ENTERTAINMENT / Hot Pot Column
Rural-urban semantic divide
By Raymond Zhou (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-04-03 09:43
If you look up the words "urban", "suburban" or "rural" in English and
Chinese dictionaries, they list definitions that are essentially the
same. No, not that "urban" and "rural" mean the same, but "urban" and its
Chinese equivalent mean the Well, you get the point.
But mind you, these terms for clusters of population may conjure up
different images in each language. When you mention "suburban" in
English, it's an endless expanse of subdivisions with manicured lawns and
single-detached houses. In Chinese, it often refers to "urban villages"
with density so high that a fly has difficulty squeezing in between two
buildings, and neighborhoods that are so dirty they are sometimes
mistaken for junkyards.
On the other hand, "urban" denotes gleaming skyscrapers that house
well-paid suits in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. But a New Yorker or
Chicagoan may think of 'hoods and projects?
I can't imagine why government-subsidized housing complexes should take
on such featureless names. Why not "welfare houses for the poor"? We have
"welfare houses" for public servants here, which, if you ponder it hard
enough, is more descriptive and accurate. And we'll relocate urban poor
to the surrounding provinces, keeping our downtowns as postcard
picturesque as tourist sites.
"Small town" can be a misnomer when translated literally. A town like
Sausalito in San Francisco Bay Area has its quaint charm, with its
galleries on hillside and coffee houses by the bay. A typical small town
in China has streets that look like they haven't been swept in a decade
and a sewage system that is very 19th century, if it exists.
Things usually get worse when it grows into a small city. Now, city
officials will pour as much money as cement into building white
elephants, like the ubiquitous square. And they will install along the
thoroughfare lampposts so ornate they belong in a rococo palace. Each
post uses so many exquisitely shaped bulbs that, to save electricity,
they are turned on only when big shots come to visit.
Of course, we have enchanting little towns like Yunnan's Lijiang and
Zhejiang's Wuzhen. But some of them charge a hefty entrance fee. And once
you get there, stay put. If you venture outside, your eyes will be
polluted with row after row of white-tiled buildings and non-descript
shops that are the hallmark of the supercharged economic locomotive.
You'll be excused if you believe that China's urban planners have an
obsession with size. They all want to build their cities into
"international metropolises" and some have started by cloning the White
House, but much enlarged.
Taking over the task of putting together livable communities are
real-estate developers, whose projects are sometimes as far-flung and
inclusive as sizeable towns. So, how do you call these gated enclaves of
the nation's burgeoning middle class? "Suburban" would correspond to the
Western concept, but that would mix up the shantytowns that dot the
outskirts of downtowns.
Maybe anthropologists 1,000 years from now will write: It has the
gentility of days gone by and a laid-back charm. Let's make it a tourist
destination.
To comment or contribute,e-mail:hotpot@chinadaily.com.cn
(China Daily 04/03/2007 page20)
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