A Country of Fences

I found this from something I wrote and half finished a while ago, 2009/2010.  But I liked the idea and wanted to finish.  So I apologize if it comes off a little disjointed or rambling...

A Country of Fences

A fence is defined by dictionary.com as “a barrier enclosing or bordering a field, yard, etc., usually made of posts and wire or wood, used to prevent entrance, to confine, or to mark a boundary” and by Merriam-Webster online as “a: a barrier intended to prevent escape or intrusion or to mark a boundary; especially: such a barrier made of posts and wire or boards b: an immaterial barrier or boundary line <on the other side of the fence in the argument>”.  China is a country of fences.  Physical boundaries enclose almost every cluster of dwellings, blocking every path and mental boundaries block out new or challenging ideas.  And now they have found a way to add electronic boundaries as well.

Every school is surrounded by a fence with a guarded gate.  Today (2009, bird flu is disease de jour) they are only armed with electronic temperature readers to keep the sick at bay, but they keep out far more than that.  I have always thought of schools as places where learning, of all things, was encouraged.  I love to debate and argue.  A person cannot argue against something that they don’t understand, their arguments will be one-sided and half-formed. Only by understanding that which you don’t understand and disagree with can you make a complete argument against it.

As a nation of fences China has a most distinguished history.  Home of the largest fence in the world, the Great Wall, designed to keep the Mongols out (yet failed to prevent the Manchu’s from conquering China).   Now the enclosed courtyard is an integral part of Chinese architecture.  A home or grouping of dwellings designed around a central courtyard, enclosed and sectioned off from the surrounding areas.  Today it seems that fences lock people in as often as they keep the undesired out.  China is a country of massive population and in many areas rampant over-crowding.  Carving out an area of privacy and seclusion can be very difficult to do.  In many cities a private or semi-private shared courtyard can give the occupants that sense of privacy that is so hard to find in today’s China.  But many gates and fences are arbitrary boundaries that do not stop any one from crossing.  The gate around my residential complex is manned 24 hours a day.  From about 6 a.m. to 10 or 11 p.m. the gate is open.  As far as I can tell anyone can enter, no questions asked.  Cars are provided with an I.D. badge, but nothing is required to get it, other than rolling down your window.  Upon arrival a driver is given a card, when they leave the driver returns the card to the guard.  This is to ensure that the driver of the car leaving is the same person who drove it in (a car was stolen and this policy was put in place soon after).  It takes 2-4 people to guard this ultra-important location from the undesirables.  The only function I can see is to prevent cars from being stolen from inside the compound.  As far as privacy or seclusion goes, the courtyard is packed everyday with people, just as much as any of the public parks in the area, if not more so.  Many places at night the gates are locked and there is no person on-site to operate the gate.  People who live inside are in for the night, released in the morning.

But I have realized they do far more than just restrict or permit access.  The guards are there to monitor everyone.  They note who comes and goes, when and with whom.  They don’t stop or question the foreigners coming in going because they know who we are.  Its obvious, I don’t need an ID when there are 4 white people working and living in entire compound.  Students have access restricted all the time.  Curfews in place with strict locked-door policies (Most of the doors are actually physically chained shut.  At first I thought about fire safety, but have come to realize that with everything made of solid concrete and brick, there is nothing to burn).  During times of public unrest students will be restricted from leaving campus without formal written documentation.  Several times I have realized this is happening and was completely unaware of the events causing the lockdown; things seemed normal to me.  And they were, partly because all the students who may have gathered were restricted from leaving their dormitories. 

One time I became acutely aware of the process was back in 2009 when I was living with my girlfriend (Chinese) in a school provided campus apartment.  Foreigners were not subject to the same lockdown restrictions as the students, but being white it was pretty easy for the guards to tell we were not students.  As well as not being allowed to leave, non-authorized Chinese were not allowed to enter either.  On returning to the school, the security guard (who I came to realize later specifically did not like foreigners, or maybe just me) bypassed me and directly confronted my girlfriend (standing hand in hand at my side).  He did not address, did not even look at me.  At this time my Chinese was not very good and I had trouble with the speed and the accent, but I knew immediately the general content of the conversation.  The campus access was being restricted, where was her ID?  The situation became very tense, very fast.  I tried to explain who she was and that regardless foreign teachers were allowed to move freely and with guests, so it didn’t matter and he needed to piss off.  Whether that was misunderstood or he didn’t care, both equally likely, I didn’t make any headway.  Step two in the process, ignore the security guard and go on about your business like they don’t exist, usually a successful option.  He moved to block our path and as we kept going he somewhat roughly grabbed my girlfriend’s arm and pulled her back toward the gate.  I did not take kindly to that action and slapped his hand off my girlfriend and pushed him back.  Now this was a pretty big loss of face for the security guard and the situation was escalating quickly.  I was pretty sure that he wouldn’t attack me, that would be very serious and even if he did, that wasn’t something I was concerned about.  The bigger problem would have been was that I was living with my girlfriend and she needed to be able to come and go without me walking her through the gate every time.  The security guards could make that difficult, as this was the only gate in or out of the school.  Fortunately as things were beginning to look not good, the vice-president of my department came down (I tried calling her when the incident began to have her come and explain to the guard) and began to berate the security guard.  It was fun to watch.  I didn’t really have problems after that, but it was clear that he would not be coming to my aid if I ever needed help. 

The security checkpoints at the schools never really seemed to impede me, but foreigners exist with a dual-status.  Often allowed to do many things that their Chinese counterparts cannot, but also severely disliked (perhaps for the same reason) by many.  I could not imagine the influence these arbitrary controls would have on me as a student growing up in this system.  So endemic and complete it is not imposed upon you, but merely the way it is.  It doesn’t really get questioned because it is a fact of life.

These fences persist into mental boundaries as well.  Replacing the Great Wall as the biggest physical barrier, the Chinese now have the Great Firewall; I imagine the greatest electronic barrier to information.  Even now as I write this I will not be able to post it easily and may simply wait a couple weeks until I leave China.  A constant monitor on what you say and who you say it to, the Chinese censorship system is awesome in its control.  And it is another accepted fact of life.  By blocking information, it restricts the thoughts of so many.  A tiny minority of Chinese rulers have had a monopoly on government for almost the entirety of their 4,000 year history, only punctuated by periods of anarchy; emperors and ruling families compete for ownership of the country.  Warlords warring for control with each other.  And now the Communist Party leading the country for the good of the people.  Each new dynasty taking control from a stagnating government.  Monopolies are great in the beginning and yet over time without competition they stagnate, lose focus and all the elements that made them great become impediments to future growth.

 With the firewall, this newest dynasty is doing its best to maintain a monopoly on thought as well.  In the electronic age with the growth of technology and the ever increasing speed of communication, it is the probably the only way the Communist Party can continue to maintain control.  After a horrific start (1949-1978), they have recovered and China has grown by amazing leaps and bounds.  An economic growth rate near 10% a year is impressive, maintaining that for 30 years, China stands alone. Yet, so many monopolies seem to start with something amazing only to languish. 

I sit around with my fellow laowai (foreigners) and we seem to be constantly amazed that China can grow so much with so much dysfunction.  The rate of growth, new construction and wealth creation is amazing.  I can only imagine how much greater the growth would be if you didn’t have to constantly negotiate around a maze of fences.