CULTURE'S CONSEQUENCES: "A Tale of (One More Chinese) City", Part 2.
When Cultural Values are Different, Misunderstanding is Often the Result.
BEIJING.
On my first trip to Beijing, many years ago, I treated myself to a tour of the city; however, in order to get in to see many of the sites, I would need to be escorted by a Chinese tour guide. Despite the affront this requirement presented to my independent American spirit, I signed up for a private day tour with a service recommended by my hotel. There are many such tour services in China, and the one I chose was, in the end, more than competent; however, all are there to accomplish what is obvious … and also not so obvious. In China, things are always more than what they appear to be. While ostensibly serving a growing tourist market and providing a satisfactory experience for their clients, the tour guide is also there to ensure that independent foreigners do not get themselves in trouble, do not wander off to see and do things the government would rather they not see or do, and to, if necessary, report any concerns they may have with the foreigner and their activities in China back to the authorities. Every tour guide must be licensed by the government, which means that they are in the client’s service as well as in the service of the government of the People’s Republic of China.
This made for interesting moments as I toured Beijing with Zhang. Especially when we visited Tiananmen Square, the site of the massacre by the People’s Army of many young students demonstrating for more democracy in 1989.
“And here we are in the great square of Tiananmen,” Zhang said as she led me into what is one of the world’s largest and most impressive of all urban squares, surrounded as it is by the Great Hall of the People, other major government buildings, and huge boulevards that keep the traffic moving and form a tactical constraining barrier around the square.
Our guide was pointing out all the major sites of the square when I said, “Zhang, you know in my country, and many others, there was and still is great concern for what happened here.”
“I understand there are many opinions,” she said.
“I wonder, what can you tell me about what happened here?”, I responded.
There was thoughtful silence at this point, and then she said,
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