Spring Break
China filled with surprises, tradition, unity
Joce DeWitt
Issue date: 2/20/09 Section: Forum
China is a vast land of industrialism and commerce, a place full of opportunities and billions of people. I should know - I lived there for a year.
Transferring schools before my senior year of high school did not sound like the most exciting thing, especially when it required a 15-hour plane ride. Why would my family pick China after living in Venezuela? There were many reasons, but the biggest was that it was a perfect location to start over again - but that wasn't a new concept for us.
How do I even begin to describe the country? In a nutshell, it's impossible to fathom how enormous it is. One glance at Hong Kong Island was enough to make my head spin. There were hundreds of 30-story apartment buildings clumped together within a 50 mile radius. The streets of Hong Kong were always crowded with salesmen trying to sell fake Rolexes to unsuspecting tourists.
The diversity of the city of Hong Kong itself is jaw-dropping. One side of the street was lined with booths selling knock-off merchandise and the other side had designer shops like Chanel and Gucci.
But I actually didn't live in Hong Kong; it was just the first Chinese place I'd ever seen. My family moved to Shekou in what is known as "mainland" China. It's basically a city within a bigger city, Shenzhen, located in the Guangdong province. Shenzhen is considered a "developing" city but has far more people than the entire state of Oregon.
The international school I attended was taught in English and was made up of about 500 people. The communist government did not approve of Chinese-born children attending "Westernized" schools, so there were no Chinese students. Instead it was made up of students from Korea, Japan, Brazil, Canada, the United States, India and the list goes on and on.
What struck me about Shekou was the lack of technological advancements. American movies and television led me to believe that I wouldn't be able to keep track of all the novel products, remarkable engineering and technological advances. That just wasn't the case in Shekou.
Transferring schools before my senior year of high school did not sound like the most exciting thing, especially when it required a 15-hour plane ride. Why would my family pick China after living in Venezuela? There were many reasons, but the biggest was that it was a perfect location to start over again - but that wasn't a new concept for us.
How do I even begin to describe the country? In a nutshell, it's impossible to fathom how enormous it is. One glance at Hong Kong Island was enough to make my head spin. There were hundreds of 30-story apartment buildings clumped together within a 50 mile radius. The streets of Hong Kong were always crowded with salesmen trying to sell fake Rolexes to unsuspecting tourists.
The diversity of the city of Hong Kong itself is jaw-dropping. One side of the street was lined with booths selling knock-off merchandise and the other side had designer shops like Chanel and Gucci.
But I actually didn't live in Hong Kong; it was just the first Chinese place I'd ever seen. My family moved to Shekou in what is known as "mainland" China. It's basically a city within a bigger city, Shenzhen, located in the Guangdong province. Shenzhen is considered a "developing" city but has far more people than the entire state of Oregon.
The international school I attended was taught in English and was made up of about 500 people. The communist government did not approve of Chinese-born children attending "Westernized" schools, so there were no Chinese students. Instead it was made up of students from Korea, Japan, Brazil, Canada, the United States, India and the list goes on and on.
What struck me about Shekou was the lack of technological advancements. American movies and television led me to believe that I wouldn't be able to keep track of all the novel products, remarkable engineering and technological advances. That just wasn't the case in Shekou.
Note: writers will not reply to comments.
Be the first to comment on this story
Comments by registered users are approved by default.