Individualization in China OR How to Stand Out In A Country of Billions OR Why I Could Never Buy Shoes Here

Today was a relatively simple day, visiting our partner site here - the Jilin Heart Hospital. Jilin is under construction, and has been for some time, due to the weather, a scarcity of skilled workers in the area able to do the construction work, and other reasons. They are building what will ultimately be (according to Estelle) one of the most advanced cardiac care centers in the developing world. We spent a lot of time touring the facility and meeting with their staff to discuss the transition plan to the new facility.

Jilin Heart Hospital - Under Construction

So, with minimal running around and several trips back and forth through a busy city center, I had time to reflect on some of the things I've seen, heard, and experienced on the trip so far.

China is big. Land wise, yes, but in terms of population it is huge also. 1.3 billion people. That's a B at the beginning. The population of the United States is roughly 310 million. So China has at least 4 times as many people in it. And, as I've mentioned before, there has been a boom in city living. While traditionally an agricultural country, in the last 20 years the population has reversed so that now 2/3 of the country is living in urban environments and 1/3 are living in the country. That means there is a greater population of Chinese living in the countryside than there are people in the entire United States. But it also means that a population almost 3 times the size of the entire United States is now living in cities. And most of those people are new to the cities. This explains the explosion of huge cities, the building boom, the massive expansion of cars (and inhumanely bad driving habits of their drivers...)

And there are no suburbs. Everyone lives in the city in apartments. Cities continue to grow and grow. So apartment buildings don't go up - apartment villages do. Several - sometimes a dozen - identical buildings made to house people - shiny and new - appear virtually overnight, every night. There is never just one of anything and they are never simple or bland. They are temples to modernity with glass and height and sleekness. And over every finished skyscraper stands a construction crane.

So how does one stand out - show individualization - when everything being built - apartment buildings, cars - are mass produced and the same? One way is to be a six foot tall non-Asian with a shaved head and size 12 shoes. Twice now I've been reminded how rare this is. When at the SCMC they wanted to take us back to see their operating theater. We had to put covers over our shoes. But the plastic covers wouldn't fit my shoes. They couldn't find any that would. Their world isn't made for size 12's. And at every hotel they provide complimentary slippers for you to walk around your room in - a historic cultural custom. After arriving in Changchun I decided to treat myself - relax, put on some slippers. If only I could get my feet into them. I don't fit the mold of the average size Asian apparently...

So, if you're not me, how do yo stand out and individualize? One way is through what you own. Chinese love luxury goods. They buy them up as fast as they'll come out. And they come out fast, so that people have to buy the latest. Some are simply horrifying, but as long as their the newest and the most expensive, they'll be bought. They may have the same apartment as the person next to them, but, by god, theirs will be decorated nicer (???) or newer. Fashion, also, plays a unique role, as do hair styles (and colors) and ring tones. Everyone is trying to have the newest, flashiest of each. So, of course, the bar keeps being pushed further and further. Walking down a Shanghai street is like a day at preschool when the toddlers are allowed to dress themselves. An explosion of color, pattern, and style begging for attention and there just because they can.

I guess, when you're competing for individuality against 1.3 billion other people, you do what you can to stand out. As Li, our friend from Medtronic traveling with us in Changchun, said to Estelle and I this morning - every problem [or issue] in China is overwhelming and miniscule. Take any one problem a person may have and multiply it by 1.3 billion and it is overwhelming. But take any societal issue or challenge and divide it by 1.3 billion and it is infinitesimally small. It is all about perspective here and nothing in China stays the same for long, no answer is absolute, and no one knows what is coming next.

Except for me. I know on this trip I won't be able to buy a pair of shoes that fits me here.