Reflection on Trip to Xiangxi

This trip to Xiangxi has opened my eyes to the less fortunate parts of Mainland China and has let me experience both the good and bad aspects of Mainlanders. First of all, this is the first time I have heard of the city Changsha and the county of Yongshun, and yet I know that the students of Yongshun are among the best of Mainland students in terms of academic performance. Joining this program has also helped me learn more about the thinking of old people. During the home visits, I noticed that the villagers would all give their guests, meaning us, the best things they have. My adult teammates knew that the villagers had little food for the whole year and so asked the elders to stop giving us their good stuff. However, the elders simply refused to do so because their generosity came straight from the bottom of their hearts and they were really grateful for our help. Also, people rarely visit their homes and so they always show great hospitality to their guests.

Inside the villagers’ houses were simple furniture and a few kids accompanied by their elders, showing that they have a simple life and have little desire for more. They live happily without any sign of sadness on their faces and that has reminded me just how materialistic we Hong Kong people are--in our city, even kids as young as 9-10 years old can have an iPhone 4. I also noticed that everybody in the villages drank beer and all adults smoked. They even tried to offer me a pack of cigarettes when I arrived. At that moment I thought that they were very uncivilized as they were trying to offer cigarettes to a teenager. But it turned out that they just had nothing else to do, and smoking was considered merely a hobby. Another good example of the villagers’ hospitality was the breakfast I had on Day 4, after spending a night at the house of a village representative. We visited a student’s home, which was also in the same village, and the grandparents offered us a “luxurious” meal, comparing with their daily meals. The food they gave us was supposed to be eaten only on special occasions such as the Chinese New Year’s Day, and yet they gave it all to us.

There were also loads of occasions on which I was offended by the Mainlanders’ rude behaviours, including cutting in lines, walking into me and trying to get in/out of the lifts first. Those were just minor incidents but the major one happened during a sightseeing tour down the hill by eco-train on the last day of our trip. Having paid for the tickets of the tour, we lined up outside the ticketing office and waited for the eco-train.  When the eco-train arrived, some Mainlanders simply climbed over the fencing at the ticketing office without paying the fees and got onto the eco-train first. The worst part was that the staff of the ticketing office didn’t care about what these Mainlanders were doing and just let them go. At that point I thought, “That’s it, I’m going to punch all those Mainlanders in their freakin’ faces!” Nevertheless, it was quite a fruitful and fun experience in which I learnt a lot from.

Alex LI