A Dream of Chinese Mansions

What is the Chinese dream? What are they aiming for?

My good friend Jason's comment on an earlier post got me thinking about this question. He wrote:

China has a great manufacturing sector, many may soon look to China as an example in business and life. That is scary to me.

What kind of an example might the Chinese life be for the 'people of the future', your kids and grand-kids? I'll avoid the business example question, as that's another bear to wrestle with for another time.

There have been a lot of online articles writing on the Chinese dream, and even a book with the same title that came out last year. Here's a little of what I found:

- The Family Planning Policy ('One Child' Policy is a huge misnomer, for another post) has created a large segment of young people without brother or sister. And for those who can find a decent job straight out of college or even six months later, many of them seek to model themselves after their "big brother", Americans. You can find them sipping a latte in Starbucks while they surf the Chinese web, wearing the latest fashions, hitting the karaoke bars every week, eating at "Western" restaurants, and doing things that young kids like to do with the disposable income. ("Western" restaurants are those that serve non-Chinese food, with greater and lesser degrees of accuracy, and almost across the board higher prices, thus higher status to be seen eating there)

However, that leaves out a large segment of this same 'young people' population who don't live like there's no tomorrow. They are frugal, wear the same outfits every week, send a significant portion of their paycheck home to their parents, and choose the cheap restaurants or even cook for themselves (my friend cooked a meal for three on less than 2 U.S. Dollars, and we had enough left over for lunch the next day; yay for local markets!).

- Many Chinese have learned to dream from Americans. An article written by the same woman who wrote the book, The Chinese Dream, gave these two quotes as examples:

As a Chinese magazine editor told me bluntly, “The Chinese Dream is a copy of the American Dream.”
Many middle class Chinese are influenced by the American way of life. They are bombarded by many material temptations and proliferating choices. TV commercials, the Internet, and Hollywood movies give them a rosy picture of the American middle class.
One Chinese blog described it this way: “American middle class people live in a villa with a two-car garage in the suburbs. In front of the house, there is a green lawn. They have 2-3 children, and a dog. The husband goes out to work, and the wife stays at home taking care of the children. On weekends, they drive their SUVs to the countryside for barbecues and camping.”

Without addressing the whole copying problem in China, the magazine editor's comment gives me pause. What DO they see in the American dream? Certainly its a picture somewhat rosied by Hollywood. But despite accusations that their replication of the American dream is lopsided and incomplete, I would argue that it's not untrue. Even if they only emphasize certain aspects of it, they are emphasizing true aspects of it. This forces me to question some basic assumptions about life, wealth, and the American dream. What dream to I communicate by my actions, choices, purchases (or not purchasing)? What is really most valuable to me? And do my friends see that in how I live? Or are my deepest dreams obscured by the American habits and patterns of living I so easily fall into without a second thought?

The perception of the Chinese blogger may not represent MY life, but by virtue of being American I represent that life to them, unless I demonstrate otherwise.

- There's another aspect of 'the Chinese dream' I should have, but did not anticipate, that of non-Chinese coming to China in search of their dream. A lengthy article in the Washington Post highlights the fast growing number of foreigners in China (particularly Muslim), and the benefits that come with it. It reminded me of a 'friend' I have run into irregularly. He's Iraqi, and has lived in Wuhan for 10-15 years now. He did an MA and PhD at Wuhan University, and continued on as a faculty member. He had not once returned to his home country. I asked him why once, and to my embarrassment, he said something to the effect of, "After the U.S. invaded my country there was nothing to go back to."

- Lastly, as some of the articles I read said as well, it's hard to really pin down one 'Chinese dream'. Some are dreaming of leaving behind the mud-brick shack in the countryside for a small place in the big city. Some are hoping to graduate and find a job good enough to make ends meet. Some are hoping to trade in their Buick (it's a luxury car in China) for a BMW. The size , history and diversity of China makes it difficult to pin down one Chinese dream.

But, like Americans, I'd say they all have the dream of bigger, better, faster, flashier, happier, and hopeful. As one Chinese blog wrote:

So what’s the difference between the American dream and the Chinese dream? I think it is more likely a human dream comparatively. Everyone first wants to have a full belly, a warm home and a happy family. Of course some other people pursue love and happiness. However, what is happiness? It is only a kind of feeling. Like I mentioned earlier, different people have different feeling. When you have one coin, you must be eager for another.

I think it is fair to say that those with one coin, do, generally, want another.

In response to Jason's honest statement, do we have anything to fear? From Chinese? Perhaps. But no more than those who call the United States a foreign country have to fear from Americans.