Changzhou Chronicle Pt. 1

3 November 2002

I survived my first week in China.

I landed in Shanghai on Monday, 28.10.02, after a 13 hour flight.

Thanks to my new Frequent Traveller Status with Lufthansa, the air company had promised a special treatment for my luggage: indeed, my hardcover case arrived cut in two.

It was my first possibility to deal with Chinese burocracy and with what has been the major issue of this first week:  the total impossibility to communicate with the Chinese.

Changzhou is a “village” of one million inhabitants (somebody says there are 3,5 millions) in the Jiangsu Province, more or less half the way down from Nanjing to Shanghai. By car it takes from 2.5 and 7 hours from Shanghai Airport. The length of the journey depends on the driver, the car, the accidents and construction sites you find on the way.I was lucky and after 3.5 hours I was thanking the driver (my second speech of the day) and entering the Mingdu Hotel: 4 stars, 18 floors, personnel in livery, two restaurants, sauna, tennis  court and gym: this is where I’ll live the next 18 months. I’ve been assigned a minisuite with a bedroom, a living room with cooking facilities and a bathroom. Everything has European standards and I have anything I need. The 4 Grades (who are in the same program as me) that are in China live in the same hotel, and so do some of the other Iveco expatriates.

The Chinese Language

When I left for China it was my serious intention to learn to speak Chinese. Now I still want to, but I’m profoundly sceptic that I will succeed.

I’m asking people to repeat twenty times the easiest words (thank you, hello, yes) but my maximum retention hardly goes beyond 10 minutes, and that only with a constant mental repetition of the sounds. It’s completely useless: next day I will combine two random sounds or I will use the wrong tone and the listener will either laugh or look at me in deep disconcert.

Written Chinese? Don’t even think about it. I hope I will learn how to recognize the names of some towns in order to be able to travel a bit…

Hoping to be more optimistic about the language, next time I write!

The Chinese

Very strange people… always very kind, but never trust them!

They’re very curious, especially about us Westerners.

Numerous.

I need some more time to get to know them…

The Traffic

The first time I crossed a road in Changzhou I was terrified. Not that now it’s different, but I’m getting used to it and I look carefully in every direction. Chinese drivers don’t give a damn about crosswalks and they never brake, not even if a pedestrian is 10 cm from their bumper. This combined with the fact that lanes and directions are disregarded, puts the life of pedestrians in continuous danger. You aren’t safe on the sidewalk either: bicycles, mopeds and even cars consider it a good passing lane in case of traffic jams.

The Food

The impact with Chinese food has been quite traumatic: pigeon, snake, duck’s tongue and pork kidneys all in the same dinner were a bit too much for a semi-vegetarian like me! No intestinal problems yet.

The Supermarket

Before coming here I had never experienced a food store where I didn’t know about 95% of the goods on the shelves. Here it happens to me every day. It’s not just that I can’t read a word of what is written on the packaging. Even the sight of the things on sale doesn’t give me a clue on what it could be. Sometimes I think it’s better not to know. Normally I exit the stores with some distilled water (the only water they drink), some bread, fruit and chocolate (of the worst kind).

Luckily there’s one supermarket the others showed me, where I can buy pasta, olive oil and even tuna in cans. The smallest pack of rice I was able to find weighted 10 kilos, but you can find fish, turtles (already “peeled”, if you like), crabs,… strictly ALIVE, to put in your bag to take home for dinner.

Work

My first working week has been nice and quiet: I’m  settling down and learning.

Last Wednesday I created turmoil because of the exceptional request of a chair, some paper and a pen: the financial manager visited me in person to ask me what I needed. Now I buy pens and anything I need at the local stationery store. CBC-Iveco counts more than 3.000 employees/workers in Changzhou and produces buses for the Chinese market. I will work in the controlling of the cost of goods sold. Communication within the joint venture happens through English-Chinese or Italian-Chinese translators.

I’m sure I’ll have a lot to write about work.

I succeeded in avoiding the toilets up to now.

The Medical Examination

To obtain the Chinese working permit I had to be thoroughly checked up medically. In app. one hour I  walked down a corridor where every door led to a doctor: I went through blood analysis, electrocardiogram, blood pressure check, sight test, X-rays, … Everything strictly dressed up.

My first week passed quickly and I’m more and more happy to be here. Everything is new and different, therefore interesting and entertaining. Anytime I want to escape from all this and go back to “normality” I can have some pasta with the others in our rooms (you can even order parmesan cheese from Shanghai) and watch a dvd (you can find nearly any title for 1 euro each).

Last weekend the weather was really fine and we went to Suzhou, app. 6 million inhabitants, 60 km from here. It’s known as the “Venice of the East”, but we didn’t see a single channel. It wouldn’t surprise me if they had been filled with earth in order to build new houses (after all it’s China!), but I still hope to discover next time that I only was in the wrong part of town.

Hear you soon,

Lín Dá