Xi'an+and+Shanghai

Xi’an and Shanghai 西安&上海

By Charlotte, Cherry, and Cheng



Above: right- Xi'an City. Left-Shanghai City at night.

Introduction前言: In this paper we will examine the cultural differences and similarities between two great cities of China. Both Cities have been called the embodiment of Chinese culture, but for very different reasons. Xi’an is a provincial capital that represents the vast history of the Chinese culture. On the other hand, Shanghai is known for its modernity and cutting edge technology. These cities are both large tourist attractions that draw people in from around the world. They come to see the great museums and experience the “authentic” Chinese culture in Xi’an, whereas in Shanghai are attracted to the monstrous skyscrapers and modern culture of China. Together these cities represent the two faces of China and can help us better understand Chinese culture as a whole.

All of the members in our group are fascinated with China; in fact one of our group members is an international exchange student. Cheng, who is from Xi’an, has told us many great stories about her hometown and has thus sparked our interest in the great city. After compiling research for this project, Xi’an and Shanghai have now become our top choice destinations for travel. The other members of our group are studying the Chinese language in order to communicate during our future travels. Learning about the culture of China will also be beneficial to us in terms of our future potential careers.

Studying Xi’an and Shanghai helps us to understand the different dialectics in Chinese culture. These differences are fundamental in comprehending the complexities and diversity of Chinese culture. People that have little or no knowledge about China often assume Chinese culture to be homogenized. It is important for people to understand that by making assumptions about a culture, they are perpetuating stereotypes. Understanding the parts of culture that are not apparent and superficial is essential in intercultural communications because conflict can be avoided if people have a better understanding of another culture.

In order to understand these unique cultures we will first explore the most obvious differences; the differences in food and language dialects. Second, we will discuss the histories of these cities to have a better understanding of their backgrounds. Next we will address the dialectics that are the root of the many of the cultural differences and how this affects their different perceptions and attitudes. Finally we will examine the first hand experiences of the culture shock, which occurred when our group member Cheng visited Shanghai for the first time.

Language语言: The dialect of Xi’an belongs to a type of northern dialect and its pronunciation is more similar to mandarin. Even if you are not from Xi’an, you still can understand the majority part of Xi’an’s dialect if you speak standard mandarin. In many public places, such as school, people always communicate in mandarin.

The dialect of Shanghai belongs todialect and its pronunciation is completely different from mandarin. If you haven’t lived in Shanghai for a long time, it is almost impossible to understand their dialect. In school, especially in high school, if the teacher comes from Shanghai, he lectures in Shanghai dialect. Students also communicate with each other in the Shanghai dialect. However, this is gradually changing and the Shanghai dialect is not as popular among young people as it was in previous years.

Food食物: Another obvious differences between these two cities are their contrasting preferences in food. People from Shanghai tend to enjoy Xi’an-style dishes, while the majority of Xi’an people don’t like traditional Shanghai food. Shanghai cuisine is characterized as sweet and people usually eat rice every day. In Xi’an the food is typically spicy and they eat more noodles than rice. Also there are many Muslim people in Xi’an called the “Hui” people. There is a very famous street in Xi’an that sells all “Hui” food, including lots of lamb and beef. Because of the diversity of different Chinese ethnic groups in Xi’an, there is a great diversity in foods too. When someone from Xi’an travels to Shanghai and tries the food, it is common for them to believe that it I bland because they are used to spices and varieties in Xi’an.



Above: Right- Famous Xi'an food called "cold skin". Left- Typical Shanghai dish, eel.

History历史: Xi’an is most famous for its historical significance. It was the first capital of China and remained the capital of governance for centuries during ancient Chinese history (Xian Tourism China). Despite the drastic transformation of the Chinese culture and landscape in the past century, many world-renowned historical sites remain today. The terra cotta warriors are known as the “eighth major miracle of the world” (Chinese Culture Center). All 6,000 warriors were created to protect the Emperor in his after life, and each figure was hand crafted with a unique face to represent the ethnic diversity of his original army. Xi’an has been big part of Chinese history, and as a result there is a large diversity of Chinese ethnic groups within the city. One of the largest groups is the Hui people who are Muslim. There is even a section of the city dedicated to the Hui people, as discussed earlier on food. There is a strong sense of pride among Xi’an people, and they believe that their city accurately represents “authentic” Chinese culture.

Contrasting with the historic cultural significance of Xi’an, Shanghai is known as an international center for trade and commerce (Chinese Culture Center). There are heavy influences from the French and other European powers and much of the culture and architecture in the city reflect this. Shanghai is considered one of the most modern cities in all of China. The skyscrapers tower over the city, and according to Matthew, an HSU student who visited Shanghai, the buildings are so high-tech that “it is as if they came out of the Jetsons” (a futuristic cartoon). Shanghai is a municipality directly under the Central Government (similar to Washington DC), so it is a city that has a very special role in China. It is considered one of the most important cities of the global economy; because of this there are many people from other countries that have moved to Shanghai in search of job opportunities. As a result people in Shanghai are very proud of where they live and some people even perceive Shanghai to be a superior city.

Dialectics方言: Dialectics is an important part of understanding intercultural communication. According to Doctor Rietzel, a professor and expert in intercultural communication, a dialect is “opposite forces along a continuum that produce tension and meaning and allow us to create, co-create, and recreate our identities as we engage in intercultural communication.” Dialectics are two contradicting elements that cannot exist with out the other. Examples of dialectics are individualism versus collectivism, high-context versus low-context, mono-chronic versus poly-chronic. China is a massive country and there are different dialectics within the country. In this particular case we will discuss individualism and collectivism. China is considered to be a collectivist culture, “being situation-centered goes beyond in group solitary to encompass a winder rage of values centered with role structure and traditional aspects of Chinese society” (Feather). People tend to be more royal and patriotic towards their country. The interests of the group are greater than the individual level. They value respect for parents, tradition, and duties. However, as the world is getting smaller, parts of China have become more westernized. The modernization and the economic development have increasingly influenced the Chinese culture to become more individualistic. In this case Shanghai is an example of the more individualistic side of China. Shanghai is one of China’s largest cities with high economic productivity. Shanghai has its own culture known as, “ Shanghai-style culture.” This culture is an integration of traditional Chinese culture with the historic ideas of European and American cultures since the opening of Shanghai. Shanghai is well known for its magnificent skyscrapers and its modern facilities, Shanghai has also hosted many cultural activities and conferences (Cultural China). This hyper interaction with western culture has enormously influenced the Shanghai culture to be more individualistic. Another noticeable dialectic between Xi’an and Shanghai are in terms of the way they communicate. Xi’an people tend to be more low-context, meaning that their language is more direct, straight-forward, and explicit. On the other hand, people in Shanghai are more high-context, meaning that their language is less direct, tends to “beat around the bush,” and is more implicit. This is somewhat ironic because the collectivist culture usually parallels with high-context and the individualistic culture with low-context. However, Cheng views that being more direct is a good thing because this is a sign of honesty. Being direct is not a sign of neglect in interpersonal relationships. In fact, people in Xi’an believe that being direct is a great way to form relationships. Some people often believe high-context communications is more relationship oriented rather than business oriented. However, according to Cheng, being non-direct is analogous to being deceitful. Dialectics are very important in intercultural communication because misunderstandings and conflicts are deemed to arise when people face the opposite force of the dialectics.

The stereotypes of Xi’an people have the characteristics of northerners, and their way of communicating is more straightforward than Shanghai people. They always say things in a direct way. Many people from other areas think Xi’an people are blunt because Xi’an people always want to tell you the truth even though that truth may be hard to hear. Xi’an people are also very hospitable. For example, they often like to treat people when they eat together. (Cheng). Sharing and taking care of each other is a huge part of their culture because they are collectivistic.

Shanghai people’s way of communicating is more indirect than those from Xi’an. People from other areas often have the preconceived notion that Shanghai people are very shrewd, and they always are particular about unimportant matters. In comparison to Xi’an Shanghai residents tend to “sugar-coat” their words. Shanghai people are very dependent on the city, and majority of people don’t want to leave Shanghai to work and study. Sometimes, Shanghai students would prefer to choose a local college with a lower status in order to stay in the Shanghai.

Above: Right-Famous Xi'an Historical site, Terra Cotta Warriors. Left- Shanghai World Expo 2010.

Experiences with Culture Shock文化冲突: In order to illustrate the differences dialects and attitudes of these cities we will share a story that shows how cultural differences can be perceived as rudeness and can manifest itself as intense culture shock. In the Culture Shock an article printed by UK and German Living, culture shock is the term used to describe the emotional and physical discomfort a person suffers when moving to a completely new environment”. The fallowing paragraph Cheng will share her culture shock that she experienced when visited Shanghai. I am Cheng and I have lived in Xi’an for 20 years. When I traveled to Shanghai I had extreme culture shock. I have visited Shanghai twice and although it is a very beautiful city, I have to say I didn’t have a great experience because I felt that the Shanghai people were selfish and unfriendly. I want to share my own experience for you in this paper. When I was 10 years old, I traveled to Shanghai for the first time. I felt so excited and proud because I know Shanghai is a very popular and amazing city. I went there with my parents and some other people who worked with my dad. We traveled by car and stopped at Anhui, Nanjing, Zhouzhuang and other some small beautiful places in the way, our final stop was in Shanghai. I experienced my first moment of culture shock the first day in Shanghai. After we ate breakfast my dad went to get his car and so I just followed my mom went to the parking lot. On the way, my mom and I were crossing the road when we saw a car was diving directly towards us. The man who drove the car honked the horn that was so loud it scared us. When he stopped in front of us my mom asked him why he honked the horn. The Shanghai man spoke so loud and spoke in some Shanghai dialects I could not understand, but I knew that he was using bad words. I thought he was in a rush at that time, but we were already crossing the street and if he had slowed down it would have only taken a short time for us to cross. My mom was so angry with how rude this driver was so she just stood in front of that car and argued with the driver. The next thing he did was unbelievable! He drove forward and rammed my mom with the car! My mom was jolted backwards, but luckily she was ok and only had some bruises. I ran to tell my dad what happened and my dad was furious. He ran up to the car, opened the door, and grabbed the man by his shirt and lifted him off of the ground. At that time the man’s wife came out from the car and repeatedly apologized to us. She begged my dad to calm down. My dad collected his thought and then said to the driver “Do not think you can bully us because you are Shanghai people and we are not”. I saw that the man’s face was so scared. This picture is still vivid in my mind and I will never forget how unbelievably rude that Shanghai man was. I think Shanghai people just look down upon the people who are from other cities. They think highly of themselves because they are Shanghai people and they believe Shanghai to be greater than all other cities in China. However I don’t believe that all the Shanghai people are as rude and angry as that driver. There are many different kinds of people in Shanghai, but many of them do feel some level of cultural superiority. The second time I visited Shanghai I went with my friends to go to the Shanghai World Expo 2010. We took the train from Xi’an to Shanghai. In the crowed train station, I saw a woman was selling the Expo map. I walked over to her to take a quick look at the map. She asked me: “Do you want to buy one?” I said no because I knew that there would be free maps in the Expo so I didn’t need to buy one from her. Then, the women got really angry and she said “No looking if your not going to buy it” followed by some bad words I could barely understand. My friends and I were so astonished that she got angry. We didn't argue with her because we knew she was poor and that she needed to sell the maps to make money, but I still felt Shanghai people are much more unfriendly compared to people from Xi’an. The Shanghai people really gave me a shock. They seemed to be always in a rush and only concerned with themselves. Many think that they are living and working in the greatest city in China, so they don't like people who are from small cities. Being from Xi’an in Shanghai everyone seems pretentious selfish.

Conclusion总结:

In conclusion, Chinese culture is complex and diverse. Xi’an and Shanghai are two famous cities that represent the many differences within China. On the surface level one would notice the differences in food, language, and the architecture. They speak the same language yet it is nearly impossible for people from these different cities to understand each other because of how they speak. Food is also one of the obvious differences with contrasting flavors and types of food. Finally the architecture most visual difference between these two cities. The traditional buildings in Xi’an represent “authentic” Chinese culture whereas the massive skyscrapers in Shanghai represent the western influences in modern China.

However there are fundamental cultural differences that can only be discovered through travel and communication with the diverse Chinese people. Both cities indicate the diversity in China, one showing international diversity and the other showing diversity among the Chinese ethnic groups. Many of the major differences stem from the individual- collectivist dialectic and the high context-low context dialectic discussed earlier. Due to the different ways of thinking, conflict is very common. In order to avoid these conflicts it is important to try to understand those cultural differences. We must steer clear of stereotypes and keep an open mind to fully absorb these cultures because most of the differences are not visible.

Student learning outcomes: -We have defined what culture shock is and used an example of Cheng’s experiences in Shanghai. We discussed communication differences between Xi’an and Shanghai and how it can create conflict. We touched on feels of culture superiority in Shanghai in relations to ethnocentrism.

-We discussed stereotyping of both Chinese cultures in general, and also stereotyping of cultures between Shanghai and Xi’an. We discussed how these stereotypes are formed, the harm they cause, and gave suggestions of how to avoid them.

- We explored how each of these Chinese cultures plays a large role in developing personal identities. For example Shanghai is know for its modernity and advanced and so they see themselves as superior to other “less significant cities”.

-We gave explanations of why there are conflicts in intercultural communication. We also gave suggestions of how to avoid these conflicts in the conclusion.

Bibliography

"China, it will shock you!." Shanghai Notice. World Press Business Themes, 2011. Web. 2 Nov 2011. . This website shows us the culture shock in China. It includes the traffic, language, and communication. From this website, I understand more about culture and what is feels like. "Cultural China." City Guide. CultureChina.com, 2010. Web. 1 Nov 2011. . This website give us the information background about the culture in Xi’an and Shanghai.This is useful in out project because it helps identify the difference in culture Dong, Cheng. "Xi'an and Shanghai." Personal Interview by Charlotte Carver, Cherry Sripan. 1Nov 2011. This interview was the first step in our research. Cheng told us about Xi’an and then about other cities in China. It was from this first interview that we narrowed down our topic and decided to compare Shanghai and Xi’an cultures. Much of our information on Xi’an culture came from the first had experiences of Cheng. "Shanghai overview." Chinese Cultural Center, 2011. Web. 3 Nov 2011. . This website gave background on Shanghai. It helped us understand why Shanghai is an important international city, especially economically. Feather, N.T. "Cultural Differences between Chinese Students and Australian students ." International Journal of Psychology. 21.6 n. page. Print. This article is report about the cultural differences between students in China and students in Australia. It gives us the background information on the Chinese culture. Rietzel, Armeda. "Intercultural Communication 322." Dialectics. Humboldt State University, Arcata, Ca. September 8th 2011. In Person. Doctor Reitzel introduce the class to what a dialectics is and also give us examples. This lecture is useful in this project because it explains the definition of dialectics. This way the readers have the background on what we are talking about. 7. Thompkin, Matthew. "Xi'an in comparison to Shanghai." Personal Interview by Charlotte Carver. 02Nov2011. This interview gave us the perspective of an HSU student who traveled to Xi’an for 6 months. During his visit he also traveled to Shanghai and so he was able to give us some examples of cultural differences. 8. Wang, Qing. "Shanghai ." Personal Interview by Cheng Dong. 31 Oct 2011. Qing lived in Shanghai and studied in Xi’an for one year in the University. She has her own experience for the different between Shanghai people and Xi’an people and the different culture between these two cities in China.

9. "Xi'an guide." Xi'an Tourism China. Tourism administration of Xi'an, 2008. Web. 3 Nov 2011. . This website is primarily a tourist website, however there are specific historical references. This website gave a little more detail of the history of Xi’an and its historical sites.

10."Xi'an overview." Chinese Cultural Center. 2011. Web. 3 Nov 2011. . This website also gave us some background on the historical sites in Xi’an and briefly discussed some of the cultural aspects, such as ethnic diversity and food. We used the website for more info on the terra cotta warriors and also some cultural information