- Union Grounds. We started off talking about school work and he has another debate in his english class and his topic is the death penalty! I was surprised that they are making the IEP students debate such a controversial topic, but he thinks it should be banned. Well actually, he told me he didn't really care about it. He just thinks people should follow the rules.

We also chatted all about travel, I discovered some fascinating differences between Northern and Southern China. Apparently there is huge animosity between the people from Beijing and Shanghi. The people in the North eat more spicy, fried, unhealthy food while the people from the South eat bland, healthy, sweet food. Also, Cheng thinks that the people in the South are less intelligent. He compared the feud to be similar to the differences between North and South in the U.S.

I asked him if he's ever visited Europe, and he then explained to me all the trials and tribulations that come with being a Chinese citizen. Apparently the Chinese passport only gets you to a couple of the places around China (he said it was bulls***). Most other countries won't accept the Chinese passport because they think that the Chinese people are just going to move in and never leave. You have to apply for a Visa wherever you go, and even then it's hard to actually get one. You can't even visit Hong Kong or Taiwan without a Visa, that's like saying you can't go to New York without a Visa. That's absurd!! The Hong Kong government doesn't care about anyone or anything besides money, according to Cheng. So all these people want to move to Hong Kong to have a better life, but the government there won't help you, they just want your labor and profit. The government doesn't accept the Chinese passport because they think if they do accept it there will be a huge influx of people.

Overall I learned a LOT about Chinese culture today. Cheng explained to me that you won't find an unhappy Chinese person, which was shocking. He said people are always smiling and extremely polite.  They think Americans are rude because we just say everything straight, no talking around a problem. Chinese will not read a newspaper article if it just says exactly how you feel, you must be polite about it. An example he gave was a newspaper article reviewing bad food, an American could say: "The food was awful", while a Chinese reporter would say: "Maybe it will be better the next time". He also told me that it's impolite to laugh, cry, or make a scene in public. I asked then if people ever laugh, and he said "Of course! Just in the privacy of their rooms". I realized then I would never be able to visit China.