China in the Rear View Mirror
Thoughts on the Similarities, and Differences, of our Asian Cousins
This is a follow-up article to Culture Clash 101 published in Culture Club on March 25, 2014.
It isn’t possible for an American to visit China without contemplating the politics of the place. I’ve been here only a few days, to prepare and present an architectural proposal for a new hospital in Nanjing. Still I’ve enjoyed the advantage of meeting local Chinese, working with them, and staying up past two in the morning with them; activities that forge connections and loosen tongues. Sometime after midnight, during a break from refining our presentation, I asked whether being a Party member factored in obtaining architectural commissions. “No.” The reply was swift, the conviction hollow.
After fourteen hours of straight work, we’d exchanged enough quips about our respective governments and the condescending attitude of disinterested bureaucrats to unearth mutual cynicism. Without prompting, a few of my late night companions admitted to being Party members; others remained mute. No one denied membership, but no one proclaimed enthusiasm either. I realized that joining The Party is one of the few political choices available to Chinese citizens. They can choose to align with the system, receive its benefits, perhaps even affect it from within; or they can remain apart, foregoing membership’s privileges in exchange for a measure of autonomy.
I asked whether it’s customary to work with foreign design firms. Sean, our Chinese partner, explained that it’s essential for large projects. He’s worked with firms from Canada, Australia, and Germany as well as the U.S. “But I prefer working with firms from Canada and the U.S.; they have a more creative approach to design, they are less fixed on the details. We are very competent in details.” Sean’s words summarize our complementary cultures. Americans are adventurous, freethinking innovators, unsurpassed in churning up big ideas; the Chinese are masters of execution.
My driver to the airport spoke no English; I suffered no distractions during our 40-minute drive. I counted construction cranes until I couldn’t keep track. Nanjing has more construction cranes than New York City, perhaps more than the entire East Coast. The city is digging down to expand its subway and climbing up into its smoggy sky. Kilometer upon kilometer of apartment blocks march along the highway from City Center to the airport.
My flight to Shanghai took less than an hour in a mini-jet. Few fly the route since the bullet train is faster and cheaper. From the air I’ve never seen anyplace that looks so much like the United States — the sinuous highways with elegant interchanges, acres of warehouse roofs and giant arrays of residential streets. In between the cities, agricultural fields are fully cultivated, verdant patchworks as charming as any stretch of Indiana. There are differences of course. Our residential streets support suburban houses, theirs front strings of apartment blocks; our warehouses are white roofed, theirs are pale blue; our railroad tracks form black webs that connect industrial cores; their bullet tracks slither among the medians of broad highways. Still, if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, China loves the United States.
It is fascinating how our two countries achieved such high levels of technical living through diametric means. The United States became the world’s first industrial giant through a laissez-faire relationship between government and business, a viable approach for a frontier country filled with the restless, motivated immigrants. China, with an ancient history and a billion people, industrialized under a unified, authoritarian government.
The Chinese I met understand their strengths and limitations. They are careful, orderly, inclined to join in rather than stand out. They use the term ‘government’ more often and in more contexts than I’d ever heard; government is central to their lives. Whereas we would chafe under so much control, they accept a heavy hand. China has existed for 5000 years. Within seventy years the Communist Party has wrenched the country to an unprecedented level of growth and prosperity. It is the new kid on the block. He will morph and change, but he isn’t going away anytime soon.
