Well, not exactly “late” night, as it’s only 7:15 PM here in Beijing, but it feels like late night to me because for many of the people I know and love in New Mexico, it’s 4:15 AM.
I’ve been thinking of what I dislike most and like most about China, on this, my 11th voyage to the Middle Kingdom. First, the dislike category.
The communication gap is, of course, a big problem. As for instance last night, when I tried to get a cab to take me to the restaurant where I would be meeting my colleague Deb and her family, and after I got in the cab (at my hotel), the driver turned the car off and just sat there. Um, what’s the problem, I asked. Grunt, he replied. OK, I figured that he was reluctant to take me because the restaurant was “too close” (although a pretty far walk for me) and wouldn’t be worth his time. “I’ll pay you double,” I told him. He grunted again and pointed to his ear, clearly meaning that he couldn’t understand what I was saying. OK, I thought. Maybe money talks. So I took out 25 RMB and waved it at him (his usual fare for such a short trip would be 10 RMB). OK! he said, and off we went. Success! It ended up costing me a whopping $3.91, but the aggravation was in the failure to communicate the first time.
But hey, maybe we did communicate successfully. But it made me very nervous . . .
It also gets really old here that pedestrians NEVER have the right of way. It’s just a constant worry about crossing an intersection and hoping not to get mowed down by a car turning right ON A RED LIGHT WITHOUT STOPPING and even though the WALK SIGN IS CLEARLY FLASHING. When I told a Chinese friend of mine here that in the US pedestrians actually do have the right of way and that cars have to stop for us, she was amazed, couldn’t believe it.
And the air is really bad here. Some mornings, I can’t see the buildings pretty much across the street, the pollution is so bad. The Chinese know this too, and are very worried. It remains to be seen if there is anything that can be done about it, and soon. Ack. Ick. Gack.
OK, now for the good news. On rare days, the sky is blue, the sun is shining, and Beijing is absolutely beautiful (as much as a big city can be, anyway). And then there are the Chinese people who are just delightful (unlike my grunty cab driver). Some years ago I was on a bus here in Beijing and a lovely elderly woman pulled on my sleeve and insisted I sit on the empty seat next to her.
And then there are my students, who “love” me. (No kidding, one of my students just sent me a “Happy Thanksgiving” email which ended with, “We love you.”) I have such an amazing assortment of students this year: Chinese, of course (the majority), but also Iranian, Brazilian, Malaysian, Korean, Turkish, Russian, South African, Nigerian, Swiss, Italian–I feel like I’m teaching at the UN! And I am learning so much from them.
So I guess it all comes down to this: Beijing is like any other big city (17 million people!) with all the “horrors” of a big city (pollution, difficulties just crossing the street, smashed up against each other on subways), but its people are spectacular. And very dear to me.

