Another very notable year in my own life is that of the period from June 2013 to October 2014 when I lived and worked in the People’s Republic of China. I understand that this experience is one a majority of people in the UK will not be able to relate to, in fact in the Scottish Highlands very few people will be able to even imagine such a different place as Zhengzhou city. How I ended up in Zhengzhou is a story in itself but it should be noted I didn’t jump straight into China from Scotland. I spent an academic semester in Singapore surrounded by other students from Strathclyde that I knew beforehand. I then spent another semester in Singapore where I came into contact with a lot of PRC students via the public speaking social club (talked about in my NTU post). I then applied for English teaching jobs in China on the internet from the computer room in Singapore. I then spent a month in a small city called Hebi near Zhengzhou. Then I moved to Zhengzhou. Zhengzhou in 2013 was a place where you seldom saw a non Chinese national. There was a population of about 8 million so it was comparable to the city of London. Non Chinese were collectively referred to as ‘Laowai.’ In Zhengzhou city it’s no surprise that I picked up basic Chinese in 6 months with such immersion. And what of the totalitarian Chinese government you ask? In 2013 at the time the local economy was growing so fast, so many rural Chinese were moving to the cities and the TEFL (teach English as a foreign language) market was so strong that there was relatively little interference from the government. I had a visa and a passport and when I left and reentered China numerous times I was never even questioned. As for working, employers didn’t mind as long as I made them money and was reliable. As for renting accommodation, rules were similarly lax. China in the 2010s was a place where a new middle class was growing. Families now could afford white goods, cars, tertiary education, foreign holidays, luxury goods. I’ve never been to the United States but from what I hear people say a lot of people there have never left the country nor had a passport. The classic criticism is Americans can’t name the countries on a world map when shown a picture or asked a question. China was similarly self sufficient and obsessed with itself. Zhengzhou is not like Scotland where we get all manner of people visiting the castles, the scenery and hearing the local music. 

The young and wealthy Chinese would bond over Karaoke sessions. WeChat was the main messenger app. Alipay was the Paypal of China. Each region in China had its own cuisine. Beijing roast duck, Sichuan hotpot, Guangzhou dim sum.

Zhengzhou was a place where air pollution hung over the horizon like a strange mist. There was constant noise of construction of new houses, new factories, new shopping malls. The place was a hive of activity. Electric bikes, in the shape of a full size motorbike, with multiple batteries, were the most popular mode of transport. The metro would open up its first line towards the end of my time in Zhengzhou. 

One of the most refreshing aspects of Zhengzhou however was the down to earthness and humbleness of the people. Especially those that had come to the city from the smaller cities or countryside to make a better life for themselves. Even at 20 years of age I was used to the snobbery of British classism. People in Scotland would mock the way you speak, your physique, your lack of experience. Zhengzhou in 2013 was doing so well why would you bother to critiscise? It’s hard to convey the boom town atmosphere.

In the end Zhengzhou changed me as a person. I have looked at Chinese people and Chinese culture differently since then. I have experiences that are difficult for people here in Scotland to relate to at times. But often its the differences in human beings that can grow to define them.