As a kid in America, I grew up reading the story of The Country Mouse and City Mouse, and about how these two mice cousins experience the differences in each other’s lives. And as a kid in America, I never understood why they told a story about how “country” mice and “city” mice were different. Weren’t they basically the same? I mean, city people and country people are the same, except that city people might have a cool place to go to on Friday nights, and they have to wait in traffic to get there.

But in China, there is a difference between the country folk and the city folk, and it goes way beyond just what people do for entertainment. The cities are crowded, polluted and disappointingly similar to life in other developed nations. People drive cars, eat at McDonald’s and shop at Wal-Mart.

But the countryside is…well, it’s the part of China you read about in books. It has water buffalos, straw hats and lion dances. It’s the part of China most foreigners always dream about seeing, but never actually get a chance to during their Xi’an to Shanghai tour. It’s also the place where all the old stereotypes about China are found to be true.

Like the stereotype that the countryside is undeveloped. It’s true. Two lane highways turn into one lane cement roads that are a lot more like wide sidewalks. There is no internet connection, no department stores, no stoplights and most people live in cement-block one-story houses with traditional Chinese roofs. In the neighbourhood I was in, all four houses had large wooden doors, like out of a story book.

Also in the countryside, people still have red Communist pride. Everyone actually displays old Communist propaganda in their homes. While a picture of Mao is rare in the city, the country dwellers love their posters of Communist leaders and display them proudly by draping fabric around them or lighting candles next to them, making their political heroes look more like religious idols.

In the countryside, everyone is tanned. Everyone. Some people almost look black. That might be why urban women are so worried about keeping their skin as white as they can. If their skin looks too dark, they might be mistaken for some migrant bumpkin.

I actually went to the countryside with a co-worker. She had to go home for the weekend and I, an intensely curious foreigner, went with her. I met her tan sister and tan mother, her tan grandmother, and tan father. I hung out a lot with her grandmother, who was in her mid-eighties. She was spunky and hard-working, like most grandmas are. We sat on her bamboo bed (which the family all uses more like a couch in the living room) and she told me stories about her life. I stared down at her feet and noticed that her big toes were normal, but each of her eight smaller toes pointed out. Her feet looked a lot like a photo in a book I had seen about Chinese women who began the process of foot binding, but whose parents quickly unbound their feet mid-way through the process when the Qing Dynasty fell. Their feet were left permanently damaged, but they could walk comfortably and were no longer in pain.

I asked her how her toes became so interesting, and I expected her to divulge some memory of foot binding, but she actually told me her feet were always like this. She quickly followed up by saying that it was a myth that in old China parents used to bind little girls’ feet, and that all stories about bound feet were a lie.

Another token of countryside tradition that I saw was that arranged marriages still take place. This time, the matchmaker was actually the mother of my friend. She had been elected as the “village head,” as my friend explained, and as the Village Head, she was responsible for matching all eligible singles within her circle of influence.

The meeting I saw actually took place in a tiny noodle shop. I watched as a young man, maybe 22, stood as older family members approached him, and inconspicuously handed him red cash and red pockets. I watched as a young woman, sat silently by her mother and smiled each time someone entered the noodle shop.

I later learned that that particular meeting was just the beginning of a courtship that would last another 2 years before they get married. I learned that the money given to the young man was from his family and it was only meant to be saved to purchase a home.

“In China, in the countryside, the man’s family must buy a home for the young couple,” explained my friend. ”That money he was given was just for his house. Maybe over time they will give him more than 10,000 RMB.”

It was certainly an interesting thing to watch, as in my mind I would’ve imagined such a meeting to be dreadful for two young people, being forced to marry someone not of their choosing. But it turned out that for those two, they were very happy and excited for a new part of their life to start. (OK, maybe they were also excited for the money.)

Which is essentially the way I would sum up at least most of what I saw in the countryside. I met people who didn’t have computers or mattresses. I even met people who once had bound feet. But, almost all the people I met seemed to have a sincere smile on their face. It’s like what my country bumpkin nanny always says, “Country people are great and true. You never have to lock your doors in the countryside. We are happy there.”
 

Related Links
Xingping: A True Slice of Rural Guangxi
Rural China: Motorcycle Rides in China

Warning：The use of any news and articles published on eChinacities.com without written permission from eChinacities.com constitutes copyright infringement, and legal action can be taken.