Editor’s note: the following article was translated from a blog post on ifeng.com. In the post, the author, Jin Zaixian (金宰贤), a South Korean man, discusses ten things he doesn’t like about China, taken from his recently published book on living in China for the last decade. Below is part two of this blog post (see part 1 here).

 

In 2012, I wrote a book entitled "China, Can I Say No to You?". The book depicts a South Korean's perspective on living in China, and I wrote it to provide Chinese friends with a new perspective for looking upon problems with their country. The book begins with just such a sentiment. To date, I've lived in China for nine years. As time passed by, I gradually became used to many things; however I still struggle to come to terms with the following ten items.

6) No one ever says "I'm sorry"
I previously wrote an article addressing this issue. As you may imagine, it became the subject of much scorn online. Many people criticized me for making a sweeping generalization about China, and assuming my own limited experiences with Chinese were somehow representative of the society as a whole. However, I did not write that article off the cuff; it’s a topic that I’d given much thought to over the years. And I still feel that compared to most foreigners, Chinese are really unwilling to say "I'm sorry". I think that there are two reasons for this. First, is the reserved nature of Chinese people. Generally speaking, Chinese people will not say the whole of what they mean. For me, oftentimes it's not until after I've had a chance to stop and think about the entire context of what they’ve said that I'll understand their actual meaning. Second, is that Chinese people excessively adhere to the Confucian Doctrine of the Mean (中庸) – which roughly means that they try to handle matters moderately, without resorting to an extreme. Very rarely have I seen a Chinese person take full responsibility for something; most of the time, they just leave a matter unsettled. Consequently, when somebody is criticized, his or her most strategic option is refusing to claim responsibility.

7) High quality goods are expensive; inexpensive goods are junk
When I first came to China, I thought that the prices here were very low. I still remember the first time I saw how much a watermelon cost, my jaw dropped. It was so much cheaper than in South Korea. I thought that China was a shopper's paradise. But that was then. These days, most goods have gone up in price. In particular, many of China's “luxury” goods are now outrageously overpriced. And the only goods that are still fairly priced are usually complete junk. I've gradually discovered that inexpensive, well-made goods simply don't exist in China. In many cases, the price of luxury goods in China is more expensive than in South Korea, so whenever I go back I'm sure to load up on clothing, skin care products and so on.

I've also noticed that Chinese tourists receive a lot of media attention in South Korea. Every report features some variant on the statement: "the rich Chinese have more money than they know what to do with; they're buying everything in sight; you’ll see them carrying a dozen shopping bags each on their return flights to China". While this is undoubtedly true, it rather misses the point: the reason they’re spending so much money on goods in South Korea is because goods are so much cheaper here than in China.

8) Medical treatment is a huge hassle and really expensive
The place I most dread visiting in China (aside from queuing at the bank) is the hospital. Although many aspects of China's infrastructure such as the subways, railways and highways have all dramatically improved in the past decade, the country's health care system remains incredibly cumbersome. In my opinion, you’d be hard pressed to find another part of “modernizing China” that’s shown fewer signs of improvement: hospital facilities are still vastly outdated, management and service are terrible etc.

The biggest hassles I've encountered in China are at hospitals. It's gotten to the point where if I need to see a doctor, I'll fly back to South Korea to do so. Not only is it easier to communicate in my native language, it’s also more convenient and sometimes, believe it or not, less expensive. Besides dealing with the skyrocketing housing costs (see below), I think that health care reform is one of the most pressing issues facing China today; it directly affects a lot of people's standard of living as well as the country's Happiness Index rating.

9) Money won’t buy you good service
Even before coming to China, I'd heard that it was hard to find "service with a smile" here. But the first time some clerk literally threw my change back at me, I was still pretty surprised. Since then, I've learnt to greatly reduce my expectations for service standards, as otherwise I'd be constantly feeling disappointed. Consequently, the first time I ate at one of the Haidilao restaurants in 2007, I was actually quite moved by their service and attentiveness. China still has places like this? It was something I hadn’t anticipated. Today, service in certain restaurants and stores has improved, although China's service industry as a whole is still pretty terrible. Recently, back in South Korea, I was taking the high-speed rail and I happened to see one of the attendants bow their head to a passenger they were assisting. This image stuck with me. People's money is hard earned; if we spend that money, we have the right to enjoy quality service.

10) Housing costs are out of control!
This is undoubtedly the thing that today's youth are most concerned about. It's the issue that most affects their vital interests, and it is the key factor in distinguishing them as either lower or middle class. Since I do no intend to buy a house in China, this issue doesn't give me nearly the headache that it must give China's youth, but I can feel the pressure that they're up against. The biggest contradiction is that housing prices increased as a result of the economic prosperity brought on by the reform and opening policy, but while China's youth have benefited from that economic prosperity, they're also faced with an increasing amount of pressure. Previously, while I was in an MBA program at Peking University, I was living in the Dongwangzhuang compound in Beijing's Haidian District (just north of Wudaokou). The apartments in this compound were very basic, and cost me about 2,600 RMB per month at the time. When I visited the area earlier this year, I was shocked to find that the average rent in that very compound had increased to almost 30,000 RMB – more than ten-fold in a single decade! Never would I have expected that this "ugly duckling" would become such a "beautiful swan".

Conclusion

So I've just listed 10 things that I don't like about China. At this point, many of you are probably thinking: If you dislike China so much, then why do you still live here? The fact is that these ten things don't make me forget the incredibly friendly and warm interactions I've had with so many Chinese people during my time living and traveling in this country. Their goodness and kindness has led me to love the land of China and the people living here. Moreover, I think that China exhibits the same "melting pot" characteristic as the United States (perhaps "hot pot" is a better analogy): elements of the past and present are mixing everywhere, and things are constantly changing. Ten “dislikes” aside, these are the two major reasons I love China. I wrote this article to point out some of the problems in China, which I've been criticized for countless times online. To my critics I say this: If I didn't care about or want this country to continue to develop, then I wouldn't bother criticizing anything. The reason that I am so critical of China, is because I want it to become a better country, and because I believe that such a China will not only be beneficial to Chinese, but to the whole world.

Source: ifeng

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Keywords: things I don’t like about China part 2 South Korean perspective of China