Anthropologist: Expat 'bubble' not a bad thing
By Yao Minji |
August 5, 2012, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ANTHROPOLOGY student David Foote arrived in Shanghai from New Zealand last August to study the city's expatriate community. It is his first trip to China, though he read a lot and heard a lot from his sister, who once lived in Shanghai.
Now, a year later, the PhD candidate has soaked up the atmosphere, interviewed 16 expats in depth and is concluding his interview phase with a few more. Foote will work on the project for a few more months before reaching some conclusions and beginning to write. He reveals some interesting observations to Shanghai Daily.
Q: Based on your observations and interviews, how is expat community in Shanghai similar to and different from the expat groups elsewhere in the world?
A: One of the characteristics of Western expats in parts of the developing world is that the population is transient. They tend to move around.
The classic expat is someone who has been sent here by their company for two or three years, and has brought their family. They may move to another (Asian) employment after this.
There is a new type of expat in Shanghai, partly due to the economic situation in the West. There are people coming here by themselves and looking for employment. A lot of them are here for no fixed amount of time.
The Shanghai expat population is unique because they are obvious. They stand out in China. If you went to France and got very good at the language, you could pass as a French person. But no matter how good at Chinese you are, you will never really fit in.
The avenue toward naturalization in China is so long and so culturally varied, a foreigner cannot really be Chinese culturally or legally. No matter how long someone is in China, they will not be considered Chinese.
A handful of foreigners have been offered permanent residency, mostly for their philanthropic work. But it is very difficult.
Q: Many expatriates feel that they are living in an expat bubble. What is your opinion?
A: People talk about the expat bubble like it is a really bad thing. But because it is not really legally or culturally possible to be Chinese, it's natural and okay to have this bubble. In addition to assimilating into the local community, the expatriate community also contributes to the local life.
For example, there is a famous "avocado lady" in Shanghai, a fruit seller on Wulumuqi Road. A few years ago, she started selling avocados, which are common for many expats but difficult to find in China. Suddenly she got lots of expat customers and even foreigners who live very far away and have never been to her shop know about her and exchange this piece of information with families and friends.
This is something that the expatriate community brings to the city, same as this Western-style cafeteria (where the interview took place) and all those bars that are popular now. Starbucks wouldn't be so big in China if it wasn't for Westerners in the first place.
These things came due to Western demand and are available for Chinese as well. It is similar to the Chinese restaurants in the West.
Q: Some people don't consider Shanghai the real China? How about you?
A: Most of the families take the opportunity to go on holidays to other provinces to look at the rural areas, the "real China." People want to see the old men in Mao suits and the poor people in rural areas. I think that either Shanghai is part of the real China or nothing is.
The countryside would look much different if Shanghai wasn't present. What happens in this city affects the areas around it and to some extent, the entire country. The fact that Shanghai is the way it is changes the way Anhui, or Zhejiang, or Jiangsu provinces are.
My father visited me and went out to those provinces. He noticed that the women did all the work and the men drifted around doing nothing. Men have gone to Shanghai, or Beijing, or Guangzhou (Guangdong Province) to work so they take rest when they are home.
Grandparents are now raising children because both parents are working in the cities.
You can't look at a village in Anhui Province and say this is the real China because it's the way it is now due to the rest of the country.
(Calum Anderson contributed to this article)
Now, a year later, the PhD candidate has soaked up the atmosphere, interviewed 16 expats in depth and is concluding his interview phase with a few more. Foote will work on the project for a few more months before reaching some conclusions and beginning to write. He reveals some interesting observations to Shanghai Daily.
Q: Based on your observations and interviews, how is expat community in Shanghai similar to and different from the expat groups elsewhere in the world?
A: One of the characteristics of Western expats in parts of the developing world is that the population is transient. They tend to move around.
The classic expat is someone who has been sent here by their company for two or three years, and has brought their family. They may move to another (Asian) employment after this.
There is a new type of expat in Shanghai, partly due to the economic situation in the West. There are people coming here by themselves and looking for employment. A lot of them are here for no fixed amount of time.
The Shanghai expat population is unique because they are obvious. They stand out in China. If you went to France and got very good at the language, you could pass as a French person. But no matter how good at Chinese you are, you will never really fit in.
The avenue toward naturalization in China is so long and so culturally varied, a foreigner cannot really be Chinese culturally or legally. No matter how long someone is in China, they will not be considered Chinese.
A handful of foreigners have been offered permanent residency, mostly for their philanthropic work. But it is very difficult.
Q: Many expatriates feel that they are living in an expat bubble. What is your opinion?
A: People talk about the expat bubble like it is a really bad thing. But because it is not really legally or culturally possible to be Chinese, it's natural and okay to have this bubble. In addition to assimilating into the local community, the expatriate community also contributes to the local life.
For example, there is a famous "avocado lady" in Shanghai, a fruit seller on Wulumuqi Road. A few years ago, she started selling avocados, which are common for many expats but difficult to find in China. Suddenly she got lots of expat customers and even foreigners who live very far away and have never been to her shop know about her and exchange this piece of information with families and friends.
This is something that the expatriate community brings to the city, same as this Western-style cafeteria (where the interview took place) and all those bars that are popular now. Starbucks wouldn't be so big in China if it wasn't for Westerners in the first place.
These things came due to Western demand and are available for Chinese as well. It is similar to the Chinese restaurants in the West.
Q: Some people don't consider Shanghai the real China? How about you?
A: Most of the families take the opportunity to go on holidays to other provinces to look at the rural areas, the "real China." People want to see the old men in Mao suits and the poor people in rural areas. I think that either Shanghai is part of the real China or nothing is.
The countryside would look much different if Shanghai wasn't present. What happens in this city affects the areas around it and to some extent, the entire country. The fact that Shanghai is the way it is changes the way Anhui, or Zhejiang, or Jiangsu provinces are.
My father visited me and went out to those provinces. He noticed that the women did all the work and the men drifted around doing nothing. Men have gone to Shanghai, or Beijing, or Guangzhou (Guangdong Province) to work so they take rest when they are home.
Grandparents are now raising children because both parents are working in the cities.
You can't look at a village in Anhui Province and say this is the real China because it's the way it is now due to the rest of the country.
(Calum Anderson contributed to this article)
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