A Remarkably Ordinary Chinese Town

Earlier this year, I was invited to Inner Mongolia (which, by the way, is part of China, and not a separate country, as I originally thought) to a 4-day English camp, called “Crazy English.” I landed early in the morning in Baotou, a town few foreigners have even heard of, was picked up at the airport, and within 10 minutes of sitting down in the auditorium, was told to come onto the stage and “do something.” “Sure,” I told them, not sure at all what they wanted me to do. I walked onto the stage, grinning stupidly, looked onto the crowd of 300 eight to ten-year-olds, and began to try to carry on some kind of dialogue with them. After a minute of this, I sensed that I was boring them and I had vague premonitions that I would be fired before I even began. So I went to Plan B: I sang and danced the hokey-pokey. They got a real kick out of that.

Although initially it took my by surprise, but snack time eventually became one of my favorite parts of the day, during which time my boss requested that I go from classroom to classroom and shake each of the kids’ hands. The reason? My boss said, “They want to feel friendly with you.” So, I did go around and shake hands with the youngsters and, with the brave and affectionate, gave hugs. It was very sweet, and we all did feel a little friendlier afterwards. (Why don’t we try something like this in American classrooms?)

Coming on this trip allowed me to see a very average Chinese city, which I previously had not done, nor even thought to do. There is very little reason for a foreigner to come to Baotou, Inner Mongolia. Yet, it was a reminder to me that Beijing is as representative of Chinese society as New York is of American. Instead of headquartering multinational corporations, a handful of small to medium-sized Chinese companies operate in Baotou; the city is not the seat of national Communist Party officials but of local officials sprinkled within their own communities; in contrast to the congested Beijing roads of cars, buses, and bicycles, Baotou’s streets were remarkably clean, benign, and empty; lacking the glamour and vitality of a thriving arts and cultural scene, the Baotou’s citizens made up for it with plain friendliness and charm. The students were adorable and the teachers inspiring in their commitment, and yet most of these people would most likely not venture outside the city limits of a place I had previously not noticed the existence of. The whole scene moved me, and, in the end, I found it hard to say goodbye.