By Karolina Kopek, 7/07/2015. I have been in Shanghai for only a few days but I already see vast differences everywhere. Part of me miserably longs for Hong Kong, and part of me is fascinated by Shanghai’s culture and looking forward to conducting my research. One thing that struck me on my first day here is the prevalence of poverty which I have not seen at all during my short stay in Hong Kong. Upon that realization, I felt that my journey was no longer romanticized and I was entering the “real” world. I am seeing much more of China and I think I am handling it quite well for my first time here. I am extremely grateful that I decided to enter through HK which largely prevented a, otherwise inevitable, culture shock. My hostel here is much different from the last one as it is large and caters to a different population – there are many older Chinese natives living here and English is not spoken as much. This makes it a bit harder to meet other people but also gives more room and opportunity for research.

I met with a professor named Chrissie at East China Normal University whom I have been in contact with prior to my arrival. I also met with Mary, president of the Chinese Students’ Union. My initial goal was to incorporate myself into an established group of Chinese students and get to know them over time, making my research more obscure and discrete. However, I found that this is much harder than it seems seeing as final exams are approaching and student groups are no longer meeting. My meeting with Mary was very casual and she was extremely curious about my research topic. Once I told her I wanted to study gender dynamics, she immediately began talking about it, showing me that the subject might not be taboo after all. I also mentioned to Chrissie that it would be ideal to conduct formal interviews for my research and, to my surprise, she let me interview her on the spot. She also introduced me to her coworker, Claire, and her student, Kira, whom I interviewed as well. Kira resides at ECNU’s Minhang campus which is outside of Shanghai and invited me to visit and interview some of her friends sometime during my stay.

Everyone has been so extremely humble and helpful to me which is something I did not expect. I was prepared to have a difficult time not only gaining subjects but also talking about my topic, but none of it was the case. I feel lucky, blessed, and incredibly grateful for the lovely people I have met at the university so far.

Based on the few interviews I had, Chinese women living in Shanghai seem to be quite aware that gender inequality still exists in China despite drastic improvements over the past two decades. Twenty, or even ten years, made enormous differences in terms of treatment of women and gender-related social practices such as following gender roles in households, excluding women from the workplace, etc. Interviewees immediately brought up the vast social and economic differences between rural and urban China, the former still being “stuck in the past,” upholding traditional gender roles and treating women as second-class citizens. Shanghai, however, is different and more egalitarian due to its Westernization and influence of other cultures.

Something that really struck me was one-child policy’s significant influence on the way women are treated in Shanghai – not only does it encourage women to come out of the household and into the workplace, but it also makes society value them more as child-bearers in a world where children are gaining more significance due to the policy. For some reason, I never thought that it could have such a direct effect on gender dynamics. Another interesting finding was that even though some women are aware that they are being discriminated against, they may not speak up due to the importance of “saving face,” avoiding embarrassment, and peaceful nature. A few people have mentioned this which makes me wonder about the presence and role of feminist/women’s rights activism in China.

Overall, my experience in both Hong Kong and Shanghai has been purely blissful and everything has gone smoothly so far. I am constantly networking and setting up times for new interviews which is really exciting. I think that the structure of the interviews is ideal as I have set open-ended questions that tend to lead into completely unexpected topic areas. I am looking forward to learning and discovering much, much more!