Transcript
0:08
So this is my first one since arriving in China, and I’m in Yantai, which is the third city that I’ve lived in in China.
It’s in Shandong province, which is the same province I last lived in when I before the pandemic, only I was living in the capital city called Jinan, now Yantai, to give you a location.
0:38
This is probably the easiest place to locate.
If you look at a map of China, there is the Yellow Sea and this is if you look at a map of China, there’s a big peninsula that sticks out into the Yellow Sea kind of southeast of Beijing, so North China.
1:02
And I’m near the tip of that peninsula and it’s actually of recently discovered one of the cities that is seen as a place where Beijing any kind of access to Beijing should there be any kind of attack.
1:23
Apparently Yantai is one of the two cities that are kind of the gateway into Beijing, you know navigating in the Yellow Sea towards Beijing.
So we’re on the South side and then there’s, I think it’s Dong Wong that’s on the north side.
1:45
And so it’s a turns out it’s the biggest seafood city in China, so a big seafood market here in Yantai.
It’s also a quite a tourist destination, I’m discovering after wandering around.
2:07
So there’s lots of beaches.
So we’re on the ocean and there’s lots of hills too.
Forest covered hills and and apparently the word yen Tai, the characters I had someone tell me this apparently means hills and kind of watchtowers because a big problem historically has been fires in this area.
2:36
And there is to this day, like right behind the university where I’m working.
I just went for a walk today and there’s big signs to keep out of certain areas and they have cameras and so on.
And they tell you in Chinese don’t bring any matches, don’t smoke in the forest.
2:56
So they’re very strict about the forest protecting it.
And so anyway, so that’s a bit of a background of Yantai.
And to back up a little bit in terms of saying how China feels this time, this is 1/3 time returning.
3:17
So I’m more familiar with China.
So I’m more probably more relaxed about it than I’ve ever been even though I don’t know Chinese.
You know I’m not afraid to get on to buses and so on.
3:32
I’m I’m a little more adventurous.
I’m not.
I’m willing to just plunge into the city.
And so it’s been exciting to return to China for sure.
And this time I was picked right up at the airport.
3:50
It was very easy.
I just had to get to Yantai, which required flying to Seoul, Korea from Toronto first, waiting about four hours in the airport.
And Seoul, Korea is just on the other side of the Yellow Sea from Yantai, so it’s also on the Yellow Sea.
4:10
So we just flew W for an, I think about an hour and a half and we landed in the end time and I was picked up at midnight.
And so it’s a smaller town feel to it, but it’s still a big city.
4:27
It’s it’s just as big, it seems as Genon is like about 7 million people, but it feels different.
It’s pretty sure it’s a lower tier city.
I still don’t know what tier, but I would guess it’s got to be like tier 3 or 4, the lowest tier that I’ve lived in yet.
4:50
It doesn’t feel quite as developed, and even though it’s 7 million people, it doesn’t feel that way.
It feels more villagey, I guess, more kind of laid back.
They grow, It’s famous for apples, Yanti apples all over China are famous and it’s also a wine growing region.
5:14
So it’s a famous wine growing region for all, you know, quite a long time and and seafood, I guess those are the big things.
So yeah, so, so just again, I’m working at a university and wandering around campus running across students and they again, so many of them get so excited when they see a foreign teacher.
5:41
And so it’s been the same the third time again, where people’s eyes just light right up.
And especially when they, that’s the first thing thing they think is that you’re an English teacher.
And this time I am more than any time before.
5:59
And so they want to practice their English with you.
And so I’ve already had a student right away, just ran into him on the street.
He said something in English.
We started talking and he wanted to show me the campus.
6:15
He’s shown me a little sort of park and lake area that’s on the campus.
And then we went the following weekend.
This is, I think the first week I was here.
He took me on a Sunday.
6:31
We spent all afternoon going down the sort of main tourist St. in the Antai.
And it takes you right to a little hill, right by the sea.
And there’s remnants of, you know, the the US consulate used to be here.
6:53
This is historically, I think, something like 100 years ago.
So that was one thing we saw.
And as we were walking down the street, there was a bunch of girls from another university and they were all staring at me because I was a, once again, the only foreigner.
7:11
And they were all, you know, interested in learning English.
And so we did selfies again, photographs and Big Foot FRA over that.
So that is consistent.
That has happened every time I’ve come to China.
7:27
And you know, and it was so over the top that the male student I was with just went, wow, I can’t believe you’re getting so much attention.
So I had to tell him, well, this is actually pretty normal for a foreigner.
And so that’s where it feels like it hasn’t changed much at all.
7:47
And again, you would not know there’s any kind of tension with the West or the US.
I I haven’t heard anyone talk about it or it hasn’t felt any difficulties or discomfort.
So that’s another thing that stands out.
8:05
The other thing, and I had heard a little bit about it on the news, is that China is, it’s virtually A cashless society now.
Like I was using my phone, WeChat on my phone to purchase a lot of things when I was in Jinan, but it’s far more.
8:31
It’s really accelerated now.
Like you you don’t see cash, Like I don’t think I’ve seen anyone pay in cash and it’s been 3 1/2 weeks I’ve been here and but apparently I’m told because of older people and having struggles with the technology, it’s illegal to refuse cash if someone offers it.
8:55
But everyone is using their phones and basically a QR code.
And so that’s what you hit on your phone.
It shows a QR code and you hold it up to a scanner and that’s how you pay.
And so that’s for everything.
9:12
Like even a little farmers market and the cafeterias and everything.
You just don’t see cash.
And so everything is ordered on the phone, coffees and so on.
So that’s a big thing.
9:27
Um.
And I’ve heard it’s difficult for foreigners to set up to so that they can pay using their phone.
But thank God, I’ve been to China before and I’ve already had my bank account connected to my phone.
9:45
So it was, you know, it hasn’t been too difficult to transition that way.
But what has been difficult is China transfer money from Canada to China or pay.
10:01
And a lot of it has to do with security.
You know, in Canada they want to send you a code by text and that code doesn’t seem to come to a Chinese number.
It just goes to a Canadian or an American number.
10:18
So that’s another thing I’ve definitely felt.
It’s been probably the number one frustration is to set up all the online kind of cash payments that I have to make for things and connecting kind of Canada to China.
10:37
I can withdraw money from my Canadian bank account using a Chinese bank machine and my Canadian card, but initially I couldn’t.
Actually, the first time I didn’t, it just showed that I couldn’t.
10:52
So that was that was a little bit alarming.
It seemed like suddenly I was cut off from the world because you know, I couldn’t access any money in Canada and so I had to call back Canada and fix this problem and thank God we were able to fix it.
11:15
It’s because I have a higher kind of standard with a higher level security on it, on the card.
And but even in Canada, they weren’t aware that it wouldn’t work in China.
They were a little bit surprised.
11:30
So this was a new thing.
So I do get the sense that China is a little more isolated.
It feels a little more isolated from the outside world that way.
I mean that’s one way and but I mean everyone is treating me fine.
11:50
Yeah.
And I met and again that one weekend where I went downtown with the a male student I met.
There was a girl on the bus from my university and she heard English and came up and was all excited because because you forget like for three years they have not had any foreign teachers because of the pandemic.
12:14
And this girl had her major is English and she was lamenting the fact that she didn’t have a single foreign English language teacher over the three years so far of her degree.
So she was really, really happy that she met me and could, you know, we could have a conversation together.
12:38
So we also spent some time together.
She toured me around the university and it’s showing me different materias and places to go.
So yeah, so I’ve been well received.
12:54
I’ve met some of the other teachers.
There’s like a married couple from Canada.
The husband is actually American.
He married a Canadian.
They live in Alberta, Canada and they returned again to China.
13:11
They’ve been in China for like maybe 20 years.
They actually, the first years they spent in China, they taught in Tibet, which is like really fascinating I many years ago.
So it’s kind of hard to get into Tibet now, but and they also both know Chinese.
13:33
And then there’s also another American teacher who’s returning to China too older and she also knows Chinese.
So.
So I’m feeling a little left out that I don’t know Chinese.
13:49
And I did ask the couple, like, how did you learn it?
It’s so difficult, you know, demanding.
And they said, you’re right.
We just decided that we were really going to focus on learning Chinese.
14:05
So we quit our jobs and for two years we were full time students learning Chinese and now they know it and they’re back to work again.
So they just felt that yeah, it’s just not possible while you’re working to learn the language like they have.
14:25
And so anyway, so that’s still going to be a struggle to figure out the best way of of learning as much Chinese as I can.
And what else can I say about it?
14:40
Yeah, it just feels like a laid back place.
I’ve been in this hutong area downtown, which is a traditional way of living in China.
Tutan, so the ancient way.
And so this is, I don’t know maybe 500 years old and wandered through that area and there was a place I could go to get my ears cleaned and this is where they go deep into your ear and scrape out the wax and they use little cameras and but it was in this hutong, this ancient hutong.
15:18
And so you’re laying back in a chair.
This is 1 memory that I’ve had is I’m laying back in the chair and you’ve got a little screen you can see what they’re doing.
So it’s it’s it’s a little challenging to relax but it was amazing to be in the city of 7 million.
15:40
But to be in this hutong laying back in the chair with the doors open windows too and and it was silent.
It was like you could have been in a rural area.
It was amazing to be that quiet in the middle of the city.
15:57
And so I suddenly understood.
Hutongs, you know, they’re kind of a walled town, so walls everywhere.
And so it really, guys guess, muffles the sound.
So that was a really big memory too of the entities so far.
16:17
And so I’m still settling in.
It’s almost a month.
We’ve got our first holiday now, which is called National Day holiday, which is commemorates the Communist Party of China when it was founded.
16:36
It’s gonna turn 75 years old next year in 2024.
So it’s the 74th anniversary this year.
And so it’s just one day, but a whole week of holiday.
This is like the second longest holiday of the year in China and I didn’t go travelling anywhere.
17:00
My friends in Jinon, they all want me to visit them, but I have a fair bit of work to do preparing for my courses, enhancing them.
I’ve just started to have a few classes, first year classes in English and then also PhD students teaching higher level English to help them publish in journals and so and that’s like the buildings right next to us.
17:33
It’s not far to walk, the food is really cheap and the cafeteria, I would say the average price is probably about 10 RMB which is less than $2.00 Canadian to give you an idea.
17:49
And so incredibly cheap and huge selection of choices, just mind boggling.
Oh it’s the food is just incredible.
Boy, it’s so good to be back in China and to have that those food options and and the sense of safety again, I can just wander anywhere.
18:12
I found a place to walk and there is a security guard there.
And and so initially it seems intimidating.
You’re walking out, there’s a gate, it’s locked, there’s a little security guard booth and a man comes out and he’s got a uniform on.
18:31
But you know when you talk to him, it’s just like it always is in China.
He’s really easy going, big smile on his face.
He’s trying to speak English to you, and so you’re struggling to communicate.
There was another Chinese man there who knew English so he could communicate.
18:51
And in the end we found no problem.
We can go on these trails.
They opened the gate for us and let us wander.
And then when we went to leave the area after our walk, I was with another teacher, American teacher.
19:10
We asked, OK, so when do you close?
When can we what?
What?
What’s the time to go for a walk?
And the guy who knew English said, oh, the security guard said, you can come anytime, day or night.
19:26
There’s always going to be a guard to this area, but you can come anytime to go for a walk or riding your bike on these kind of mountain roads that are fenced off.
So there’s no traffic actually, but like it’s a concrete Rd.
19:47
It’s not really wide, but it’s more for walking.
So yeah, pretty incredible.
So again, the police state is just not what you think.
So anyway, we can go anytime.
20:06
And so I’ve already done a little walk there and explore it around the university.
And again, just memories of Nanjing, the last time I was teaching at a university.
So he’s seen laundry hanging everywhere.
20:22
That was an image I forgot about and Nanjing, so it’s typically on this campus, it’s either six or eight students to one room in bunk beds.
So it’s pretty, it’s busy.
20:39
A lot of people in a small room, and so if they have a balcony or something, usually it’s completely covered in clothes hanging and drawing like almost all week long, like permanently.
There’s just clothes hanging everywhere.
20:55
So another sort of image of a university in China.
So yeah, so I’m enjoying it settling in and just loving to explore China again.
21:11
And it feels the same.
Except this technology stuff is definitely advanced, Much more advanced.
It’s virtually A cashless society now.
And that brings us to a close of another episode of the Maple Dragon, the seven-year long Chronicles of a Canadian professor in China.
