Berkley Center

As a preface to teaching us about the Great Wall, my Chinese history teacher taught us about current uses of walls in China. Unlike in Washington DC, walls aren’t reserved for gated communities, private institutions, and the White House. Walls and limited entrances are an ancient and modern part of Chinese culture. They not only shape streets and transportation, but they are a reflection of China’s society. Chinese walls represent national sovereignty, defense, civilization, and stability. They could also be said to represent isolationism, control, or fear. I would like to share my experience with three types of walls in China, and how they reflect the Chinese government and people.

In a recent conversation, a good friend of mine commented that he always felt safe during his semester abroad in China. Having spent last summer in Shanghai, I could relate and agree with that sentiment. It’s my opinion that this general feeling of security has some connection to the prevalence of walls everywhere, and the guards and monitoring that come with them. Each morning I ride my bike to campus. As I approach the gate I’m asked by a young uniformed guard to show my student ID. After presenting my card I’m given the go-ahead: “请进.” This seems a bit excessive to me as an American student accustomed to open campuses, but it’s standard here.

My history teacher told us a story which illustrates the different mentality that Chinese people have regarding walls and security. She said that several years back a university from California did a study exchange in Beijing. Some students were at Beijing University and had student cards, and other students studied elsewhere. They would often gather the whole group together on Beijing University campus. The problem arose when the other students were frequently held up at the gate because of their lack of proper ID. Leaders from Beijing University and the Californian school met together to address this issue. At one point a Beijing representative asked, “How would you handle this type of problem in California?” The response was, “We don’t have walls around our campus in California.” Bewildered, he replied, “Then how do you manage your students?

To me this shows that security here in Beijing is the expected rule, rather than the exception for special cases. While Beijing University’s security is tighter than most places, nearly every apartment complex or school found in the city has a similar wall, with guards at each entrance. Similar to US patrol cars roaming American streets, a large part of what walls and guards do in Beijing is create a presence to deter crime.

The second wall I’ve noticed here is what’s commonly referred to as the “Great Firewall.” As most people are aware, there are internet restrictions in China. YouTube, Facebook, and Netflix are completely blocked. Several other foreign media websites are blocked or limited. Google, since leaving China, is accessible but limited. Most foreigners and many Chinese have proxy servers or VPNs to get past the firewall, but even these are sometimes found and blocked by the government.

My utter dependence on Gmail has been a hindrance at times when I want to check or send an email immediately. If it’s down, it’s usually just a matter of waiting ten minutes until it’s up again. In the past couple of weeks the federal government appointed new leaders. Several meetings were held involving the most powerful men in China. Increased security was put in place as deemed necessary. For me, that meant Gmail had more interruptions, and American news sites were nearly inaccessible. Even the wall set up in cyberspace was raised to protect these officials.

As mentioned above, under today’s communist government the walls and security are set up not only to protect the people and the nation’s stability, but also to protect the government itself. This is the third wall. Maintaining stability is a big focus of the Chinese government. But issues arise when government becomes the subject of unrest. Measures are put forth to keep stability among the people, but in the last five years or so riots and other open protests have increased by leaps and bounds. When these protests are targeted at the government, they up security to protect themselves.

During the previously mentioned meetings, a “wall” of checkpoints was set up around the Beijing city border. A tour bus which held me and about 30 international classmates was stopped upon reentry into Beijing. We all got out, went through a basic metal detector, and showed our student IDs. Professor Lucas of CIEE told us that this is an example of the paranoia of the Communist Party and its increasing fear of the people.

When I first saw these three types of walls and all of the security here in China, my first instinct was to criticize. Most of the guards aren’t motivated. Security measures are ineffective, and it’s certainly not economically efficient. But as I’ve learned more about Chinese culture and history, I’ve begun to take an attitude of understanding. Even though I may disagree with the way things are done, there are reasons or traditions behind it that aren’t part of my culture. If “wall culture” is really a penetrating part of society here, then it affects each part of how the society functions, for good or bad. As for me, I’m glad Beijing feels like a safe place to live, and I find it fascinating to understand this culture and society on a deeper level.