China Bound A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC (1987) / Chapter Skim
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3. Settling In
3. Settling In
Pages 41-70
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From page 41... ...
In Hong Kong the China Travel Service can supply information and tickets; the address of the main branch is 77 Queens Road, Central District Hong Kong Island (phone: 5-259121) The China International Travel Service, which serves non-Chinese visitors exclusively, has an office in: 41
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From page 42... ...
Embassy." This report does not indicate what happened to the bags; in most cases, they show up on the next flight. If they are clearly labeled with the address of your unit's foreign affairs office, they may be delivered there.
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From page 43... ...
Whether it be a commune, factory, research institute, or university, the work unit is a microcosm of Chinese society with its own political hierarchy, networks of personal and professional relationships, services, and, in many cases, living quarters. It is through the work unit that the Chinese government exerts its influence on the life of the individual, for it is the unit issuing the identification card that marks the bearer as a working member of Chinese society, entitled to medical care, ration coupons, and housing.
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From page 44... ...
In their informative study of a hospital work unit in Wuhan, Gail Henderson, a sociologist, and Myron Cohen, a physician, examine in detail the meaning and position of the work unit in Chinese society and in their own professional experience: Danwei are isolated from each other in relatively closed systems, dependent upon higher levels for the source of their power and authority over members. The danwei system is, of course, not the sole force affecting the lives of work unit members.
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From page 45... ...
Although there may be a certain degree of security and simplicity inherent in such a setup for example, you need not worry about the basic arrangements for daily life most foreigners feel confined when they realize that most arrangements for daily and professional life must be channeled through the waishi banshichuliterally, "the office for outside business," but usually referred to simply as the foreign affairs office or waiban. THE FOREIGN AFFAIRS OFFICE Although the foreign affairs office looms large in the lives of foreigners, it does not exist simply to oversee the foreign guests within the unit.
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From page 46... ...
It will take time and effort for you to figure out how your unit is organized, who has formal authority and who has actual power, how to couch requests, and what role the foreign affairs officials play. Advice about how best to deal with the foreign affairs office is difficult to offer because situations vary so much from unit to unit.
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From page 47... ...
As a consequence, allocations of all kinds seem to be made literally on a firstcome/first-served basis." It can be assumed generally, however, that when foreign affairs officials work on behalf of their foreign guests, it is to their own advantage rather than against their interests because they bear ultimate responsibility for the visit. As one young woman who works in the foreign affairs office of a large, prestigious Beijing unit remarked to a foreign couple about to embark unaccompanied on
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From page 48... ...
A small normal college that does not enjoy prestige within the educational system may be either more defensive and rigid with its foreign guests or more welcoming than a large key university; a research institute that has never hosted foreign guests may be eager to establish new ties or, alternatively, suspicious and unhelpful at first. As a result, generalizations about daily life must be made with caution.
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From page 49... ...
Foreign visitors have admitted feeling ashamed at being so well-housed when their Chinese colleagues have to work without quiet space and to live in small and crowded quarters. As one researcher in a scientific unit put it, she felt guilty when she realized that her office had once accommodated six or eight of her colleagues, who now had to do without in order to supply her, the foreign guest, with adequate office space.
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From page 50... ...
As one senior scholar observed, "It often took a genuine effort to establish a dialogue that moved beyond the superficial aspects of daily life, especially with my older Chinese colleagues." Younger people are sometimes far more open. American students can expect a great deal of curiosity about U.S.
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From page 51... ...
For a foreign expert to attempt to conduct research without official permission is to risk serious misunderstanding and potential jeopardy to Chinese friends who may have assisted in that research. (The Social Sciences and Fieldwork in China: Views from the Field, p.
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From page 52... ...
In Chinese Rejections: Americans Teaching in the People's Republic, Tani Barlow and Donald Lowe provide a sensitive, frank portrayal of the rich network of human relationships they both inherited as a result of Donald Lowe's family connections in Shanghai and developed as foreign experts at Shanghai Teacher's University from 1981 to 1982. Barlow and Lowe offer a number of useful insights into the meaning of guanxi for them and for their extended Chinese family and friends.
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From page 53... ...
In his essay, "After Comradeship: Personal Relations in China Since the Cultural Revolution," Tom Gold emphasizes the pragmatic character of most human relationships there: The preeminent characteristic of personal relations in China today is instrumentalism. The principle that underlies it is guanxi, which means connectedness or particularistic ties, but is best left untranslated.
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From page 54... ...
Another factor encouraging more "normal" human relations is simply that foreigners are no longer the oddities they were 7 years ago following China's 30 years of isolation. In fact, many Chinese units in larger cities have had to scale down their ritual reception of foreign guests for reasons of economy and efficiency.
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From page 55... ...
Sometimes the welcoming banquet offers the newcomers their first opportunity to discern the "pecking order" in the danwei. The host is always the highestranking person present and is almost always seated facing the door; the most honored guest sits to the right and the second-ranking host directly opposite or at a corresponding position if more than one table is used.
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From page 56... ...
This trend extends to the reception of foreign guests as well. The number of banquets for each visit has been cut down in many cases, or noontime dinners have taken the place of the evening meal out.
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From page 57... ...
One of the great advantages of the current openness in China is that you can ask Chinese friends for advice and help in negotiating the labyrinth of behavioral expectations. And most Americans agree that although the Chinese appreciate sincere attempts to respect Chinese culture by emulating some of the modes of behavior that ease potentially awkward situations, there is no need to lose your own identity in the process.
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From page 58... ...
China's criminal law provides that the PBS must produce a warrant for the detention and notify the suspect's family or work unit within 24 hours. In the case of an American citizen, the Consular Convention between the United States and China provides that Chinese authorities must notify the U.S.
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From page 59... ...
Many of the most obvious and disruptive clashes occur not between foreigners and Chinese residents but among foreigners who live in close quarters without a clear legal or ethical context to guide them in their interpersonal relations. Many Americans enjoy the opportunity to meet people from all over the world.
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From page 60... ...
spell out the rules governing student housing. "Chinese schools have separate dining halls for foreign students.
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From page 61... ...
Teachers are classified either as foreign experts (who are selected by the State Education Commission) or as foreign teachers (who make direct arrangements with the host unit)
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From page 62... ...
The irony of hotel life is that it is hard to see Chinese friends naturally within its walls but even harder to maintain some privacy from the Chinese staff at the establishment. Keys are usually kept at the service desk on each floor, and service personnel are generally very responsible about protecting guests from outsiders.
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From page 63... ...
We're in a newly constructed guest house for foreign experts. The rooms are modern, spacious and relatively well appointed.
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From page 64... ...
Most agree that home cooking is better and a little cheaper, but the dining hall is chosen for convenience. Foreign residents have the same range of choices, and most eat out, either in the dining hall or in local restaurants, for the same reasons that motivate their Chinese colleagues.
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From page 65... ...
In the section of the cafeteria served by a waitress, the food is somewhat better, but it's repetitive and disproportionately expensive. There was a woman who cooked for the five foreign experts at the university.
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From page 66... ...
Foreign students can eat at the foreign student dining hall for a few ynan a day, or they can eat at the Chinese students' canteen for even less. The latter are crowded and lively; there are usually no tables or chairs and students are responsible for bringing their own bowls and utensils.
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From page 67... ...
The U.S. Embassy in Beijing reports that there are no English-language schools of any kind for dependent children of foreign experts or researchers working in China except for those operated by foreign diplomatic missions.
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From page 68... ...
Consulate General Shenyang FPO San Francisco, CA 96659-0002 Several foreign experts and consulate staff members in Shenyang have placed their children in local schools. Tuition per semester is Y120 for middle school and Y90 for elementary school.
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From page 69... ...
Neither child spoke any Chinese on arrival nor were there any English-speaking staff at their schools, but the parents felt that their children did remarkably well and that children of other foreign experts in the area also seemed to adjust rather easily. Teachers in Shanghai commented that American preschool children seemed to thrive in Chinese kindergartens but that older children had some trouble adjusting to Chinese schools which in turn had difficulty accommodating foreign children.
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From page 70... ...
The pace in most work units slows considerably during these holidays because staff often travel to visit relatives or for sightseeing. Most foreigners in recent years have found these holidays especially enjoyable when celebrated with Chinese friends and colleagues.
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