James Huang - Far far away from Scouseland

I’ve been quite down for the past week or so. Teaching is unenjoyable and learning Chinese seems like an insurmountable task. All the teachers have worked hard and are now stressed out. The situation is tense, so I’m glad that the spring term is ending today.

Inevitably, I blame being in China for my problems and the culture shock sets in again. I spend time on the Tianjin expatriates web site. So, I go to my usual hiding spot at Starbucks. I spot a foreigner there and I yearn to talk to them for just 10 minutes. So I prepare to put on my most British of British accents, but I realise that I look like every other Chinese person that wants to practice their English. So I stop myself. I end up dreaming of England’s green fields again.

Except that the Chinese culture is not to blame. There is an expectation that problems will go away when you are at home, that feeling is exacerbated when you are thousands of miles away. So, I try to put everything into perspective. I realise that England’s green fields are probably:

1. occupied with protesters against the new runway, which has not even got planning permission yet
2. flooded because of global warming
3. swarming with Polish workers clearing up the mess for a reasonable wage
4. falling in value because of the impending housing market crash
5. experiencing cloud cover with some light drizzle but clearing up in the afternoon

Now, I don’t feel so bad and I remember what a famous Polish philosopher (my flat mate) once said: “Your problems follow you wherever you go.”

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It went into building China. More specifically, it is being used to build a huge flyover near my home (American English: overpass; Chinese: 立交桥). The amazing thing is that what you see in the pictures did not exist 3 weeks ago. It grows by 10 metres when I pass it week-by-week.

China’s vicarious appetite for natural resources is well documented. Tianjin is transforming itself to be alike any other modern city. But in the meantime, it means a lot of old buildings are being torn down and the city is covered in a huge dust cloud from all the construction.

I predict that when the London Olympics come around I will look back at this time and wonder why Britain was not able to match the speed of China’s construction. I hope I am wrong.

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I’m proud to be living in an area where there are local Chinese people and few other foreigners. I hear the local babble, which is still incomprehensible to me. I breathe in the authentic smells of street food, smelly tofu and precious heavy metals.

When I want to breathe more rarefied air I take a trip to the South of the city. Nanjing Lu is a favourite of mine because I can see where China is heading in the future.

The pace of development is lightning quick. The old buildings, shops and markets are being mercilessly torn down. In their place will come luxury apartments and shops.

What you see on the left will become prime real estate, like the Kensington and Chelsea of London. Buy now while you can.

Now, within 5 minutes walk of this area are: 3 Starbucks, a Pizza Hut, a Rolex shop, a Häagen-Dazs ice cream bar, a TGI Friday’s restaurant that is under construction and a Zara designer clothes shop that has just opened last week.

This blog entry has another discussion on China’s nouveaux rich.

This is where Tianjin’s nouveau rich are coming out to play and they are playing in increasing numbers.

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There is nothing like riding a bus full of Chinese to get you back with touch with your fellow man. There is always room for one more person. There’s a loud squeal whenever the driver brakes suddenly to avoid a cyclist who is not looking, going the wrong way and going straight at the bus. I have often been that cyclist.

There are subtle strategies to getting the all-important seat on the bus. The first is to ride at a time when no-one else is getting the bus. There is a crucial window of time from 10am to 3pm. Outside these times, you have to resort to strategy number 2: wait at the back of the bus. This is where most of the seats are concentrated. However, the back of the bus may already be full. Sometimes, the bus is so full that you are grateful for a pole to hang onto.

Actually, the bus does have many redeeming qualities. I am always heartened to see young people bully an older person to take their seat. Bullying means grabbing of arms and a gentle nudge. Things are more polite in Britain, but are we too polite? The old buses are getting replaced with new air-conditioned buses. However, there is a price increase of 3p to 13p.

British bus companies take note, please?

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Woooo. New website layout. Try the links, none of the pages are finished.

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