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It was only when I was invited to a Chinese National Day party, that I suddenly realised that I had never met Chinese people en masse, and really knew rather little about their culture and lifestyle. It also occurred to me that such information that I did have came from dubious sources. I have, of course, visited Chinese restaurants, and met individual Chinese people in the course of my work, but this gave me no insight at all into the culture of the oldest and most populous civilisation on the planet.
I spoke of dubious sources, by which I mean that I grew up in the Cold War era, when the only news we heard in Britain about China, the Soviet Union and Cuba was bad news - in other words, negative propaganda. These news stories were frequently followed by something about trade-union action, in an attempt to paint them with the same brush. Other dubious sources were historical movies about feudal China, where peasants' heads would roll as the result of the slightest failure or complaint. I might add that Britain was no better when the Lords ruled and the common people had virtually no rights at all.
Sadly, the Western press is still concentrating on the negative aspects of China, and rarely has anything positive to say (except in travel programmes). So, my introduction to Chinese culture began when it was my job to give a presentation about Finnish culture to a small group of visiting production workers from ABB China. An interpreter had been provided, as I can't even say 'hello' in Chinese.
As I was explaining aspects of the Finnish culture (sauna, sisu, Sibelius and sausage), I got to know more of the similarities and differences between the two cultures. Later in the day we visited Stundars, the Ostrobothnia Museum and Rax, and all I can say is that I enjoyed their company immensely. At the end of the day, the interpreter invited my family and I to the party which is the subject of this editorial.
Here is the invitation:
In true western style, we arrived a little late, but this didn't cause any problems. The party was organised by the Chinese Students' Union, and the workers' facility at Kotiranta was already buzzing with activity. Nearly all of the at least 100 participants were students, and most were Chinese, but about ten percent represented other cultures. We signed in, left our coats and were offered 'wish cards' to fill in and put in a box.
Then we moved into the anteroom, where Chinese food was on offer (at only fifty cents per portion). I was greeted like an old friend by a total stranger, and this set the mood for the whole evening. I have never met friendlier people in my life, and I come from a very friendly culture myself. The food was, how should I say, nothing like English or Finnish food (but then, have you ever seen an English or Finnish restaurant abroad?). I went back twice for refills :-)
Then came the programme. Two girls acted as MC's, and gave introductions in Chinese and English. We all stood for the Chinese national anthem, and they stood with pride and sang with enthusiasm (something which the average Brit would be unable to do these days, because we can't remember the words anymore).
Next came a performance of Chinese music played on a very large and beautiful Chinese traditional instrument, performed by the interpreter I had met earlier, and who had invited us, Liya.
Liya was followed by another singer, who sang in a much more modern mode.
Then came dancing. Just about everyone joined in with the rabbit dance, and the building literally shook with the fun. Other kinds of dancing followed, including break-dancing, and eventually the kids and the parents left the students to their fun.
Here are some more photos of the action:
The Rabbit Dance 1.
The Rabbit Dance 2.
Breakdancing 1.
Breakdancing 2.
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