社会调查报告

Part of the Harvard Beijing Academy is attending a week-long social study of one of many places (see a previous post for a more detailed explanation), and then writing a report on our findings. A week after wrapping up my social study in Inner Mongolia, my 社会调查报告 shehui diaocha baogao (social study report - see title) is finally complete. While I know the language is still relatively simple, especially for a college student, I'm still really proud to look back and see what I've accomplished in five weeks.

Even though most people who read this blog won't be able to read my report, I've decided to post it below, both for posterity and for the random Light Fellowship kid who browses these blogs.

To summarize its contents: While in Inner Mongolia, I found that Inner Mongolians have an interesting relationship with the government, as it's actually a two-tier relationship. First, as Chinese citizens, they naturally follow general Chinese policies, and receive many boosts to their quality of life from the Chinese government's coffers. Examples include a subsidy program for ranchers who raise livestock and continued improvements in road development. This is why they're so happy about China's continued economic success; it has a direct impact on their quality of life. Second, as residents of Inner Mongolia, when they have an issue such as sickness or conflicts with Chinese policy, they go to their regional governments for assistance. Also, I thought that Inner Mongolia, as an autonomous region (like Tibet) would have a sentiment of pseudo-independence, but they very much just see themselves as another region of China, much like a state fits into the scheme of the United States.

Alright, so that was actually almost all of my report. So without further ado, here is the little bit of writing that convinced me to attend HBA all those months ago:

内蒙古社会调查

报告

为了了解内蒙古人跟政府政策有什么关系我去了内蒙古。我发现了很多的新事情.除了政策的关系以外，还了解了内蒙古人的生活方式。我现在明白了政府强大了很重要，对内蒙古人的生活有很大的影响。我开始调查的时候，我以为内蒙古的政府跟美国的州政府差不多一样，因为在美国，州政府很独立。我发现虽然内蒙古是自治区，可是不是特别独立。我访问的人都告诉我他们是中国人是主要的，是内蒙古人是次要的。对他们来说，中国政府的政策最能影响他们的生活，所以是重要的。在一位牧民看来，政策很有帮助。政府提供给他羊的补贴就是一个例子。有的人不同意他的想法。两个高中学生告诉我中国的因特网政策给他们带来麻烦。可是就是那个政策给他们麻烦，他们也明白政府有理由。我对内蒙古人的印象是他们觉得他们是否同意政府的政策无所谓，因为他们不能改变他们不同意的政策。虽然他们知道他们的代表是谁，可是他们不告诉代表他们的问题。要是农民有问题，他们就问区政府帮他们解决那个问题。比方说一个农民病了的时候，他就给区医院打个电话，医院就寄给他一些药。农民跟区政府的关系很重要，因为农民需要区政府的帮助。中国政府重要是重要，可是离他们的生活很远。农民只通过看电视了解中国政府的政策。除了高中学生以外，我访问的人为了了解中国的新闻都看电视的新闻。我跟他们聊天儿的时候，我发现一个很有意思的关系。在内蒙古人看来，中国政府越富强，他们的生活越好。一个女农民告诉我最近几年交通的发展很快。还有年轻人有更多工作的机会。在鄂尔多斯工作的女人说为了了解人们应该做哪种工作政府有一个考试。以后，政府帮那些人找工作。政府通过给公司提供补贴为工人提供工作的机会，蒙牛和鄂尔多斯是两个例子。这种公司有很多的工作机会。很多内蒙古人，特别包头人和呼和浩特人，在这些公司工作。这个事情还有别的结果。因为这些公司用内蒙古的东西生产他们的产品，所以帮农民赚了很多钱。

在我看来，内蒙古人跟政府有三个不同的关系。第一个是跟中国政府的政策的关系，他们得遵守政府的政策。第二个是跟区政府的关系他们会从区改府那儿，得到生活的帮助。第三个是跟中国政府和区政府的关系，这两个政府给找工作的人工作的机会。