By riakkim
七寶/Qibao Traditional Boat Village
I'm sure you've all heard of it- China's Great Firewall, that blocks most everything convenient to Americans; our social media, video streaming sites, to our beloved Google. The obvious answer that I hear around this is "VPN!," but it was hard for me to really fathom how suffocating and suppressing it really was on the inside when I arrived in Shanghai.
The small things I really take for granted back home and in Seoul- like all my social media, all my chatting apps, Google (and not Bing), YouTube, WordPress- they're all blocked in China, and coming back from such a controlled environment felt surprisingly liberating and entirely refreshing. Perhaps it's because I'm part of a generation addicted to their smartphones and used to information, it was frustrating to not only have slow internet, but to even use sites such as Bing in order to find more information. Even when planning my brief visit towards Macau on my way back to Seoul, or trying to access my airline tickets on Gmail- everything was quite difficult and roundabout- taking far more time than it should have.
Beyond the Great Firewall, Shanghai really put into perspective what it must be like to be a true "foreigner" and studying there. I naturally had little trouble adjusting in Seoul- while here and there I experience blips of frustration or embarrassment, I began to fit in pretty quickly. Coming to Shanghai for four days was an entirely humbling experience, and while I had a lot of fun and learned a lot, it could often be frustrating. First, the language barrier, the most obvious difficulty, already made me feel foreign, and in addition to being perceived as Chinese or Chinese-speaking when I cannot, added to the absurdity of the experience.
This wasn't my first time in China- I last visited in 2013 with my family, but we had a tour guide and own chauffeur to drive us and my grandparents around in convenience. While I had an amazing experience then, I realized that I had really experienced it in a protected bubble, a measured experience to show the shiny, glamorous and historical aspects of China, particularly in Shanghai, which is touted as quite the international city. Yet on my second visit, it became apparent that despite the large international population Shanghai has, it is also very much within this invisible barrier China has built towards the rest of the world.
Without my friend Cindy, who speaks fluent Mandarin, I would have been lost to the extent of massive frustration and would have left the country likely feeling resentment and anger. Dealing with the police and registering my residence in Shanghai was the hardest part- they were extremely disrespectful towards Cindy and would never tell us everything we needed to know- we spent several hours at the station, constantly leaving and returning because something was missing or they told us that our documents were fake because they were in English (she lives in an international house in Shanghai). If you were unable to speak Chinese, it would have been near impossible to register someone as a resident for the 144-hour transit visa (and to subsequently be able to leave the country).
These small unforeseen events that caused delays left me feeling occasionally hopeless and afraid that I would be stuck in China; I felt homesick for Seoul, the first time I think I've ever experienced homesickness (I have an adaptable personality and don't find transitions terribly difficult). Simply not being able to communicate with anyone, understand anything, and be treated in such a condescending manner so consistently really pushed my optimism to its very end, and despite being happy to be in China and visiting dear friends (I also visited my sorority Grand-Big, who was doing her last medical school rotation in Shanghai), I was also quite happy to leave and quickly stop by Macau and then Seoul.
Not to say that you shouldn't go to Shanghai on the 144 visa-free transit- if you stay at a hotel, it's quite easy, as the hotel does all the work, but if you are visiting a friend or family- be sure to fully understand what documents need to shown to the police, and that you can speak Chinese (or someone else can). It's needless to say that I ate my fair share of dumplings (soup dumplings, or xiao long bao), bubble tea, and food in general (it's so cheap!), but the biggest takeaway was really the cultural difference I felt, and how relieved I was to ever encounter other Koreans- whether it was one of Cindy's friends, or random elders on the subway.
Despite being so "similar" in culture- China and Korea are also extremely different, and conflating the two is foolish and ignorant- but perhaps its something everyone should really experience for themselves.
