Off to China
Trip Start
Jul 20, 2004
1
75
207
Trip End
Jul 20, 2014
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Thursday, April 27, 2006
The next day, I phoned the airport and I was told that my luggage has not been found yet and they would contact me as soon as they have it. So, I resigned myself to exploring some green parts of Hong Kong and went to Lamma Island. It was a welcome sight from the hustle and bustle of the city. I would have liked to go up to Victoria Peak but it was overcast and foggy so I opted for strolling around the island. I enjoyed the hike to the wind mill and following a hiking path through the hills. Sol Kwu Wan is famous for its sea food restaurants, but I decided to wait until I get to Central. I got back around 5 and went to the hostel to inquire about my bag. It had arrived and i was to pick it up before 11PM (yes I had to pick it up since I used a budget airline). Hurray!! I booked my bus ticket to Dongguan through CTS Hong Kong and went to the airport to pick up my bag.
The next morning, I left for China, a vast country with over 1.3 billion people. Here are some facts about China:
Population
China is the most populous country on earth, with over 1.3 billion citizens. This is over 1/5 of the worlds total population. Due to China's family planning policies, the natural population growth has been declining. At the end of 2003, the Natural Birth rate was 6.01 per thousand for the total population. However, it was much lower in major cities, such as Shanghai, where the natural birth rate was 4.26 per thousand and the natural population growth rate was -3.29 per thousand.
Ethnic Groups Spoken and Written Language
China has a stunning amount of different ethnic groups with independent dialects and written languages. Some ethnic groups number in the millions (the Han number 1.2 billion), while many, such as the Orogen and Yugar comprise just a few thousand individuals.
The complete list of China's ethnic groups with written and spoken languages, listed largest to smallest, is as follows:
The Han, Mongolian, Hui, Tibetan, Uygur, Miao, Yi,
Zhuang, Bouyei, Korean, Manchu, Dong, Yao, Bai,
Tujia, Hani, Kazak, Dai, Li, Lisu, Va,
She, Gaoshan, Lahu, Shui, Dongxiang, Jingpo, Blang,
Kirgiz, Tu, Daur, Mulam, Qiang, Salar, Tajik,
Maonan, Gelao, Xibe, Achang, Pumi, Nu, Ozbek,
Russian, Ewenki, Naxi, Bonan, De'ang, Yugur, Tatar,
Lhoba, Jino, Derung, Oroqen, Hezhen, Moinba, and Gin
Although most of the ethnicities can be seen as ethnic groups, the correspondence is not one to one. For example, many Hui Chinese are indistinguishable from Han Chinese except for the fact that they practice Islam. Conversely, Hakka are often thought of as an ethnic group, but they are generally considered members of the Han ethnicity.
While Han Chinese make up the vast majority of China's total population, the population distribution is highly uneven with large parts of western China having Han Chinese as a minority. In addition the lumping of most Chinese into the majority Han obscures some of the large linguistic, cultural, and racial differences between persons within that group.
The multi-ethnic nature of China results in part by territories incorporated by the Qing dynasty, whose emperors were themselves Manchu and not members of the majority Han. Chinese ethnicities theory is heavily influenced by that of the Soviet Union. Official policy claims to be against assimilation and maintains that each ethnic group should have the right to develop its own culture and language.
The degree of integration of minority ethnic groups with the national community varies widely from group to group. With some groups, such as the Tibetans and the Uyghurs there is a great deal of resentment against the majority. Other groups such as the Zhuang, Hui Chinese, and ethnic Koreans are well integrated into the national community.
My first stop in mainland China was Dongguan where Jeff was waiting patiently at the Silverland hotel (the bus was an hour late). We went to his apartment in town and then off to find money and food. Dongguan is close to Shenzen and is growing rapidly. Jeff is from Canada and teaches English at the medical college in Dongguan. During my stay at the College, I spent 2 hours working with part of Jeff's students and I sat in on another English class taught by Kerry, an American teacher. The students were curious to know where I have travelled to and from and what I think about China. In the evening, Jeff had some students over in his apartment and we had a jolly good time eating, drinking and singing/dancing. I enjoyed hanging out with the students. The next day, we left for Hengyang. First, we took the bus to Guangzhou and then the train to Hengyang. Luckely, I could upgrade my standing only ticket for a hard-sleeper car. Once they call for the train departure, people start running and shoving to get to the train and into their seats. There is absolutely no order. Other infamous sights are the very dirty public toilets in train stations, the spitting and the constant stare. But these things I will have to get used to pretty quickly in addition to the fact that I have no way of communicating with people unless they speak English. In Hengyan, we visited Jeff's former college where he taught for 2 years or so. We received a warm welcome from the staff and his former superiors and were invited for lunch with lots of alcohol and food. After our lunch feast, we went back to town where we stayed with Ramiro and his wife Cheng Lin. Ramiro is originally from Nicaragua but emigrated to Canada when he was 14. He has been in China for 4 years teaching English and French. What helps is that he speaks chinese.
