The View From Here: Emails from China

By Zachary Schnell

Students in China - photo by Zachary Schnell I left for Beijing, China on June 13, and although I had not slept on the flight there, I couldn’t wait to go explore the minute I arrived. My two-thousand photos taken over the course of seventeen days only showcases a small portion of what I saw and felt on a daily basis.

After returning from China, I figured that, using both my photos and my stories, I had successfully captured the China that I was absorbed in - the China that I witnessed firsthand throughout my trip.

Two months after returning home, I realized that I was completely wrong.

That is, I captured the China that I saw throughout my trip, but, as I soon learned after my departure from China, what I saw greatly differs from that of what Chinese citizens see on a daily basis.

Midway through my trip, I did a home stay with sixteen year-old Deshi. He was chosen to house me both because of his family’s financial state, but, more importantly, because he was among the top ten students in his high school.

Deshi’s family, feeling obligated to give me my own room, insisted on me living with just Deshi for my stay in their cozy, 700 square-foot apartment while the rest of the family lived in another one of their three apartments downtown. 

Home stay room, photo by Zachary Schnell Deshi was, at least in front of me, both curious and insightful. However, it was not Deshi that would reveal the “real” China to me, but his brother, Cheng-Gong who I had only met briefly at a grocery store and once in the apartment. The last time we met, the seventeen year-old nervously asked me for an email address so we could stay in touch. 

The day after my home stay ended, I got an email from Cheng-Gong - simply verifying that our communication method works. I told him it did, and I said that we could talk more once I got back to the States.

A week after returning to Atlanta, I got an email from Cheng-Gong. He apologized for not emailing me until then because he was busy taking practice college entry exams at school.

He then began to tell me of his friends who have gone to the U.S. for college, saying that Chinese students are not given an “realistic” view of the U.S.

“As you know, what we learned from the government may not be very realistic. I can tell you what Chinese government tells us about America and the whole capitalistic world,” ending that email by saying, “too private things aren't allowed here.”

I read and reread this email. I forwarded it to the teacher, John, who had led the trip to Beijing. John had told me earlier that the Chinese government scans all emails to and from China. If an email contains certain keywords or expressions, it is trashed. If the same person’s email gets stopped again, however, they get placed on a watch list.

While it is unlikely to end up on this list, it is a large risk for Cheng-Gong, a mere high school student desperate to go to college, to take. With around 100 million high school students, there is hardly room for twenty percent of these students to go to college. 

John, however, thought it was an amazing opportunity to hear the honest words of a bright, young student born and raised in China. I couldn’t have agreed more, and tried my best to reply.

I told Cheng-Gong that the media is independent in the States, so the government doesn’t tell us things about China or any other country.

An email was waiting for me in my inbox the next morning. “In China,” Cheng-Gong wrote, “the government controls the media. In fact, we don't know the exact situation about the things around us. What we know may be optimized by the government. It's very good to know your country is full of freedom.”

I had learned a lot about China’s history, and given the rise of communism, I wasn’t surprised to hear about their lack of freedom when compared to the United States. However, I did not see anything remotely resembling this while in China.

Skip ahead a few emails, Cheng-Gong and I began talking about our similar personalities:

“Actually, my personality is more like a Western person. I respect everyone's opinions and don't like the so-called standard answer, that really changes a healthy person into an absolute android...Humans are born to be humans. The Chinese teachers just want you to lose yourselves and accustom yourselves to the society. I think being accustomed isn't bad, but giving in to the educational system is harmful. What can we do when we grow up? I just come to school for knowledge but not losing [stuff].What the hell are they thinking about?...Ah...The teachers really don't trust any student...Therefore I don't like Chinese teachers. I know it is not in America. I really like the teachers who respect students and just provide the students with what they need.”

I reread this email six or seven times, not knowing what to do with it. While in China, I visited and taught in an English class at Deshi’s high school. Again, I didn’t see any of what Cheng-Gong described. I was taken aback by what I continued to read. I couldn’t imagine such a world occurring in the same world that I had been in the middle of for three weeks.

For the first time, I realized just how much of an individual Cheng-Gong is. As he points out, China is a massive society with one party in collaboration with one media source, all of which is controlled, monitored, and run in its entirety by the Government. He goes on to write:

“Most of the Chinese students believe they can have a good future if they go to the top universities...But I don't think so. A good specialty and good performance are necessary.”

English class - photo by Zachary SchnellGrowing up with communist parents and in a society where only the top students go to college, this, among other things, is a courageous point to make (especially for a brilliant student like himself). He not only wants to live a life of the freedom I have described to him, he wants to question the blatant, develop differing opinions, and have his own stances on issues that aren’t even brought up in his society.

The freedom and qualities, which fill my culture and way of life, are what makes an individual stand out among the other 1.3 billion Chinese - one fifth of the world’s population. These characteristics in China, contrastingly, define an outcast - someone who is both frowned upon and scolded.

I want to make it clear how great of a kid Cheng-Gong is. He is simply a kid with his own thoughts and beliefs that he wishes to express to someone who he knows will listen to what he has to say.

Cheng-Gong is, in every way loyal to his country and understands how hard it is to rule a country of its size with its history. He said that he signed up for a program that shows him American schools, but he wishes to remain in China for the time being. I give him my greatest wishes and hope that he continues to be heard. He is, like his brother, very unique, and I encourage every bit of it.

- Zachary Schnell is a student in Atlanta, Georgia