Three years since my last visit, I returned to my hometown in China in October, 2011. In a sense I had not returned, at least to the hometown I used to know even from three years ago. The place seemed to have gone through an extreme makeover. The economic development that had taken place is simply jaw dropping. Beautiful houses had mushroomed at the foot of hills. Modern conveniences such as refrigerators, air-conditioning, microwaves and solar-powered shower system have entered households that used to struggle for subsistence. Roads were built to connect one village to another. Almost all families own electric bicycles, motorcycles or even cars that make walking a lost art. After years of driving to and from work, I made a point of walking in the country roads for exercise and relaxation. As I walked, I found myself constantly approached by sympathetic people who wondered aloud why I was walking. Out of respect for their choice for wheels, I confessed I didn’t own any means of transportation there, other than the feet that carried me around.
Farming has also become easier. For fields not yet abandoned to weeds (many are), a new farming method is being used to plant rice. Seeds were scattered in the fields as described in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13). We used to plant by sowing in a seedling plot, then rooting out the seedlings and replanting them in a bigger field where they will grow more evenly until harvested. In my days as a kid, I was a catcher in the rice, shooing the birds from the seedling nursery. This was my after-school program where I also did quite a bit of reading while fighting these angry birds. It would terrify a parent today if a kid did this, as single children’s main purpose in life those days is to get themselves ready for good scores in the upcoming test, whatever that is. Parents force or cajole their kids to apply what Malcolm Gladwell calls the rice paddy work ethics (in his bestseller Outlier) to the preparation for exams.
While kids were kept busy, adults are not necessarily so. With increased productivity, easier transportation, and less time spent with kids, adults have more free time at their disposal. People spent hours eating and drinking in local restaurants or homes. One of our local specialties is called “soup bowls” (“shuiwan”), traditional soupy dishes served in weddings or funerals. The place best known for it is a restaurant called “Daguan Restaurant” (大关餐馆). By my standards it was rather expensive, yet I found its parking lot always packed and all rooms filled. People were eating, drinking and laughing.
During my visit I was constantly invited by former friends and classmates, teachers and officials to such fancy dinners, after which I was often asked to join them in Karaoke clubs to sing songs, or in my case, to listen to them. I was overwhelmed by their hospitality, but soon I found this to be difficult for me as I was now used to quieter time after nine years living in the US. I tried not to go. My refusal, however, was perceived as being offensive, though that’s not what I had intended at all. One of my classmates joked that I’d have to come no mater what, even if he had to take me away from home by hostage, because some such dinners were summoned in the name of welcoming me back home.
On one such occasion, I learned from a dinner host why there is great enthusiasm for these feasts, other than traditional hospitality for friends from far away. I was told that many people at my age have been accomplished in each of their careers. They have their own apartments, cars and fine jobs. After they come home from work, there is actually little to do. Such dinner parties provide occasions for pastime and social gathering, for lack of better methods.
Another important way people spend their spare time is to play cards or mahjong, often involving some gambling. People can easily play deep into the night or till the next morning.
I had nothing but gratitude and reverence for my friends’ hospitality and I enjoyed the food very much. However, such customs were becoming worrying for me too. Some of my friends also whisper that such dinner parties are unhealthy and meaningless, but they go anyway, as it is not going to be comfortable to stick out as a social outcast in a place where you'd often bump into one another.
I wonder why people wouldn’t spend more time with their kids, and the response usually is: “doing what?” Things that I took granted for in America, such as visiting local libraries and bookstores, participating in church programs, and visiting local museums and park activities, were still largely new or unheard of for many average Chinese families. The cultural landscape in China, especially in emerging economic areas, is like a wasteland that cannot be concealed even by the glare of red-hot economic development.
For instance, when I went to a few local bookstores, I found mostly textbooks and textbook peripherals, such as sample tests from various provinces, college entrance exam article preparation guides, or various electronic handheld devices literally called “study machines”. I tried to find books that I translated or wrote in Chinese. Boy was I disappointed! There was none. That didn’t hurt my feelings because I cannot find works by more famous authors either. While kids and adults in America go to local libraries to borrow stacks of entertainment reading by leading authors in many fields, Chinese kids and adults who aren’t in big cities are left with few choices. And I haven’t found any local public libraries in the neighborhood. I think it is imperative to build them. My rich readers, I hope you've paid attention. You might find yourself becoming the Andrew Carnegie in China.
I found great irony in the use of spare time between the two countries. You’d think that life would be more monotonous in the US, where people live further apart from each other. Actually there are all sorts of activities going on. In the evenings, people mow the lawn, read books, or develop various personal hobbies such as woodcutting or duck hunting. On the weekends they go to church services, take Bible classes and participate in small group meetings. In China, unless something is done about it, our economic prosperity will defeat its own purpose of improving standards of life. If people’s hard-earned money is spent on wasteful eating, unhealthy drinking and in deafening karaoke clubs, can the development actually be called progress?
We are what we spend our spare time on. I am definitely not the only person who became worried. Months ago, I had a visitor from China on a Sunday afternoon when we were having a small group of people from the church visiting us. The group leader was teaching kids to sing songs about various virtues in practical terms kids can understand and apply. When they left, my friend commented: while the Americans spend their Sundays reading or teaching their kids these basic values, what are the Chinese parents doing, other than eating, drinking, playing cards or mahjong? Twenty years from now, how different will the two peoples become?
