Fantasy and reality

Natasha Lock

“When it comes to China, you can never know enough.” These are the words on the first page of the book, Law and Society in Traditional China, given to me by a fellow student, on the first day of my year at Peking University back in September 2016.

Over the past few years, I have slowly come to understand the depth of the meaning in the words about such a culturally unique and historically great civilization. The more time I spend in China, the more I know about China and the less I seem to comprehend it.

I am 23 and from the UK. I am a graduate student at the Yenching Academy of Peking University. I have been extremely lucky to have spent the past six years back and forth from China traveling,working and studying. The most memorable periods have involved spending a year as an exchange student in Beijing, traveling to Tibet Autonomous Region in southwest China, teaching 16-year-olds in Suzhou, and living in a Buddhistmonasteryhidden in the mountains of Zhejiang Province in east China.

Each experience has given me different stories, friendships, memories and challenges. Nevertheless, the constant here seems to be the stream of energy that flows through the country, and is totally different from any other place I have been to before.

As a graduate student at Peking University, my research interests surround China's changing position on the international stage, China's modern relationship with the past, andcontemporarynationalism. The Yenching Academy allows for aninterdisciplinarystudies program, so my modules are anything from international relations to art and literature. I have found studying within China and from a Chinese perspective to be absolutely fascinating.

For as long as I can remember, the East has fascinated me. My parents came to China back in the 1980s, and I grew up hearing stories of a city called Beijing with bicycles everywhere, the magnificent Terracotta Army in Xi'an, and an overall culture so different from the UK's.

For a few foreigners, China offers an incredible adventure. It was this concept that sparked my initial interest and kept me coming back, for I felt like I had unlocked a new world. From the bamboo rafts down the Lijiang River in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the deserts of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, to standing atop the base camp of Mount Qomolangma on the Chinese side, I am endlessly shocked by the variety of places to explore.

Living here provides an unparalleled opportunity to practice Chinese. The taxi driver reciting Confucius, thesquattoilets, the wholesome couples dancing in public parks, the families wearing entirely matching outfits and the sweet sound of the pipa, the Chinese lute... this is China.

And this is the China that keeps drawing me back.

Language

Study

Word bank

1. monastery /'mɒnəstri/ n. 修道院；寺院

2. contemporary /kən'temprəri/ adj. 当代的；现代的

3. interdisciplinary /'ɪntə'dɪsəplɪnəri/ adj. 多学科的；跨学科的

4. squat /skwɒt/ n. 蹲坐；蹲伏

Critical

Thinking

Find out Natasha Lock's experiences in China and her reflection upon her experiences according to this essay. Then discuss about what the title “Fantasy and reality” means.