So, from here on in, I acknowledge how I experienced or talk of China – or the UK – may not coincide with that of the reader, but that is because they are my experiences and they are presented purely as this. I acknowledge, and so must you, that we are both subject to perceptions which may be informed – or even mistaken – from multiple narratives or narrators beyond our awareness.
Every time when I was traveling abroad, I liked to just make friends with people I met in the bars, in the theatres or on the squares, and it seemed that they were quite curious about China as they’d never been to. Sometimes the questions were a bit amusing. Someone I met in Vienna once asked me “so people can’t breathe in Beijing and Chinese people wear those gas masks when they go out?” It was really funny to me as I spent quite a long time in Beijing, having experienced all kinds of weathers there and I’m still alive! It’s understandable that misconceptions exist all the time as long as the media and the authority exist. But those news coverage are not accurately interpreted all the time, the best way to understand a misinterpreted place is to see it yourself.
I can recall how I misunderstood European countries during my first visits. For example, according to the internet and the news coverage, there were violent/terrorist incidents and street crimes happening from time to time, and before I came to the UK, I was constantly warned of safety issues, like don’t go out after it’s dark, don’t hang out too late at night and walk home alone, never leave your luggage on the train etc. At first I was very scared, I knew no one in Manchester and I was just a student. But turned out that my luggage was never stolen and I was never attacked. I told my parents who are in China that things are very different from what you see and think at home, just come to take a look.
I also remember how I thought of Scotland and Scottish people. I used to think all Scottish people lived on the highlands and they drank whisky instead of water. I don’t know what I read or watched made me think like that. I know it was silly. I after my friend and I visited a bunch of Scottish cities and towns, hills and castles (Glasgow-Edinburgh-Dunbar-Linlithgow-Stirling-Perth-Dundee-Aberdeen-Inverness), I realised I was so wrong, and Scottish culture and history are so interesting.
I wish to present the China I know and see in this blog, only based on my own experience of living there, without being affected by any views from other individuals or organisations. I believe, for those who have not yet seen China themselves, China might be a bit different from what you’ve heard.
Consuela J Wang
A Bubble on Sunday Afternoon 