How does one become a “China expert?”

I’ve taken a passing interest in the feud that has developed between Richard Burger from The Peking Duck, a long-running and popular blog about China, and Shaun Rein, who is a successful marketer based in Shanghai.  (You can begin catching up on their feud here).

In Rein’s book, The End of Cheap China, he takes a shot at Burger for having lived in China for “less than 3 years”.  It’s subtle (and inaccurate), but it’s intended to show that Burger doesn’t have the same expertise or understanding of China that he possesses.  Burger responds in this post, by saying:

To be clear, I have said countless times on this blog that I am not a China expert. I lived in Greater China for more than 7 years, of which over three years were spent in Beijing. “Less than three years” is simply false. He could have written to me and asked.

Burger continues to address other criticisms that Rein brings up in his book, but the issue of what makes one a “China expert” is an interesting one.  Does length of time living in China have anything to do with it?  If not, what does?

There is no clear-cut set of criteria published somewhere that details the qualifications needed to be a “China expert”, and I doubt that even those who would qualify would be comfortable calling themselves that.  Off the top of my head, I can think of a few academics and others that seem to understand the place well: Orville Schell, for instance, comes to mind.  Jeffrey Wasserstrom is another.  Both are examples of people who have dedicated their lives to understanding China, and have made substantial progress.  If anyone deserves that label, it would be them.

But what comes below that group?

Perhaps some foreign journalists.  A few have worked in China for years, and have lived in more than one city (which I think is important… I’ll come back to this point later).  Malcolm Moore quickly comes to mind as an example, as does Jonathan Watts.  But there are others.

Then there are the expatriates who are living and working in China, either in a professional capacity or on a freelance/teaching basis, who have lived here for a long time and have developed a solid understanding of the country.  The question is, at what point to they go from residents of China to “China experts”?  Or put another way, does time spent in China correlate to a better understanding the country?  I would say no.  Let me explain.

First, I must point out the obvious and say China is incredibly vast and diverse.  Having lived in four Chinese cities, and having been involved in various social circles in all of them, the culture and vibe in each place is profoundly different.  A woman who comes to do business in Guangzhou for three years claims to know China, but it’s through the prism of her experience in Guangzhou, which is quite different from another businessman who does the same in Shanghai.  This seems obvious, but it’s overlooked incredibly often.  Friends of mine in Beijing often say “They do it this way in China”, when I think they mean “They do it this way in Beijing”.  It’s not the same, usually.  The foreigner studying calligraphy in Beijing, the factory QC guy in Shenzhen, and the English teacher in Wuhan all have incredibly diverse understandings of what China is.

Secondly, it’s easy for long-term residents to find themselves in a bit of a fishbowl.  A stable social circle is formed, habits develop, children are born.  The curiosity and hunger for learning that we arrive with slowly decreases over time as we become complacent in our experience and knowledge.  Furthermore, adding to the fishbowl effect, the expat populations are large enough in Shanghai and Beijing to be diverse, but not quite large enough for foreigners to be totally anonymous.  They are almost big small towns.  I would argue the more time spent consistently in one of these places, the less likely one is furthering one’s understanding of China as a whole, no matter how many times the calendar turns.

Which gets back to Richard’s 7 years in Greater China.  Say what you will about his blog or relevant experience, I admire it because his “China” experience is diverse.  He lived in Taipei, Beijing, and Hong Kong.  He’s able to intimately compare and contrast vastly different regions of the country – not by stopping in and spending a few nights in a hotel – but by actually living there, day to day.  Another example of somebody who I admire is Peter Hessler, precisely because of his perspective: he’s lived the hardship post as an English teacher in a drab Chinese village, but also been well received as an author and New Yorker contributor.  He’s lived around the country and made friends with people of very diverse backgrounds, giving him a more accurate snapshot of life in China and a close-up of changing social trends.

Some may say I place too much emphasis on where people have lived, and perhaps they’re right.  I only bring this up because my own modest understanding of the country – while not near Richard’s level – is so heavily influenced by the places I’ve lived.  When I arrived in Beijing, made friends, learned Putonghua, and got used to local customs, I felt I had an understanding, to some degree, about the country.  Each time I moved, I was confronted with the cold reality I knew nothing.  Beijing had become a safe comfort zone within China for me, and branching out was the best thing I could’ve done to further my own understanding.  Each place opened my eyes just as much as the last one, and now, I don’t see Beijing the same way again.  It’s merely one city among many, all equally diverse and with distinct weaknesses, strengths, and cultural norms.

This isn’t to say there are no China experts who are long-term residents of tier 1 cities, because they exist.  There are several people in Beijing and Shanghai I follow on Twitter who understand the country very well; David Bandurski, here in Hong Kong, is a great example.  And learning about the country requires a whole lot more than simply moving from place to place.  My point is simply that living in China doesn’t equal understanding China.  If it is one’s goal to really know and understand the country (and it’s not, for many of us), I really believe we need to fight the fishbowl effect and never become too comfortable.  China is a big place, and we should strive for first-hand experiences in diverse places so we see things from multiple perspectives.  The best way to do that is get out there and explore.

I think it behooves us to break the connection that correlates time spent in China with knowledge of China.  And, perhaps, we can ditch the term “China expert” while we’re at it.