Geography and Identity: How Cities I've Lived in Shape Who I Am Today
I've been traveling in the past few days to Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Compared with Shanghai, these cities are more or less the same when looking on the outside, but when you spend a few days there, you inevitably experience the nuanced differences, like how people behave, how streets are structured, etc. These details together build up the personality of a city, and will influence people living there.
I was born and raised in a small town in central China. Living in a small city grants me the benefit of not worrying about things such as traffic, since there weren't too many cars on the roads back then. All I cared about was basketball and classes.
Growing up a city boy, I didn't experience any major cities until my teenage years, when I participated in a summer camp in Beijing. Yet just spending a couple of days didn't leave me too much an impression.
Like most people, the very first time that I lived by myself was when I went to college. However, even though I studied in a large city in the south - the City of Guangzhou - the campus still functioned as a bubble, sheltering me (and the rest of my classmates) from the outside world. I used to go downtown in one of the busiest malls, soaking in all the commercial establishment for the first time. The personality of the city, however, never really left a mark on me.
Columbia, South Carolina was my next destination. This was the very first time that I left the country, and everything was so new. I was extremely nervous during the whole time, but was also very excited. Everything was so different, from the language, to how things were done. I was busy with my classes, but I was also determined to get the most out of the experience, knowing that I might not be able to return again for the rest of my life. I went to most football games during that season; the music, sports, food, and booze were all part of the experience.
Columbia was not exactly a college town. It had businesses, and communities were involved but not dedicated to the Gamecock athletics. People loved the team, but they still had their own jobs and daily lives. I used to shoot shit with my neighbors during the weekend, talking about things like the differences between different cities and countries.
Looking back, Columbia was not the most impressive city at all. It was pretty boring; it didn't have the natural resources like beaches or mountains, like Charleston does. I was more influenced by the university than the city. Put it another way, there wouldn't be a reason for me to go back other than visiting my alma mater (I bleed garnet and black!).
Hong Kong was the first city I lived in for a job, and my professional career intertwined with the city for the next few years. The city was probably one of the most well-known, if not the most, in China. The skyline was so glamorous that when I got there for the first time from Columbia, I almost had a panic attack. I was so used to the open space and scarcity of people on the streets, so the crowded, narrow streets left me little space to set a foot. It was definitely overwhelming.
I had to wear a suit and tie every day going to work, even though I was just an intern. The average work hours each week amounted to 50+ hours, and that was still on the lower end in the city. It's quite normal for a junior full-time staff to work 60 hours each week. This workaholic-like culture benefited the restaurants, and they would serve food from the early morning till midnight, since people didn't get off work until 8 or 9 pm.
There were always things going on in the city too. You could go to a concert, a book fair, a religious event, the clubs, or simply go on a hike to the mountains or go to the beach. Hong Kong was this interesting city where even though the population was one of the densest in the world, over 70% of the city were left undeveloped. You can take a bus and it will get you to the nearest beach in less than an hour. Even when I was still a humble intern, I'd go to the beach every Sunday, spending 40 HKD on the round-trip fares, 100 HKD on a locker and 40 HKD on a beer, chilling for the whole afternoon.
A city is more about the people than the skyscrapers. When I was there for the first time, most people knew me as someone coming from the US, so the main language was English. My mentor and my colleagues were professional, polite, and showed me how to do things without holding back. I forever appreciate that. Nevertheless, there was this invisible wall between me and them, like outside of work, I was on my own. All the time. But when you were young, you were never bothered by that. Or at least for me.
I was fascinated by the sense of respect and boundaries total strangers presented, since it wasn't this way in my hometown. Where I was from, it was not nice to reject somebody, i.e. saying no was a sign of disrespect. This didn't sit well with my personality. Hong Kong people, even people I came across every day doing laundries or taking out food, were professional in their own jobs, boosting the overall efficiency in how the city runs.
My second time living in Hong Kong was about the same length, and two years apart from my first time. I returned to work at the same company as part of the rotation program, but instead of living in a tiny room in a rental apartment, I was living in a high-end service apartment paid out by the company. The apartment oversaw the Victoria Harbor, and it had an automatic curtain controlled by the TV remoter. I'd open the curtain every morning, looking down at the Harbor, enjoying the beautiful scenery of boats and ships moving. The apartment also had all kinds of amenities like rooftop pool, gyms, laundry and convenient store. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that I'd be able to live like this in Hong Kong. Yet deep down I knew this wouldn't last.
Hong Kong was one of those cities that you would always love to visit, but not to live and raise a family. Yet the professionalism and the optimism when people deal with pressure inevitably become part of me, and I'm forever grateful for that.
In between my time in Hong Kong, I went to work for the Baltimore Ravens, the NFL team. The team's HQ was located in Owings Mills in the suburb, but the game stadium in the city. Baltimore, together with the Baltimore Ravens organization, left a strong mark on me.
Baltimore was one of those cities in the United States that greatly deteriorated after the manufacturing industries left. Another city would be Pittsburgh, but the latter actually managed to restore some of its previous glories by developing a pharmaceutical and drug industry presence. Baltimore, on the other hand, didn't have this luxury.
The city had this reputation of having some rough streets. I remember when I was leaving the city for good, I met a girl leaving for Dallas, which was where she was from, and the impression she got of the City was that there were lots of crackheads on the street. On the list of crime rates, Baltimore was always up there in the top five, some other cities being Detroit, St. Louis, etc. And the crime show "The Wire" didn't help at all.
This reputation was embraced by the people of Baltimore, and reflected in the personality of the home team - Baltimore Ravens. The team was known for its tough defense, and some of the toughest defensive players in NFL such as Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. These guys were not to be messed with.
That toughness became part of me too, even though I left after only seven months. This is a strange feeling, since I wasn't there for long, and there wasn't really a whole lot of things to be proud of (just being honest here!). However, even I was proud to be part of this city, regardless of where I went. I could imagine speaking with somebody from NYC saying that I'm from Baltimore, explaining the good, the bad, and the ugly. But I wouldn't change a thing. Maybe it was the Ravens. Maybe the people. Or the history. Probably a mix of everything.
Shantou was probably the last city that I'd expect to live in, but I was there for over three and a half years. The city was a special economic district in the south, but the economy was never truly developed up to expectations. Shantou was part of a three-city metropolis where the same local language was shared. The city is most famously known for its delicious food and the rich people originally from there (but all left to make their fortunes in other cities around the world).
Rather than saying that the city left any mark on my personality, I'm more inclined to say that the people did. Teochow people were some of the most hardworking in the world. They were very dedicated to seeking fortunes in this world; there is a saying that Teochow people would rather start a small business and work 12 hours a day than work for others, even if the total compensations are more or less the same.
On top of their entrepreneurial propensity, Teochow people are also extremely loyal, and tend to unite to their own groups. This is probably one of the main reasons why they are successful, more so than any other ethnic groups, when they get into businesses.
I haven't been back to Shantou for quite a long time. The personality of the people, i.e. their loyalty and hardworking nature, stayed with me ever since.
Shanghai ... is probably one of those cities that you would hate when you didn't move here, but love once you did. This dichotomy of love and hate appears on mostly everybody I know. Even compared with those from Hong Kong or Beijing, people from Shanghai possess this swag that make them extremely proud of the fact that "they are from here". Sort of like New Yorkers.
On the first day I was here looking for a job, an acquaintance told me that Shanghai is probably the most un-Chinese city in China. I didn't understand it then, and to an extent, still couldn't comprehend the meanings behind his words today. But I do know Shanghai is ... different.
The swag could be interpreted as being obnoxious; people here could be very cold. They tend to stick to the rules. When you go to groceries, you'd often hear the elderly people arguing on small things like how the package of good is broken, etc. I couldn't understand this, as in the traditional sense this is all quite face-losing, but people like these actually make Shanghai great. When most people are like this, the society self-corrects in a more effective way, as those businesses trying to produce only second-class products will be pushed down the drain.
Shanghai has a face of warmness too. The elderly are never shy to start a conversation with a stranger, discussing things they see or read. There was one time that I was having lunch with a friend, and while we were parting our ways, an old lady came and asked if we could help take a picture of her in front of a sculpture in front of the office building. It was a workday, and she was by herself, yet the love of life she showed was so exuberant, that somehow the worries on our minds were lost at that moment. I even got a hug when she was leaving!
Shanghai really got the best of both worlds. It's both Chinese and Western; traditional and fast-growing; cold and warm at the same time. I often say that Shanghai people live their lives with their heads up, and I'd kill to have that swag or mentality. And now after six years living here, I have it.
To people who have never left their birth place, I feel sorry for them, as they would never be able to understand how people from other places live their lives. You can always visit as a tourist, but living in a different city is an experience that cannot be replicated through tourism.
If you ask me which is my favorite city after all these life experiences? While I don't have one right now, but I'm proud to call Shanghai my home. And I won't be the person I am now without all of these experiences.
Peace. Out.
