A typical day: Morning

Roger moved to China 18 months ago and I joined him about this time last year. He had considerable cultural knowledge and burgeoning language skills drawn from travelling extensively in China for work over about 12 years. However, my knowledge was limited to a couple of years of Chinese language studies at the beginning of high school, giving me an interest in Chinese culture but limited language skills and very little understanding of what day-to-day life might be like.

Our typical Chinese day starts before dawn with the sound of roosters crowing and ducks objecting to being taken to market. It sounds rural, but we are living on the outskirts of a small and provincial city in tropical South East China, near the cosmopolitan city of Xiamen, across the straits from Taiwan.

The ‘village life’ we hear is generated by the original inhabitants; their old buildings have been demolished and they, and their poultry, have been housed in new apartments. From our neighbouring apartment windows we watch village life played out in the concrete courtyards formed by 7 storey walk up blocks. We see the daily card game played by a seemingly endless stream of men, we see grandparents minding grandchildren, we see funerals, sausage making and rubbish recycling, we see laundry draped on poles supported by bamboo tripods, and red lanterns hanging from balconies.

Pass through the gate, in the high wrought iron fence, into to our apartment complex, and you are in another China; middle class China. Our blocks are similar in structure and external finishes to the adjacent buildings, but the apartments are larger, the courtyards lush with trees and manicured lawns and shrubs, with facilities including tennis and basket ball courts, a swimming pool, fountains and fish ponds, and a bi-lingual kindergarten. The contrast is striking.