Not Going Home

In July, 20-year-old Qian got his big break. Having attended one of the top 10 Chinese universities in China for the past two years, Qian decided he would study abroad for a year in the U.S. After just four months as a junior at Minnesota University, Qian has decided his career dreams in engineering can best be achieved in America and so he’s not returning to China – at least the foreseeable future.

Qian’s news came as a surprise during a phone conversation on Thanksgiving. Our “conversation” turned out to be his monologue about how awful Chinese universities are compared to their America’s.

“For the first time in my life I realized what it means to teach and to study,” he said. “My previous two years in college can be considered nonsense and guideless compared to the life I’ve had in the States. I realize now that the Chinese don’t care about you. They don’t provide anything to facilitate my chase for excellence. All they are doing is killing talent. Thereby, I’ve decided to extend my stay at the Minnesota University and probably become a total transfer and contribute to the U.S.”

As engineering major, Qian said he had all of the resources he could ever hope for to design his own circuit. In China, he reminded, this wouldn’t be the case as all the students are instructed to read and remember the rules in the textbooks.

Further, Qian shared his appreciation of having an advisor who consults with him about possible career paths. In China, students complain that they get little to no advice from faculty members, and they must figure out their career by themselves and hope for the best.

Coincidentally on the other side of the world, Qian’s complaints about limited possibilities in China were strikingly contrasted by 26 years old James’ decision to indefinitely extend his stay in China. In fact, China may be James’ final destination after taking an absence from school in the U.S. to travel. Holding his Chinese girlfriend tightly and smiling, James said that the opportunities afforded him as a student in Paris didn’t compare with his daily discoveries in Shanghai and the surrounding provinces which have become an adventure-land for his exploration,

Certainly Shanghai has undergone tremendous restructuring in preparation for the country’s hosting of the World Expo in 2010. Even I have to admit that the public transportation and city services are incredible and life in the city is now very convenient. “You see, you admit it” James and his girlfriend said, teasing me. “And we would love to stay here.”

So what are we to think about the Chinese citizen who never wants to return to China and the American citizen who only wants to spend the rest of his life in China? Their stories present a confusing picture of two different Chinas.

Qian, who comes from Liu Zhou (a small city in inland China) is like so many of China’s poor who live in underdeveloped cities and remote rural areas that do not provide even the most fundamental conveniences and services for their constituents. Life is so depressing for people living outside of the major cities that it doesn’t take a genius to want to leave for a better life. On the other hand, Shanghai is an exciting city, developing quickly and so it’s not hard to understand why visitors never want to leave.

But what makes James’ and Qian’s chosen paths particularly interesting is that most Chinese people don’t understand why foreigners want to live in China rather than their country of origin. While the global communities are talking about the century of China, the G2 and the annual growth rate of 8%, the Chinese people are talking about the corrupt Chinese government, the dying environment and the rotting social welfare system. In fact, most Chinese dream of leaving the country so their lives will be better and they can be free.

Surely if history has taught us anything it’s that we all need to find our own way and pursue our own dreams. History also teaches that unsustainable development doesn’t last long. The bubbles of glitz and glamour of Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen might seem to be exciting, but underneath the surface things are not what they seem for far too many people. When the majority of the country abandon their hope, no matter how big and fascinating the bubble is that has been produced, that bubble will eventually pop. Thereby the most important thing to keep in mind as we are dreaming of our better futures is not whether this is China’s century, but rather that our dreams should go beyond ourselves and help to feed the hungry, cloth the naked and free those who are oppressed.