My 60 Years in China (a fragmentized memoir)

sexagenarian · Jan 1, 2021

204

The 11th Asian Games (亚运会) were held in the autumn of 1990 in Beijing. It was the first large-scale international sports event since the party took power in 1949, with two major goals.

The first goal was to improve the negative image of China after the Tian'anmen Square Massacre. Athletes from all Asian countries participated in the games and were generally satisfied.

The second goal was to treat the games as a rehearsal for future Olympics. After the games, China bid for 2000 and 2004 Olympics and failed, but won the bidding for 2008 Olympics.

After the games, domestic political atmosphere was obviously moderated, and people began to extricate themselves from the tension and depression caused by military crackdown last year.

sexagenarian · Jan 1, 2021

205

In early 1980s, the average monthly salary was two-digits, e.g. 56 RMBY. Ten years later, it became three-digits, e.g. 172 RMBY. Twenty years later, it became four-digits, e.g. 1480 RMBY.

In 1990, when we received three-digits salaries, we were very glad, because there was almost no inflation at that time, and commodity prices basically remained in the level of late 1980s.

From 1990, taking the advice of my mother, I developed a habit of depositing money in the bank every month, usually one tenth of my salary. This habit lasted for 40 years until today.

At least half the money for paying a new apartment, a new car and my kids' university tuitions came from my bank savings. It is regrettable that my kids didn't inherit this tradition.

sexagenarian · Jan 1, 2021

206

The reunification of Germany in 1990 and the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 symbolized the failure of communism. Many Chinese believed that the 64 Incident was one of catalysts.

Intellectuals began to discuss privately when communism would fall down in China. Young optimists asserted that it would need five years at most, but old pessimists thirty years at least.

Neither guessed right. Thirty years have passed, and despite various challenges in the period, the party still controls the country firmly and there is no any signs or omens of collapse.

After Xi Jinping (习近平) came to power, China began re-Maoization. When will China become a democratic country? I really can't predict. On this issue, I'm a thoroughgoing pessimist.

andyferdinard · Jan 1, 2021

HackneyedScribe said:
When I was working there there was a lot of discussion about this. I remember one person was even fatally stabbed while dancing (stabber rode away), supposedly because of the incessant loudness.

Yes, already making The Mass disturbed News in Overseas Chinese Communities, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong As well......

sexagenarian · Jan 7, 2021

207

In early 1990s, people had neither home phones (because installation fee was very expensive), nor mobile phones, and they had to use pagers (also called beepers) to keep in touch.

A pager was similar to a pack of cigarettes in size, with a small screen which could display English letters and numbers, and some advanced pagers could display Chinese characters.

The most common texting was: I have an urgent matter, please call back to 6537223. If I received such a message, I would immediately go to a phone kiosk and dial this number.

After 2000, pagers gradually disappeared from the markets due to the emergence and popularization of mobile phones. Young people born after 2000 probably never saw this electronic device.

sexagenarian · Jan 7, 2021

208

In early 1990s, no one wanted to learn to drive a car for two money-related reasons -- a car was very expensive, and the tuition of a driving school was also very expensive.

In 1991, our company made a decision: at least one person in each office was able to drive a car. The director said: "Please raise your hand if you want to learn to drive a car."

No one raised his/her hand, except me. In the following month, I went to a driving school every morning, and finally got my driving license. Our company paid my tuition bill.

But I couldn't afford my private car until 2001. I used my bank savings and my parents' money to buy my first car in my life: a Volkswagen Jetta, made in China, not in Germany.

sexagenarian · Jan 7, 2021

209

At the end of 1990, China established two stock exchanges in Shanghai (上海) and Shenzhen (深圳). But in the following ten years, only a few people speculated on the stock markets.

There were two reasons: first, people didn't have extra money; second, there was no internet and computers at that time, and they must go to an business hall to view stock quotations.

After 2000, China entered the era of universal stock speculation. Everyone had a stock market account, and everyone talked about which stocks were bullish and which stocks were bearish.

According to a survey in 2018, in China's stock markets, 80% of stockholders lost money, 10% neither lost nor made money (for example, I myself), and only 10% really made money.

sexagenarian · Jan 18, 2021

210

In 1990, Big Brother (大哥大) appeared. It was not the awesome ruler in George Orwell's dystopian novel "1984", but the earliest mobile phone in China, manufactured by Motorola.

According to today's standard, Big Brother was an cumbersome and ridiculous device, but at the time, it was a must-have for the richest people, especially successful businessmen.

In our office, only Mr. Hao had a rarely-used private Big Brother, not bought by him, but given to him by his father -- the wealthy proprietor of the first luxury nightclub in Beijing.

This favorite pet of rich men had only existed for about ten years. After 2000, with the popularization of mobile phones (especially Nokia's products), Big Brother quickly disappeared.

sexagenarian · Jan 18, 2021

211

At the end of 1991, the company assigned a brand-new IBM PC to our office, but no one knew how to use this sophisticated product. I put it on my desk and it became my high-end "toy".

On this computer, I learned MS-DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.1, and more importantly, I learned a new language other than English -- BASIC (the most popular programming language at that time).

Later, I learned Visual Basic 6.0 which could develop WYSIWYG software. I really liked this development tool, although it has been abandoned by Microsoft for more than 20 years.

Today, I still use VB6 to make some simple applications. I'm an old man now, I don't want to learn new programming languages, such as Python, and I will continue to use VB6.

[Note] WYSIWYG == What You See Is What You Get

sexagenarian · Jan 18, 2021

212

There is a saying in China: doing big things makes big mistakes, doing small things makes small mistakes, and doing nothing makes no mistake. This is the motto of almost all officials.

Jiang Zemin was the third successor designated by Deng Xiaoping. Jiang had no confidence in his future, so he decided to be a conservative leader who did nothing and made no mistake.

But Deng couldn't tolerate Jiang's inactivity. In early 1992, Deng visited several provinces in southern China and said to local governors: "those who did nothing should step down."

Jiang felt Deng's dissatisfaction with him, and he quickly veered in a new direction. Many scholars believed that Deng's Southern Visit (南巡) made China's economy take off in 1990s.

royal744 · Jan 31, 2021

sexagenarian said:
Thank you very much for reading my memoir. My English isn't good, and I'm sorry for possible grammatical errors.

Let’s put it this way: your post are fine and readily understood. And, they are VERY interesting.

PeabodyKid · Jan 31, 2021

royal744 said:
Let’s put it this way: your post are fine and readily understood. And, they are VERY interesting.

I second royal744's comment, sexagenarian. In my view this is the best thread on Historum.

VHS · Jan 31, 2021

sexagenarian said:
211

At the end of 1991, the company assigned a brand-new IBM PC to our office, but no one knew how to use this sophisticated product. I put it on my desk and it became my high-end "toy".

On this computer, I learned MS-DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.1, and more importantly, I learned a new language other than English -- BASIC (the most popular programming language at that time).

Later, I learned Visual Basic 6.0 which could develop WYSIWYG software. I really liked this development tool, although it has been abandoned by Microsoft for more than 20 years.

Today, I still use VB6 to make some simple applications. I'm an old man now, I don't want to learn new programming languages, such as Python, and I will continue to use VB6.

[Note] WYSIWYG == What You See Is What You Get

View attachment 41021

I revealed my age in this thread already, and I can tell my experiences with electronic products:

Born in New Territories, Hong Kong, 1879, how would you spend your life?

Note that New Territories was still under Qing Dynasty in 1879. As far as family background was concerned, there were only farmers or fishers. They were mostly Tanka, Hakka, or other indigenous inhabitants of New Territories. Historically, some of these people became officials, even though it...

historum.com

My best stereo by far is still the Pioneer A-P510; even though the CD playing system is enhanced with a DVD player
(DVD players are fairly good CD players) and a Musical Fidelity X-Can V3. Vacuum effects anyone?
My audiophile time was practically over when I started listening to audiobooks with smart phones and Ipad, with a
bluetooth speaker. (Pretty good for my purpose).

TVs and monitors became LED and high resolution displays in the 2010s.
LD players and electronic dictionaries were ephemeral products that lasted less than a decade.

royal744 · Feb 1, 2021

Sephiroth said:
I read it all and it was shockingly interesting. Please keep going.

Agree! I feel like I’m looking through an open window, observing everything with great interest.

sexagenarian · Feb 4, 2021

213

Sitcom (situation comedy) is a genre of television drama with a fixed set of characters who carry over from episode to episode. The most famous sitcom probably is "Friends" of NBC.

In 1993, China's first sitcom with 120 episodes -- I Love My Home (我爱我家) -- was aired. The director was Ying Da (英达), and the starring actress was his wife Song Dandan (宋丹丹).

Different from other highly politicalized teleplays (with party's propaganda imbedded) at that time, ILMH was an apolitical one, which only focused on interesting family trivia.

This TV series was a great success. Every evening, almost everyone, from young pupils to old retirees, sat in the front of the TV sets, waiting for a new episode to be broadcast.

sexagenarian · Feb 4, 2021

214

Soon after "I Love My Home" was aired (see 213), Ying Da (director) and his wife Song Dandan (actress) divorced because they both had extramarital affairs. This divorce shocked everyone.

Why were we shocked? Because in China, there is a popular saying: "You can demolish a temple, but you can't break a marriage." For most people, marriage was a serious matter, not a kid play.

In Mao era, if a man (or a woman) divorced, for a long time (for example, one year), his friends and colleagues would look at him with strange eyes, as if he were a salacious Don Juan.

Since mid-1990s, divorce rate has risen significantly. Only among the company colleagues I knew, at least four couples have divorced. Divorce became a commonplace matter from then on.

sexagenarian · Feb 4, 2021

215

In April 1993, Wang Daohan (汪道涵), the representative of China government, and his Taiwanese counterpart Koo Chen-Fu (辜振甫) held talks in Singapore. After the talks, two countries entered an economic honeymoon period.

In coastal provinces of China, Taiwanese businessmen invested in building factories and manufacturing products. The most famous Taiwanese product is Master Kong Instant Noodles, which can be found in any grocery.

However, China government didn't allow Taiwanese businessmen to invest in sensitive industries, such as telecom and banking industries, so our company has never received any Taiwanese, and I didn't know any Taiwanese.

In 2016, Tsai Ing-Wen (蔡英文) was elected president of Taiwan. Since then, Sino-Taiwanese relations have been deteriorating and there is even the possibility of war. I really don't know what will happen in the future.

karel188 · Feb 4, 2021

Are you a marxist? I'm sorry, but the Communist party rules in China. Do you like it?

VHS · Feb 4, 2021

sexagenarian said:
213

Sitcom (situation comedy) is a genre of television drama with a fixed set of characters who carry over from episode to episode. The most famous sitcom probably is "Friends" of NBC.

In 1993, China's first sitcom with 120 episodes -- I Love My Home (我爱我家) -- was aired. The director was Ying Da (英达), and the starring actress was his wife Song Dandan (宋丹丹).

Different from other highly politicalized teleplays (with party's propaganda imbedded) at that time, ILMH was an apolitical one, which only focused on interesting family trivia.

This TV series was a great success. Every evening, almost everyone, from young pupils to old retirees, sat in the front of the TV sets, waiting for a new episode to be broadcast.

View attachment 41637

Even during the years of VHS and DVD rentals, we start losing the patience to wait for new episodes daily.
(especially for series that we enjoy.)
(I twisted VHS to mean Virgo Home Supercluster.)
The Internet means we can watch whatever we like at whatever hours.

sexagenarian · Feb 16, 2021

216

On the last day of 1993, I drove a company car to send a foreign guest to the airport. When I returned to the city, a small truck hit my car. Such an accident was relatively rare at that time.

If this accident happens today, it will be a very simple thing, because both sides have Compulsory Traffic Insurance (CTI, 交强险), and our insurance agents will handle everything for us.

But at that time, both sides had to wait for a policeman, who would determine which side would bear liability. The policeman said the driver of the small truck was liable to repair my car.

This was the only accident in my 30-year driving. Since then, I seldom drove fast, and my friends and colleagues sometimes laughed at me for "kaiche tairou" (开车太肉, overcautious driving).

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My 60 Years in China (a fragmentized memoir)

sexagenarian

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andyferdinard

sexagenarian

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sexagenarian

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royal744

PeabodyKid

VHS

Born in New Territories, Hong Kong, 1879, how would you spend your life?

royal744

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karel188

VHS

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