Chicken feet and biltong: interviews with the Chinese (Lee Yao)

Hollywood actress Sharon Stone said that the Sichuan earthquake was karma for what China did to Tibet. What do you think of that?

Well, what I can say is that Sharon Stone is a stupid [bleeeep! Not on my blog!] bitch.

What is your view of South Africa and South Africans? What have you learned about South Africa from the Chinese media (newspapers, radio, television, movies)?

South Africa is a very interesting place. Chinese media often shows the landscape and advertises South Africa as a tourist destination. China has built very good relationships with many countries in Africa like South Africa. South Africa is the richest country in Africa and it surely attracts many travellers and business people.

What do Chinese people like about foreigners?

Businessmen like foreigners because most of them can bring the profits for them. Civilians like foreigners because they are curious about people who look so different! I don’t think Hong Kong people would treat foreigners as kindly as Chinese people do, because to see foreigners on the streets in Hong Kong is much more common.

You speak of Hong Kong people and Chinese people as if they are different. What do you mean?

Maybe I have misled you. I am saying Hong Kong and Taiwanese people sometimes look down on mainland Chinese, just like Shanghaiese dislike “outside” Chinese. We are all Chinese people, but some Chinese people sometimes put themselves into a different class and look down on others.

What do Chinese people not like about foreigners?

Again, I really think most foreigners in China are very polite and very nice, like you and Marion. I really enjoy coming for dinner; those pies are great! But, as you know, many foreigners with less education about China destroy the good reputation of foreigners in Chinese people’s minds.

What do you think of the issue of Tibet being “re-claimed” by China?

Going back to ancient China, Tibet and Mongolia used to be the most dangerous enemies to the Chinese dynasties. But after thousands of years we became one country and a country with 56 different nations (sic) of people, so from my point of view I think Tibet is a part of China.

What do you think of the Dalai Lama?

I don’t know much about him, because ever since I can remember, this guy has been in exile.

What do you think of the USA selling arms to Taiwan?

Companies want to maximise their profits. Volkswagen still produces the Santana model in China after 20 years because there is a strong market for the car in China. So … the Americans sell weapons to Taiwan to profit the USA. I think that’s fair enough.

What do you think of the sensitive issue of Taiwan being re-integrated with China?

This is a very sensitive question and I don’t know how to reply, but compared with Taiwan, Chinese government officers have a serious problem with corruption. They drink the best white alcohol in China, which costs 600 RMB for a bottle. They smoke the best cigarettes in China, about 60 RMB for a pack; a dinner party often costs over a few thousand RMB. Yet, in China, many parents cannot afford schooling; many elderly have no money for medical treatment. We give taxes to the government to develop the country and to help those poor people. The money is not for those officers to enjoy life.

On the other hand, Taiwan is a very democratic country. The political system is better than China. Just compare the economy and political systems. I just have no confidence about re-integrating.

I was horrified by the way Japanese soldiers raped and slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Chinese in Nanjing (Nanking) in 1937. Japan, in my opinion, has never really apologised to China for the rape of Nanjing. Why do you think Japan does not apologise?

I don’t really have a good impression of the Japanese. Not just China, but every East Asian country has suffered from Japan’s cruelty. No matter if Japan apologises or not, we will remember everything the Japanese have done and our children will remember these things too.

If you could live in another country, where would you choose to live?

I’d choose Australia or Canada, because I used to live in Australia for a while. Maybe Canada because I would like have a snowy Christmas instead of staying in a swimming pool!

You are not a Shanghaiese. I understand from Chinese friends that Shanghaiese sometimes look down on “outsider” Chinese. How did Shanghai people treat you when you first arrived here? How do they treat you now? How much Shanghaiese do you understand?

What I can say about Shanghaiese, is that their father or father’s father all come from different parts of China. The real local Shanghaiese are in Songjiang, Nanhui, Fengxian, people who live in the city loop [inside the equivalent to London’s Ring Road] I think are mainly outsiders, and only think about themselves. Oh I am just tired of talking about them; they are just a group of selfish people.

Why is it that Chinese people often say they can only speak one language when they all can speak two, Mandarin and their hometown language? What is your home language called? How different is your home language from Mandarin?

People speak Mandarin because it’s the official language. It’s the standard Chinese language, schools teach it right from the beginning. The hometown languages just use a different pronunciation. But the home language uses the same writing, hanzi, so we don’t classify it as a different language, but we can say it’s a different accent [I think Lee Yao means dialect].

I am confused. Shanghaiese and Cantonese are very different. They are not just different “accents”, they are different languages. I know you understand Shanghaiese at all. Is that not then a totally different language, with very few words the same as Mandarin? I have had the experience of Chinese people not understanding Chinese people from other parts of the country even though they are both speaking the “common language”, Putonghua, Mandarin. Do you think Chinese people from different parts of the country speak Mandarin differently? How do you deal with this?

People in China with less education often cannot speak Mandarin properly. This is a common problem; well I still have no idea how to deal with that.

A major factor in the global recession is debt or “virtual money”. Chinese people just do not do debt. The banks are nationalised and very little borrowing is allowed – at least to the man on the street. Comment on this.

I don’t have debt, my family doesn’t have debt and none of my friends have debt. This is Chinese culture; nobody wants debt. The world’s economic problems will not affect China much, because the government controls the economics, like banks. As you know China used to be communist. But the government took over most factories and companies. Nowadays the Chinese government still owns a large amount of enterprises, and all those enterprises control the Chinese stock market.

End of interview

Comments

Lee Yao is about 23, specialises in IT and is my best Chinese friend. Probably also Marion’s and he’s always welcome in our home for dinner. We met him nearly three years ago and he has helped us out a lot in a strange country.

Chinese people can be extremely classist, elitist and racist. They are like this in a way that they do not even see themselves, like not being able to see the wood for the trees.

I do not think it was any slip of the tongue that Andy initially differentiated “Chinese” people from “Hong Kong” people. Hong Kong Chinese look down on people from mainland China. Shanghaiese look down on mainland Chinese as being uneducated. White collar workers look down on blue collar workers and can be very gruff with them … and so forth.

My link to the Washington Post article is well worth the visit for the Chinese approach to debt as described by an independent source. At the risk of oversimplifying things, this is China’s internal policy on economy: The ruling government is communist by name, nationalistic in terms of controlling the banks, and more or less free enterprise and capitalistic in business, provided, of course, you have the right contacts and leverage (surely a reason why golf is getting more and more popular here).

The ordinary Chinese guy on the street, until recently, could not borrow money from banks. Cash only. This protected him from Western-styled banks which, as we all know, can be notoriously greedy with interest rates, compounding interest, making small errors in cost calculations (in their favour) and penalty and service charges. Even now it is difficult to get a bank overdraft in China and Marion and I would not even bother trying. What on earth for? We don’t owe a penny and live well on less than half our income. Thank you, Mr. China!

Mr. China, by Tim Clissold, is a hilarious read about Western attempts to do business with China as she slowly emerged from the tender mercies of Maoist communism, initially led by that absolute legend and true Chinese hero, Deng Xiaoping.