education from the top flight problems Howard W. French (NYT)
analyzed in a concise, excellent article the efforts of the Chinese government to prepare the population through education campaigns on the international audience next year. In this example, the spitting, rude behavior while waiting in line, and disregard of traffic rules, etc. are considered. Significantly - as
French - these practices were accepted until recently. They are suddenly exposed as unseemly and here
French the campaigns than just superficial, aiming to pure appearances.
French beschreibt im Anschluss mit einer gewissen Bitternis, aber fair, wie er in China als Ausländer wahrgenommen wird - und diese Zeilen sind das Beste, was ich zum Thema in den vergangenen zwei Jahren gelesen habe:
If making the right impression is paramount, however, I would like to contribute another suggestion that could go a long way. Living in Shanghai, China's most cosmopolitan city, for the last four years I have been continually struck by the vast gulf that seems to exist in people's minds between Chinese and foreigners.
I first discovered this through my hobby, photography, which led me to wander through the city's working class neighborhoods, where at every turn I hear cries of "lao wai." The words constitute a slightly uncouth slang for foreigner. Literally, they mean "old outsider."
Quite often, these murmurings are accompanied by a mocking, sing-song uttering of the English greeting "hello." The tone is unmistakable, and it is not friendly. This is not to say that it is hostile, either, rather it is said in a way that suggests that foreigners are not merely an object of novelty here, which should certainly no longer be the case by now, but also of slight ridicule.
These are not churlish observations, and my feelings are certainly not hurt. I feel genuine gratitude toward the many people who have let this stranger into their homes or not objected as I have photographed them close up. Indeed, if the calls of "lao wai" had been limited to working class neighborhoods, I might have stifled this observation altogether.
Unfortunately, it is not. In hotels and restaurants and on central city streets here and all over China I have heard Chinese of every station speaking loosely and loudly about old outsiders in their midst, and wondered how they would feel if everywhere they went overseas people pointed fingers and shouted "Chinese!"
Come to think of it, I've never heard of eradicating "lao wai" talk as one of the behavioral campaign goals, and I think I know why. The Chinese state has long promoted us-versus-them ways of thinking to enhance cohesion and control. By now, these notions have taken such deep root they have become normative.
The Olympic Games, however, are above all a celebration of our common humanity, and China would do wonders for the impression it makes on visitors by easing the distinctions between us and them.
French it meets here on the point, and I can not tell me his opinion - from personal experience - just plug perfectly: Would the "lao wai" ring, silence, China would be a more pleasant place for foreigners.
