The past 5 months in China

 It's interesting that I haven't yet properly explained what exactly it is that I am doing in China to many people in my life in the US. This situation, it turns out, is not unique to me alone. During conversations with some of my friends here—volunteers and participants in IFChina projects—I've discovered that many of the JGSU students haven't really discussed their involvement in this arts and culture organization with their parents. This isn't because IFChina is embroiled in any illicit activities, or because its projects are shameful or unremarkable. If anything, the exact opposite is true. This seeming lack of transparency is simply due, for me, to the difficulty of doing justice to the organization and my experiences in China with a simple, off-handed description. For some of my Chinese friends, however, their less-than-forthcoming reports to family members of their participation is more due to their fear that their parents or older siblings would not understand at all—or worse, would outright disapprove of—their work here. But let me stop beating around the bush and attempt to explain myself.

Why I came to China

After college, I came to China to spend 10 months at IFChina Original Studio & Participatory Documentary Center, a non-profit arts and culture organization focused on the local community in the small city of Ji'an, Jiangxi Province, China. It all began when I first met Yale World Fellow and filmmaker Jian Yi from China in September 2009. In the midst of writing a year-long senior thesis on trade between Africa and China, I began discussing with him, and with Kenyan journalist and World Fellow Beatrice Mategwa, a film project that would examine the impacts of Sino-African trade on the people of both continents. I knew that I wanted to attend law school after graduation, but I also knew that I wanted to take a year between college and law school to explore new horizons and to try to better understand people, culture, and society. So, I applied for a fellowship that would allow me to ostensibly spend a year working on a film about Africa and China, while also giving me the opportunity to observe and to learn about and from the world around me.

During my interview with the Parker Huang Fellowship Committee about my project proposal, the issue of feasibility was raised. If, after I arrived in China, it became apparent that my extremely specific and ambitious project would be impractical to complete, would I have the flexibility and willingness to develop a different project? I responded yes. After all, my purpose in spending nearly a year in China working on documentary film was (and is) not merely to produce a film. The film would simply the end product of a process that I hoped would allow me to learn, grow, and understand more about myself, about China, and about globalization.

Soon after I walked onto the campus of Jinggangshan University, I realized that the Fellowship Committee had displayed uncanny prescience when they had suggested during the interview that I be ready to formulate an alternative project. While giving me a tour of the offices of IFChina, based out of JGSU, Jian Yi told me that he and Beatrice had applied for funding from the World Fellows Program to work on their China-Africa project, but that another team of Fellows had received the funds. He suggested that I spend some time integrating myself into the various projects and daily activities at IFChina while I established local relationships and explored alternative project possibilities. The Ji'an and Jingggangshan areas would be especially interesting to explore because they were considered the cradle of Mao's Communist Revolution, and were therefore of great historical and political significance. I spent the next several months doing just that.

What I'm working on now

My current project goals are twofold—first, to complete a documentary film about people who are, or wish to be, movers and shakers in the small town of Ji'an and second, to do a photo essay series about people working at various levels in legal-related professions in Ji'an. For the documentary, I have begun filming the lives of some of the university students who volunteer at IFChina, the worship services of Christians in Ji'an, and the service activities organized by the Ji'an Love Association, the only official community service group in the city. For the second project, I have had a few preliminary meetings with a local judge and a bureaucratic corruption investigator in preparation for more in-depth interviews and photographic portraits.

In the course of my stay here, I have been astounded by the varying degrees to which ideas and values which were not traditionally Chinese have become imbibed into modern Chinese society. For instance, all Chinese students are required to study English beginning in middle school, and English is tested on the college entrance exam as well as graduate school entrance exams, yet students' grasp of the English language vary from a complete lack of knowledge to chatty confidence working proficiency. He Maohua, a JGSU sophomore in the Art Department, cannot form a complete sentence beyond “My name is He Maohua,” and asked me what “dog” means in Chinese. On the other hand, Wu Hengmei, a JGSU senior studying psychology and education, can carry on an extended conversation in English and can take theatre directions in English from an American director. When asked why they study English, most students can give only the most basic and dogmatic of answers: because it is required by the educational system, and because their teachers tell them that it will be useful to them in the future. Yet, most of the twenty thousand students at JGSU will never leave Jiangxi Province, will encounter few foreigners during their four years in Ji'an beyond the handful of foreign English language teachers at JGSU, and will have few opportunities to actually use their English knowledge in their daily lives. Why, then, study English? There are English teachers at JGSU who grapple with this question themselves each day, and struggle to make English language learning both fun and useful for students. They are trying to reform the educational system beginning with their small corner of the puzzle.

The English learning conundrum is but one of many Western influences that have manifested themselves in small cities like Ji'an across China, and which have prompted people to wish to change their communities. Other phenomena include a near-obsession with the NBA and with basketball players, the deep and fervent faith of the growing number of Chinese Christians, and the popularity of US fast food chains like KFC and Pizza Hut, which have become places where young people go on dates and couples bring their children as a weekly treat—indeed, Pizza Huts in China have evolved into sit-down restaurants with waiters, menus, and tablecloths! In a related vein, Chinese entrepreneurs have cashed into the national fascination with Chinese brands and inventions which have managed to Westernize themselves—as evidenced in the rise of “California beef noodle soup,” which many a Chinese has unsuccessfully sought out during trips to California, as well as the popularity of Chinese stores which have names that sound like they could be English, such as Yishion and Semir. These are some of the topics and themes that I plan to document and explore in my film.

About IFChina

Observing the local Ji'an culture as part of an arts and culture organization has offered me an especially interesting perspective, Over the course of the past five months, while coming to better understand some of the complexities of a modernizing China, I have also become an advocate for the projects and philosophies of IFChina. A relatively young organization that was only formally established at JGSU in June 2009, IFChina originally had a very specific focus on oral histories and participatory community documentaries—not particularly surprising, given Jian Yi's background as a filmmaker. I seem to have arrived just as the Center was moving away from these early roots and expanding into other areas like theatre, public art, architecture, and direct community service.

September was an especially intense month of new experiences as it was marked by the visit of a group of Singaporean and US-American theatre directors—Mei Ann Teo, Rey Buono, and Ben Low—and mural artists—Iris Landa and Cristy Lee. They launched a documentary theatre workshop that culminated in a 40-minute theatrical production as well as a series of “Happy Rooms” mural painting projects in rural schools and schools for underprivileged children. I became a translator and stage manager for the documentary theatre performance of “This Is How We Begin,” a collection of interwoven stories based on the real-life experiences of JGSU students and older Chinese opera performers with the Chinese educational system. I spent four days painting elephants, monkeys, and whales in a two-room schoolhouse in a distant mountain village and several weeks painting other murals in local Ji'an schools. I was also happy to be able to make use of my community service experience from the Yale Hunger and Homelessness Action Project (YHHAP) in working on “A Scoop of Rice,” a new IFChina initiative that collects rice from ordinary Ji'an residents and distributes it to those in need. The program is far from a simple give-and-receive setup. An essential part of it is the bond that volunteers and beneficiaries forge over the course of many visits. Many of the beneficiary households consist of a single elderly woman who has no spouse or offspring to take care of her. The bright smiles that spread across the crags of the weathered faces of these “grannies” are truly something to look forward to each week. These are the activities that occupied most of my time during August and September. After the departure of the English-speaking party, we worked on continuing the projects that they had begun by forging community partnerships, applying for funding, and publicizing IFChina's projects and overall work.

It was only starting in December that I actually began working on my own film and photography projects. One difficulty that I initially faced was a lack of support in cultivating my own knowledge and interest on this front, since much of the organization's—and consequently my own—energies were directed toward starting up and maintaining IFChina's expanded portfolio of new projects. With the arrival of another young filmmaker from the US in December, I have begun to learn more about filmmaking than I had learned in the four months prior. My main focus for the second half of my fellowship period in China with IFChina will be on creating and producing my own work.

What I have gained so far

That is not to say that I haven't learned much during my time here; I have gained quite a lot. I have begun to understand recent Chinese history and the formation of modern cultural practices. I have witnessed the impacts of the “One Child Policy” on modern families—both those that adhere to the policy and those who do not. I have had the nuances of the Chinese educational system explained to me by those who have grown up in it, and it is demonstrated around me every day.

As the daughter of Chinese immigrants, speaking fluent Mandarin, and being a fresh college graduate, I am able to easily blend into the JGSU landscape and live like a Chinese student. Thus, I am also able to immerse myself and observe without drawing attention to myself. Bringing a camera along to film, of course, changes my status immediately, and I often feel compelled to announce my American identity when explaining why and what I am filming to strangers.

While it has been extremely rewarding for me to explore my own Chinese roots here in China, I am also often distinctly conscious of my own otherness and am grateful for the luxuries that I took for granted in the US—things like freedom of information, as manifested in things as trivial as being able to access Facebook and YouTube to major aspects like the existence of a non-state-controlled press, or the ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity that is so commonplace in the US. One thing that the sheer mass of humanity in China has produced is a constant obsession with securing a better life in the future—either for oneself or for one's child(ren). Thus, Chinese parents toil away in the hopes of sending their children to college or abroad, and push their children to study hard beginning in elementary school, when students often have classes in the evenings and on weekends. College students are preoccupied with passing tests to secure a civil service or cadre position or admission to a graduate program. Upon starting a family, the cycle begins anew. While I have gained from this an immense faith in and awe of the resilience of the human spirit, I have also tried to share with those around me the ability and desire to enjoy the “here and now” while it lasts, instead of always looking towards the distant future.

I hope that I will be able to incorporate elements of all of these issues and ideas into my documentary film, and I am looking forward to the second half of my fellowship term here at IFChina in Ji'an. I am extremely grateful to the Parker Huang Fellowship—and to my parents—for allowing me to spend this year of eye-opening experiences in China.

The difficulty in explaining

I hope that this rather long body of text has at least half succeeded in what it set out to do, which is to explain why I am in China, what I am doing, and where and with whom I am spending my time and energies. But, I would like to return to some of my Chinese friends who feel that they cannot talk to their parents about what they are doing at IFChina.

Liu Ran is a JGSU junior from Hubei who is a Chinese major. She has an older brother who graduated from a one-year technical school in Suzhou and now has a steady job. One thing I should have noted earlier is that JGSU is not a top-tier Chinese university. It is what the Chinese call a second-tier school, a notch above the technical schools and third-tier diploma mills that award degrees to anyone willing to pay, but far below the likes of Peking or Tsinghua Universities. The only reason that anyone outside of Jiangxi Province might have heard of JGSU is because of the famous Jinggangshan name—a choice that was no accident. But back to Liu Ran: her parents were initially opposed to her leaving her home in the north to come down to Southern China for college, but eventually relented. They often tell her that after graduation, when she finds a job and marries, it should be back in Hubei. She says that she has had an interest in theatre and acting from a young age, but her parents were always opposed to any development in this direction, prohibiting her from participating in elementary school plays or acting workshops. When she finally got an opportunity to explore this interest through IFChina's documentary theatre component with the US-American directors, she unleashed an insatiable passion. Last semester (Fall 2010), she spent more than 15 hours each week leading theatre trainings and rehearsals with other students, culminating in two successful theatre productions that drew an audience of more than 100. But, she says that she still hasn't told her parents about her theatre involvement, for fear that they will stymie her continued participation. Heading home for winter break a few days ago, she wondered whether and how she would broach the topic with her parents during her time at home, especially in light of her winter break plans to attend a series of theatre workshops in Beijing.

Then there is Minnie, an energetic sophomore studying education, with a focus on psychology. She is from Taihe, a small city less than an hour from Ji'an, and the youngest of 5 children. Her parents are uneducated peasant farmers, and they own about 6 acres of land. Each of her older siblings has already graduated from college or from graduate school, a fact that makes her family the envy of their other peasant neighbors. However, her mother is concerned with only one thing—that her children achieve financial success and stability. Being uneducated, her mother constructs most of her beliefs about the world based on the reality that is fed to her through the television set. A desire to produce theatre or art, to explore and capture culture, is something her mother considers to be worthless. Minnie feels that the only person that she can turn to for support is her older brother, who has a master's degree and is set to become a father himself in July. While her mother only talks incessantly of good grades and a good job, Minnie tries to cultivate her own interests and ideals. Her brother has told her that he will support her in anything that she chooses to apply herself to. Minnie is currently trying to secretly purchase a laptop computer—without the knowledge of her parents, and with her own money—because her mother has warned her not to get caught up in the dangers of addictive internet games and other online and computing schemes or traps. Minnie herself is well aware of the dark side of the internet, but she has also discovered the treasure trove of resources that a computer could unlock for her—including connections with other young people who share her interests and mindset and access to organizations that compile and disseminate the type of knowledge that she so hungers for—that which cannot be found in the government-controlled textbooks that are the rigid backbone of a Chinese education. If things in life don't work out as hoped, Minnie, says, at least she can go back home and eke out a subsistence by farming the land.

Yet another student is currently staring a most difficult decision straight in the eyes. Li Yihong, an associates degree student studying Chinese language education, is in his last year at JGSU. He was one of IFChina's earliest volunteers, and is now the student director of the Center's oral history projects. Having grown up in the tiny village of Xinguo in Ganzhou County, Jiangxi, he is also one of the fortunate few in his village who managed to get some sort of higher education. His older brother has even studied abroad at Manchester University in the UK. In preparation for his imminent graduation, Li Yihong's parents have arranged a stable government job for him. But, his heart's desire is to continue working on oral histories and documentary films. He is grappling with how best to discuss this with his parents, who expect him to follow the path that most young people from small villages take in China: to take up a steady job, get married, have children, and encourage them to study hard so that they, too, can achieve the stability that their grandparents so prize. The second semester of senior year at Chinese universities are generally devoid of classes, and students are expected to spend their time completing internships or beginning work at the jobs they will continue to work after graduation. Many students, instead, simply whittle the time away by playing online games or hanging out with friends. Li Yihong has spent most of his time at IFChina, writing out thoughtful workplans for the upcoming year of oral history projects and seeking out and applying for funding for these projects. He is well aware that if he can successfully obtain funding, he would be able to stay on as hired staff at IFChina and do the work that he really loves. If he is to present a persuasive alternative plan of action to the mindless but stable government job that his parents have decided on for him, he must be able to show them that he can support himself while doing the work that he prefers.

Compared to the situations that these students are in, my own endeavor to explain my work here seems astronomically simpler. I already managed to convince a fellowship committee to fund my time and experiences here, and my parents merely wonder about, but don't oppose, the activities that I choose to engage in. My friends and family, when I sporadically reach out to them to keep in touch, are also always there for me. I am truly blessed to have this kind of support.