I thought might be an interesting exercise to try these 3 tests quickly without resorting to Wikipedia or the internet more broadly (exceptions to this are friends who do business actively in China or my Dad who has traveled there and everywhere else it seems, quite extensively):
1. Name 10 Chinese cities
2. Put them in descending order of approximate population size, with accurate spelling.
3. Make a rectangular-ish shape on a piece of paper and place these cities on it.
If it makes you feel better I can name 3 - Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai. I think Macau counts? I think Hong Kong and Macau are cop outs anyway given the British and Portugese colonization respectively! I certainly can't spell the name of that huge place that is a manufacturing center (Guangdong?)
It occurs to me that in the US and in India, we focus a lot on China and news about China. In India, in particular, since there is a troubled border and the Chinese team up with Pakistan against India, there is an existential worry as well.
1. Name 10 Chinese cities
2. Put them in descending order of approximate population size, with accurate spelling.
3. Make a rectangular-ish shape on a piece of paper and place these cities on it.
If it makes you feel better I can name 3 - Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai. I think Macau counts? I think Hong Kong and Macau are cop outs anyway given the British and Portugese colonization respectively! I certainly can't spell the name of that huge place that is a manufacturing center (Guangdong?)
It occurs to me that in the US and in India, we focus a lot on China and news about China. In India, in particular, since there is a troubled border and the Chinese team up with Pakistan against India, there is an existential worry as well.
For the U.S. and India vis.a.vis China, the lens is competition, military rivalry and queasiness about totalitarian mercantilism. However, It is arguably one of the most important countries in the world. What does it say about our pathology that we are in this situation of not knowing much about the place?
Of course, please do surprise me with your knowledge of China!
Of course, please do surprise me with your knowledge of China!
If, with some exceptions, well educated well traveled folks struggle with a simple exercise like the above, how can we expect an entire population (US or India) to understand the complexities of this relationship. btw, I have been trying this mini-test out with friends, family and colleagues all week this week - with a 99% failure rate across the three questions.
- Our view of china is almost all as an adversary
- We don't have a systematic way of learning and understanding them nor do we possess a culture of wanting to learn about their culture.
I am fairly certain Indians can name more cities in the U.S. than in China. I also imagine Americans can name more Indian cities than Chinese.
Yet:
- China is our and the world's largest supplier
- Largest debt financier
- They were doing global trade on the silk route and during and before the poppy wars
President Nixon astutely called China a sleeping giant during the 1970s - well it ain't sleeping anymore!
Also, the news reports we get don’t do justice to any of this. They typically seem inform less and provoke more. For my own part, whenever I see a news story on China, going forward, I am going to ask
i) Has this story added to my knowledge of this country?
ii) Has this provoked an unhelpful emotion such as fear or anger?
iii) What has the news story not covered?
iv) What else should I read to make up my own mind?
6 comments:
Because you think all of us need to know the names of ten cities - we may face the same plight with the BR in the BRIC group of countries! The question is less whether we know the names of ten cities and more whether this rapidly growing economy will sustain its steam for as long as the US economy has so far. Let's try nevertheless:
Beijing, Nanjing, Wuhan, Dalian, Shanghai, Chengdu, Lhasa (since China has effectively gulped this sovereign state of yesteryears), Hongkong (which is under Chinese rule now!), Macao (the LV of China?), and Ulan Bator (if we assume that China effectively has meted out the same political mistreatment to Mongolia as they have to Tibet). Interestingly ten cities back in our homeland will not have such baggage attached to them as some of the ones noted above. China will remain an economic ally and a political adversary for both India and the US over the next decade or two. Then hopefully our demographic dividend will kick in and they may have to play second fiddle beyond 2025 (optimistically), beyond 2030 (realistically), beyond 2037 (pessimistically) :-)
Living here should disqualify me automatically. Business takes me to some of these cities on the list but we as a family are slowly making our way to some of the cultural/historic cities in the region. Lot to see and appreciate, rich heritage. In spring my daughter is going to be an exchange student for a month at a remote province in south china. Building on our own unique experience out here.
Here are the major cities in China. Leaving, Bejing, Shanghai and Honkong, the most important cities( I have visited all of them) are :Wushan (This is where the the three gorges dam is and it is one of the largest cities in central china),Chongquing ( another major industrial city with tremendous number of high rises ), Guilin,Wanxian,Wuhan and Suzhou. The last four are ancient cities but being modernised very rapidly.All these are in the central china. Leaving Bejing, there are no major cities in the north ( beyond Xiang). But I must say ( contrary to popular thinking) all of China is NOT rich or very well developped. Just like India, the cities are getting developped rapidly ( with all the problems that follow) and at the same time, the country side is extremly poor. What is worse is, because no one can have a large piece of land, mechanical tilling is not possible and produce is not sufficient for the families thenselves. I have seen many such places. Also, another strange thing I have come to know is that, there are 'city pass' and 'country pass'. People with country pass are not allowed to settle in city or enjoy any of the benifits ( including education to their children). So, curruption is rampent and those with enough money, bribe the officials to get city pases. To me, all in all, the rapid development both in China and India are only seen in the cities and it has not touched the rural areas yet. Hopefully it will go there also some day. The main difference I have seen in China between what I have seen in 1991 and 2011 is that people are much more willing to talk ! I have seen lot of complaints( with very low voice of course ! ) of how only some are getting all the advantages and not them ! Where there is diproportionate money, there always will be grubling and if care is not taken, revolution will follow !
True! China is the largest trading partner of India in terms of imports and yet we do not know much about the country other than focusing on adversarial news.
I am now going after an atlas!
"...It occurs to me that in the US and in India, we focus a lot on China and news about China. In India, in particular, since there is a troubled border and the Chinese team up with Pakistan against India, there is an existential worry as well..."
This is turning out to be our biggest worry now. Consider this:
A summary of some selected media reports:
1. China is building up its political presence in POK in a big way.
2. With a huge loan to Uncle Sam, It is (somewhat secretly) being perceived by America as an impending economic menace too. As the last few months have shown, it is capable of soaking up the flow of the USD in the open market. That too at a time when the US public, mostly driven by a sub-panic reaction, were investing heavily in US treasury bonds. This tilts the economic equation ever so slightly towards "Uncle Sam Vs the People of America". Now who would tolerate this?
3. Pakistan is being perceived by America as a pain in the you-know-where because of the likes of Laden. Top American defence officials visiting this sub-continent to "give peace a chance" is no ordinary event.
Our fears are that our part of the world will be the venue of the next big military carnage after WWII.
Factor local concerns into the big picture and you have a better understanding of what is triggering this mass hysteria.
Wishing you great progress with your reading. Do share your beautiful insights with me.
Very good, I completely agree with this one.
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