In returning to Houston and reflecting on the significance of our short trip to China, I cannot help but wonder how China will look in five years time. Although this was my first visit to China, I have heard so many others remark on how rapidly China seems to change between each visit as it continually seems to remake itself. Moreover, I also have to wonder what the rest of China is like. We visited two of China’s grandest cities, but it has numerous other major cities and a vast countryside that we could have seen as well. Even inside of Shanghai and Beijing, we were only able to see a small part due to the expansive nature of both cities. In particularly, it would have been fascinating to see some of the outskirts of Shanghai since we never made it very far out of the central city there. Some of our pre-trip readings mentioned the unusual nature of some of the suburbs (apparently one is themed like an English country town, including a mock church), but it would have been probably even more informative to visit a routine suburb in order to get a sense of what life in Shanghai is like away from the tourist areas.

New World City?

It would have also been fascinating to get a first hand glimpse into the governance of Shanghai or Beijing by speaking with a government official. Unfortunately, it is apparently extremely difficult to get Chinese government agencies to take you seriously without an invitation from a partnering Chinese university. Even so, my experience in Shanghai and Beijing has certainly sparked my curiosity in Chinese local government and I intend to investigate further how that government has steered the development of these cities (looking especially at pharmaceutical policy as that is, after all, my research project). Similarly, it would have also be immensely helpful to have the opportunity to speak with professors from Chinese universities on various topics, though that is likely road blocked by a similar difficulty as speaking with government officials.

On a more personal level, if I were to do this trip over again, I would probably wear a mask the entire time I was in China. As awkward those masks are to wear, the choice is obvious given the combination of China’s poor air quality and my asthma. I was struggling with a racking cough before we even made it halfway through the trip, and even though I began wearing a mask while we were in Beijing, I was still coughing even well after we returned to the U.S. Next, I would also want to spend more time exploring Shanghai and Beijing on my own. While it was great that our group got along well, we probably spent too much time traveling around in a pack, which impeded our ability to truly engage with the urban environment around us. Similarly, I wish that I had taken more time to interact with the native Chinese around me, even if I wasn’t able to speak their language. It probably would have been helpful if I tried even harder before coming to find some contacts in China who would have been willing to talk to me about pharmaceutical policy. Finally, a small thing that I wish I had done more is climbing up tall buildings to get a view of the skylines of Beijing and Shanghai. Although the pollution often made viewing difficult, I really value the perspective provided by looking at a city from high up so I wish I had taken more advantage of the tall buildings around us.

The tallest buildings in Shanghai

In pondering how China has changed my perspective, there are several issues that come to mind. Spending even ten days in China has certainly made me more aware of environmental issues and appreciative of the relatively clean air and water we have in the U.S. China’s massive population is now more than just an abstraction to me, as I can think back on the crowds of people that seemed to confront us at every turn in Shanghai and Beijing. Furthermore, Shanghai seemed to offer me a glance at the future with its ultra modern skyline while Beijing presented a curious amalgamation of past and present, combining ancient Chinese history with a sprawling metropolis. Even more than any of those things, however, there were two themes that stood out me in visiting China. One was the juxtaposition of massive urban renewal and transformation (symbolized by skyscrapers coming up like wild flowers and subway lines that seem to go in overnight) with the lack of political participation. In reflecting on why China is able to achieve infrastructure projects with such rapidity in comparison to the often-sluggish building process in the U.S., I can’t help but think that the squashing of any significant form of dissent is key. This poses interesting questions about the trade-offs between efficiently and participation. Secondly, on a related note, several of our speakers noted how China offers the freedom to do things architecturally and otherwise that would not be possible in other parts of the world due to regulations. The trade-off of less regulation is apparent in the food safety issues and pollution problems that China faces. As someone interested in the study of public policy, I find it fascinating to observe how China’s choices on these dimensions play out in shaping the form and livability of its cities.

A neighborhood slated for demolition

This entry was posted on Friday, March 20th, 2015 at 3:40 am and is filed under Houston / Recap. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.