Sunday, November 21, 2010

At Home in China



The conclusion that where you live is who you are might seem overblown, but its certainly reflected in the homes I've seen in China. The home is one of the most intimate spaces and we fill it with things that tell us stories about our own lives - relics, status symbols, indulgences. When you buy your first home you make it a shrine to yourself, defining your space and letting it define you. The behavior is hardly culture-specific, but the objects you choose may be.

Early in my stay I spent a weekend with a couple who lived in the Beijing suburbs just beyond the fourth ring. I had been sent to live with them to experience a "typical" Chinese home and family and what I experienced was anything but "Chinese."

If they did not live in Beijing, their gated community would be fit the archetype of the American suburbs: space for two cars, a jacuzzi for the master bathroom, and a full living room set situated around a television larger than the couch.

The reality was perhaps unsavory, but increasingly typical.

This revelation was hardly a shock, but it did make me aware of the fact that my own petty cultural expectations would not always be met. Chinese tastes for western homes can be explained in much the same way as our own: they are not only affordable, but also in style.

Dai Shuo, a friend and tutor of mine, recently moved into an apartment on the outskirts of Beijing that his family lived in for a number of years with his girlfriend where the two had the opportunity to decorate the space however they chose to.

The apartment is still in transition, but many of the materials that they have selected so far are, not surprisingly, non-traditional.

"My parents chose this light," Dai Shuo said, directing my attention towards a chandelier that projected red, green, blue, and orange light through fake crystals onto the ceiling and walls.

Looking up at the little light which could turn the atmosphere to anything from "strip club" to "sanctuary" I was reminded once again of my useless nagging prejudices.

In bemoaning the advance of western culture I had inadvertently saddled the Chinese with some a responsibility above my own to cherish their ancient culture. It has taken some time, and I'm still moaning, but I'm trying to let it go, at least for my sanity.



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