While in China I did my best to dive into Chinese culture and develop an understanding of Chinese values. Though I am by no means an expert I left with a few takeaways a few of which I'll attempt to summarize below.
I made an effort to watch a range of Chinese language films. Several proved to be excellent films that also offered an excellent window into Chinese culture. My favorite films were probably those by the director Jia Zhangke. Though his films are Description
unapologetically Chinese they also offer a useful perspective on important topics facing America today including the role of capitalism and national identity. I was only able to watch two of his film while in China but look forward to watching more here in the States.
I also spent listening to audio lectures about Chinese history. These lectures provided some great background as I worked to understand the foreign culture I was immersed in while also instilling a deep appreciation for China's rich history. From the Chinese imperial exam system to the thought of Confucius, I think there's quite a bit in China's history that merits study.
One of the first things that stood out to me was just how deeply capitalist China has become despite being nominally communist; the whole country was packed full of small businesses and littered with ads. Though this has doubtlessly increased the material prosperity of the country as a whole, the rise of capitalism seems to have brought with it many of the challenges you would expect including rising inequality and exploitation of workers. This is something I knew intellectually before traveling to China but traveling through China made it real.
Another major theme for me was Chinese nationalism and its relationship to Chinese attitudes towards the West and America in particular. My impression is that Chinese people have a lot of admiration for American wealth and power. One of the more vivid illustrations of this was the ubiquitous experience of walking through city streets filled almost exclusively with Asian people while surrounded by massive images featuring white and occasionally black models advertising luxury brands. However, this admiration seems to be tempered by Chinese nationalism and a sense that America is unfairly resistant to growing Chinese power. Nationalism seems to be a significant feature of Chinese cinema with a common feature of Chinese action movies I watched being heroic Chinese figures fighting against agents of foreign imperialism. Though I'm sympathetic to concerns about China's treatment by America and am sensitive to history of Western colonialism in China I'm concerned that the Chinese public may not appreciate the legitimate concerns non-Chinese people have about the actions of the Chinese government.
Prior to going to China I had read a fair bit in the news about the massive number of Muslims and ethnic minorities being detained in concentration camps in the Xinjiang region and I had those events in the back of my mind for the duration of the trip. One of the most striking things to me was the disconnect between the horrific abuses in Xinjiang and the popularity of Muslim businesses. Halal restaurants staffed by Muslims serving dishes from China's northwest provinces were common and Xi'an's Muslim quarter was absolutely packed with non-Muslim Chinese patrons. It seems that religious and ethnic minorities can live peacefully in China as long as they don't threaten the CCP's dominance. I'm afraid of the implications that this has for not just China's Muslim population but its other religious minorities as well; my guess is that any time a religious group in China becomes anything other than an absolutely docile and small minority the government will respond with harsh crackdowns.
My time in China has also raised concerns about the role technology plays in the abuse by the Chinese state including the suppression of the citizens of Xinjiang. What further complicates the issue is the role American individuals and institutions play in supporting these abuses. The technology at the heart of these systems is at times developed in partnership with American companies, based on research developed at western institutions, and implemented by Chinese engineers educated at western universities. Too many researchers and engineers view technology as basically a good thing that makes the world a better place and view international collaboration as way of speeding up research and thus making world better for everyone. What China shows though is that technology can make the world worse and that the international exchange of research and technology can facilitate that. This is an issue that I anticipate I'll spend quite a bit of time reflecting on.
Professionally, I was happy to be paid to perform research over the summer and I'm happy with the progress I made on my project. I've already discussed the project in detail as part of my final research write up so I won't go into any additional detail here except to say that I'm looking forward to continuing work on the project and publishing the results. The members of the supercomputing center were extremely kind and always willing to drop everything to help.
China already has a major impact in the fields of machine learning and data mining where I work. Over the past few years I've developed an interest in the social impact of technology and China is taking an approach to that topic that I find concerning. I'm thankful for the opportunity I've had over the past 2 months to become acquainted with China in a more intimate way and anticipate that this increased familiarity will prove useful in the future as China's role in machine learning research becomes even more prominent and the distinctions between the way China and the rest of the world uses technology becomes more substantial. Spending 8 weeks away from home in a foreign country where I don't speak the language was difficult at times but it proved to be invaluable cultural experience that I'm glad I took advantage of. Plus, it turns out I'm not a huge fan of Chinese food so I lost a few pounds along the way. What more could I ask for?