Handan,Hebei

[Decurso]

I'm currently 2 months into a 1 year stretch in Handan,Hebei.It is a 2055 year old city,but you could never tell by looking at it.Most of the buildings here are 20-50 years old.The population is a little over 3 million,but two thirds of them are rurals.A few foreigners here,but they're so rare that even I stare when I see one.

Handan was once the capital of the Han Dynasty,and the cities main tourist attractions are the lovely city parks built around the few surviving Han ruins.The big one is Congtai Park,which is built around a 2000 year old tower that offers a great view of the city.

The pollution is pretty awful,courtesy of the steel plants on the west side of the city.It's a dusty prairie city as well,so the smog and dust mix to form a toxic haze that seriously limits ones ability to see farther than ten feet.There is a river that runs through the city that is a vile cesspool of toxic waste.

Anyone who lives here will tell you it's the greatest place in China.I suspect it's the same everywhere,as nobody ever seems to leave their hometowns.It is nice in a rustic,quaint kind of way.Few skyscrapers,hardly any sign of western influence and lots of parks and trees.It's also poor as dirt,so one can live much cheaper than in the big cities.It is also probably a more accurate representation of life in China.

The only nightlife is karaoke bars and outdoor eateries that serve 1 yuan beer 3 yuan plates of jiaozi.I prefer the latter.The karaoke places are expensive and the English songs they play are even worse than the Chinese ones.Only drawback is most of the BBQ beer stands close up at 11:00.

Sigh...I really wish I could've stayed in Shijiazhuang.At least that city had a pulse.Handan seems to be a good 50 years behind it's northern neighbor.But I came here first and foremost to work,and the school in Handan seemed a lot better than the offer we had in Shijiazhuang.The folks in Jinwutong displayed gratitude to us for coming to their poorass city to teach their ignorant peasant chillin English.The school in Shijiazhuang seemed stifling bureaucratic during the interview process.

That's about the sum of my knowledge.Hopefully I'll find there is more this place over time...but I'm not holding my breath!

[Raoul Duke]

Welcome, Decurso, nicely writ!

Boy, this place MUST be a real hole if you're finding yourself thinking wistfully back to Shijiazhuang...

Cheap food, ancient ruins, sweet (if extremely boring) people...these are the best things about being in China anyway, right?

[con's fly is open]

Many parallels with Dashiqiao, my Chinese hometown. A piece of advice: NETWORK LIKE HELL. Ya gotta play the cards yer dealt, and if there's a dearth of fellow laowai, you have to push the advantage and use your gimmick to hobnob. If it's predominately peopled by rural folk, you'll find them a cold bunch... unless they know someone who knows you. The first few months are the worst: you know few people, plus they can't speak English, plus they're probably dull folk. But over time your circle will grow exponentially, so the extra effort now will start paying of around October. Socially, the playoffs arrive at Spring Festival, where their version of the Xmas spirit comes out, everybody's got a little time off, and they want to socialize to an extent that would be impossible at any time of the year.

The Ace in your hand is your white face: you will be the first laowai most folks have talked to, which carries a) novelty/exotic charisma, and b) what I call the Western Fonz factor: you are coolness incarnate.

The bottleneck, of course, is the language barrier. To cope with this you need translators, which you should harvest from your own school. Make sure these include the following:
1. A respectable woman (they're all teachers and school admin, so no worries there); it shows you have civility, and aren't a pervert/colour wolf/creep. The womenfolk will flock to know you, and they will gossip put in a good word for you.
2. An older guy, preferably your headmaster or other muckymuck, who will show you off to guys with pull. this will get your nae around, and the bar is low here: "laowai! and he's not an asshole!" Literally that easy.
3. A younger guy, who will have some modern understanding and some insight into the real Handan, including some fun spots. ideally you can combine two guys by having the young one translate for the old guy, who inevitably will either have poor or non-existent English.

Your buzz word is GUANXI: your school has as much to gain from this as you do, for almost exactly the same reasons. So press the flesh like a used-car slaesman running for mayor, i.e. work in bulk. Over time you will find some diamonds in the rough.

Oh yeah, one more thing: apply these exact same tactics to making connections in the nearest big city, one that's close enough that you could travel there in the morning, spend a day, night and day there, then come back the next evening, completing a 2-day adventure. You'll need this from time to time.

I'm sure the first 2 months were isolating and lonely. The next 2 will be worse, since the novelty's worn off. But from there it gets better.

I promise.

I've been there.

[Decurso]

Thanks Con...I'm already well versed in Gunaxi.In the last week I've drank with the PSB,the PLA and the CCP...a lot of acronyms and lot of drinking!

Networking is pretty easy here too.All my friends are in the education biz ,and I'm sure you already know it's a gossip mill.

My neighbors are a friendly bunch too...a little nosey but
the kids make great interpreters.

Ain't too eagerer to involve the school in my life,though.Right now they love me and I'd like to keep it that way.They would really frown on my affection for piyjao.If I need an interpreter I'd rather borrow a kid...for the most part their English is better and they're less judgmental.