Last summer I attended a conference in Beijing, China, where I had a chance to observe Hamilton's new program, the Associated Colleges in China (ACC), in operation. The ACC is a study-abroad program administered by the East Asian languages and literature program at Hamilton in conjunction with Williams and Oberlin colleges. It provides for the study of Chinese language and culture, either in the summer or in the fall, at the Capital University of Economy and Trade in Beijing. I stayed with the ACC from July 15 to August 14, and spent 24 hours each day with the students. Here is what I saw, what I heard, and what I thought during my visit. First, I was surprised by the ACC students´ progress in their Chinese. When I went to John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City to give the ACC group pre-departure orientation on June 26, I saw that the students were still struggling with their Chinese. Yet after three weeks´ study with the ACC, they spoke the language fluently. I think there are two reasons for their progress: One is the intensity of the program and the other the environment in Beijing. Just consider what the ACC students did every day: 1) they had to study the Chinese language for more than 10 hours, Monday through Friday, which included class activities, homework, and new class preparations 2) they had to take the language pledge to speak and only speak Chinese no matter who they talked to (one student told me that he started dreaming in Chinese after two weeks with the ACC) 3) they had to go through one-on-one sessions and two-on-one sessions of language training, which included an hour of individual talk and an hour of shared talk with a native Chinese teacher to practice what they had learned in class 4) they had to attend lectures by Chinese and American experts on China´s politics, economics, and culture 5) besides practicing their Chinese at a language table every Friday, they had to visit their weekend Chinese families who did not speak English 6) living at the University but eating out three times a day, they had to know how to order Chinese food 7) they had to buy things on the street and communicate with the local people who didn´t know any English 8) they, of course, had to make their own Chinese friends if they wanted to explore Beijing and perhaps find working opportunities 9) and finally, they had to join field trips to historically and culturally important sites out of Beijing in order to familiarize themselves with Chinese culture and society. I believe that anyone who goes through such an intensive language program is certain to learn to speak the language fluently, and the young and energetic ACC students clearly did. I asked the students if they enjoyed the ACC program and if they were homesick. Every one of them answered Yes to the first question and No to the second. They told me that after the first week, homesickness was gone and they felt absolutely comfortable in Beijing. With the smiles on their faces, I could see that they were telling me the truth. I witnessed their enjoyment in speaking the language and eating Chinese food, visiting their weekend Chinese families, biking around to explore Beijing, and talking to the local people and experiencing Chinese culture. The most interesting event that I witnessed with the ACC was the China Night activity, during which the students, together with their teachers, performed Chinese songs, dances, and short plays describing their daily life. The China Night activity was arranged on a Saturday near the end of the summer semester. All the students invited their weekend Chinese families to come, including their Chinese fathers, mothers, younger brothers and sisters. For 2 1/2 hours the students performed very seriously but with great pleasure. Perhaps this was because of the participation of their Chinese families and other Chinese audience, who clapped, laughed, and were deeply involved during their performances. The director of the Foreign Affairs Office, who is in charge of the study abroad programs at the Capital University of Economy and Trade, told me that the ACC students were the most hard-working foreign students that he had ever seen. He also said that he was very surprised by the students' commitment and their ability. He had always thought that foreign students never studied hard and were not organized at all. I think he might have had some bad experiences previously. He ended the conversation by saying, "I have never heard about Hamilton College and other liberal arts colleges before. Now I know you have the best students." I was very pleased to know from the director that the ACC students had earned a very high reputation at the university. Following the performance was a dance party. It was typically American, with American music, American dances, soft drinks, fresh fruit, and beers. The university was very supportive and assigned the ACC a large meeting room equipped with loudspeakers and CD players. The students' Chinese families also came to support. I guess they wanted to experience American culture, too. It seemed that they were not used to the loud music, dark room with only few lights on, and different styles of dancing. Yet it was great fun when the students danced American dances with their younger Chinese brothers and sisters and even with their Chinese moms and dads. During the party I was introduced to some of the students' Chinese families. I didn't see any hesitation or embarrassment when the students said, "this is my mom. This is my dad. This is my brother and sister." The situation was similar to the parents' weekend at Hamilton when the students introduced their families to their professors. I was deeply moved by the scene and very proud of the students' open mind and receptivity to difference. What I saw that night was harmony among different people, some of them white, some of them African, and some of them Asian, either Korean, Indian, or Chinese. I think the students were not only learning and experiencing a different language and culture, but also representing American culture in the best sense abroad. I believe that the students' open mind and attitude toward different peoples and cultures will have a strong and favorable impact on the host families' view of the American people. Clearly, after just two months, the students and their Chinese families had developed a very close relationship. "What did you talk about when you visit your Chinese families?" I asked the students. "Everything," they told me, "We asked them whatever we wanted to know about China, and they asked us whatever they were interested in concerning the United States." I queried, "What were they interested in?" "Everything, from society to family, from salary to housing, from school work to daily life, and the NBA." Today, almost everybody in urban China knows about Michael Jordan, Scotty Pippen, and the Chicago Bulls. And everybody in China is eager to know about what happens outside of their own country. As far as I know, the ACC is the only study-abroad program in China that provides Chinese families for its students. It accounts greatly for the program's success. The close relationship helps the students experience and understand the Chinese family and society while providing the host families with an extraordinary opportunity to learn and understand the American people and their culture. After the party which ended at midnight, I saw some of the students going out. I asked, "Where are you going this late?" "To nightclubs," they said. "Nightclubs? Where? There is no night life in Beijing," I said. "You don't know," they smiled. Then they named several nightclubs and mentioned which one was free for study-abroad students. I was a little shocked because I had never heard about night life in Beijing before. Apparently in the 10 years since I left China, Beijing had drastically changed its face and heart. I learned from the students that along with the economic reforms since 1980s, night life had arrived in Beijing as well. One day I asked a student from Williams College, "Do you have time to visit Beijing during the weekend?" She said Yes. "By bus or by taxi?" I asked. "By bike," she proudly responded. Bicycle is the most important and convenient transportation in Beijing. Although taking a taxi is as convenient as in the New York City, the Chinese people still prefer biking which is cheaper. During rush hours, thousands of bicycles piled up on the street, which often cause traffic jams. "Where have you visited?" I continued. "Everywhere," she said. I guess she liked biking and exploring. She later became a volunteer tour guide for Japanese students in another study-abroad group, which had arrived at the university speaking not much Chinese and no English at all. I saw her guiding the Japanese students at different places in Beijing, telling them what they should buy and where they should go, where they could find good clothes at cheaper prices, and where they could find real antiques. I doubt that she really knew where to find real antiques, but her enthusiastic attitude was praiseworthy. And she, as with the other ACC students, had obviously learned her way around the city. At each site visited by the ACC group during its trip to Shanxi Province, there were a lot of flea markets selling antiques. I spent seven years in the countryside in Shanxi Province during the Cultural Revolution, and I didn't see a single flea market at that time. I guess this has also come along with the economic reforms. I asked some of the sellers, "Where did you get this stuff?" "Collected in the countryside," they said. Their answers sounded reasonable. It is true that one may not find antiques in the city, but there is a chance of discovering some unusual things in the countryside. Looking at some Ming bowls, Qing dishes, books hundreds of years old, Boxer Rebellion seals, pornographic toys, even used opium pipe bowls and scales, I believed that they were telling me the truth. There were also a lot of fakes mixed with the genuine things. The students didn't care about which was real and which was fake. They just bought whatever they liked, because the price of everything was cheap. One student told me. "I bought this bronze vessel for my mom." Another said, "This chain of 18 Buddhist key monks is for my brother." For those with a desire to collect things, along with a good eye, some real antiques can still be found in the countryside in China. I often met the students in restaurants. There are quite a few around the university. I asked some of the students, "Do you like the food here?" "I love it," one said, "This is real Chinese food, not Americanized Chinese food. There is no chop suey, or egg roll, or fried rice. There are also no fortune cookies and no tips here. I like that." I saw the surprise on the faces of the customers and waiters/waitresses in the restaurants when they watched the young Americans ordering different dishes and talking to each other in Chinese. Because it is cheaper and the food is better, but primarily because of the language environment, the ACC decided to let the students eat out rather than at the university. It not only gives them more opportunity to practice their Chinese and experience Chinese culture, but also may have some favorable impact on the Chinese people they encounter. I think misconceptions about the American people and the United States as a place filled with violence and discriminations are because of the media in China, who are experts in picking up negative news from the U.S. Just as we are familiar with the Tiananmen massacre, human rights violations, baby girl abuse, and copyright violation in China, so the Chinese people know about the high crime rate in New York City, the homeless people around the Washington Monument, and teenage drug abuse in the United States. However, when the Chinese witness these happy, healthy, and friendly young Americans of different ethnicities who speak the Chinese language and are interested in the Chinese culture, they will certainly alter their stereotyped assumptions about the American people and the United States, no matter what their media say. One day I asked one of the ACC students, ³"Where did you have your dinner today?" "McDonald´s," he said. There are over 25 McDonald¹s, more than 15 Kentucky Fried Chickens, and at least 15 Pizza Huts in Beijing, all of which are always crowded with Chinese people. Sometimes one has to wait for as long as an hour to get served. American fast food is getting popular in Beijing, but it is viewed as a luxurious treat because it is relatively expensive. Nowadays American fast food is even presented as a gift. I remember that one day I was visited by a relative who brought me a beautiful box. When I opened it, I saw six pieces of hard, cold, fried chicken legs. Once again, I learned the difference between the United States and China. I also saw that the experience of study abroad had changed some of the students' opinions about China. On the way back to Beijing from a three-day trip to Shanxi Province, I had a chance to chat with the students. When I asked, "What do you think about China now," one answer really impressed me. It was from one of our Hamilton students who had previously believed that the U.S. was the best in everything in the world. He said, "China does have its problems. But the U.S. has its own, too. China and the U.S. have different problems. They both need to work on their own." After just two months' study and experience in China, he changed his mind. What was the reason? I pondered that question again and again. I think that when the students were introduced to China, which is somewhat larger than the United States and with a population of 1.3 billion (almost 1/4 of the people in the world), they became acquainted with a land having its own and considerably different history and culture, customs and traditions, literature and art, family relations and societal organizations, philosophy and religion, and esthetic point of view. When the students walked along the street among the thousands of people, they must have experienced the feeling for the first time of being a "minority," ethnically and culturally. Some female students told me that there were always old Chinese women who wanted to touch their hair. I think these women were curious to learn about the difference. After being a Western "minority" exposed to the Eastern "majority" and thus overwhelmed by the Eastern world, the students must have visualized that alongside the Western giant there stands another giant civilization. When the students began to understand Chinese society and its problems, they must also have learned the truth that things have to be analyzed within their own social and historical contexts. One has to see, to know, and to fully understand the cultural, conceptual, social, and environmental differences among peoples before making an informed judgment. There are many political, historical, and societal reasons for the communication gap between the American and the Chinese people. But the media in both countries should be held at least partly responsible for that. Filling the gap will take time, but estabilishing mutual understanding between the two peoples is crucial for the peace of the world. I think study abroad is a good way to connect the two. There were 31 students enrolled in the ACC program last summer, and 34 students in the program last fall. Both groups were about half male and half female. The students were largely from Hamilton, Oberlin, and Williams. There were also some from Amherst, Bowdoin, Yale, Kenyon, and Trinity. This year, enrollments have increased, with space available for only a third of those who apply from throughout the country. It was a great experience in my teaching career to visit the ACC, and it was great fun to spend 24 hours a day with the students for a month. I am proud of the ACC program and of the ACC students. I am glad that we now have a study-abroad program in China, joining the Hamilton Junior Year in France and the Academic Year in Spain programs, which have been very successful and long a great asset to the College. Associate Professor of Chinese De Bao Xu joined Hamilton's faculty in 1991, the year he obtained his Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Back to contents