Au contraire! Confronting cultural clichés in the City of Light
"What do you think of communism?"
Li Chunyan was a bit stunned when the mother of her Parisian boyfriend asked the question when they met in 2006, just a little over two years after she moved to the French capital.
"I didn't see that coming," she told Shanghai Daily, recalling the barbed question. "And I never had really thought about it much. So I tried my best to explain that, to me, it meant a sense of people helping one another to have better lives."
The mother apparently had her own less generous ideas about communism. She pressed her son to break up with Li. He eventually did.
Li was 24 when she went to Paris. Coming from a village more than 100 kilometers north of Shanghai, it was a heady experience to be in the romantic environment described in the translated French novels she began reading at age 7.
Li's autobiography detailing her experiences and impressions of life in France as well as cultural shocks will hit the bookshelves of China on March 30, in translation from the original French text. Its Chinese version is entitled "Cyrano, Confucius and Me."
The book recounts how a small village girl made her way to Peking University, one of China's best universities, and then to HEC, one of Europe's most prestigious business schools. She has become a business consultant advising executives of major European firms and an entrepreneur launching economic and cultural projects between China and France.
Li, age 6, poses with her cousin in front of a textile factory at her home village in Nantong, Jiangsu Province.
Li poses with former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin at Maison de l'Amérique Latine in 2016, at an event she co-organized with Fondation Prospective et Innovation.
With detailed descriptions and keen wit, Li shares her ups and downs during the nearly 20 years she lived in France, including that break-up with her first boyfriend.
Her ex, she wrote, kept a Teddy bear on his bed that nobody could touch. It was a gift from his mother and a sure sign that he was a "momma's boy." To this day, Li still believes her "communist" answer played a part in the split – that, and her coming from a small Chinese village.
"That was the first time I realized that in the France I loved, there was something beyond cultural differences," she said during a trip to Shanghai. "There was a lot of prejudice and misunderstanding when it comes to China."
She added, "At first, I wanted to write it down. Later, I wanted to know why. And then, I wanted to bridge the gap with what little I could do. I hope people from both countries have more exchanges and get to know each other better because I love both cultures."
Cover of the French edition published in February 2021
Her first days in Paris were filled with a kind of dreams-come-true excitement. But they also came with new challenges: improving her French, discovering that taking hot water from a coffee machine to drink somehow upset her work colleagues.
The Chinese, of course, commonly drink hot water, a fact finally grasped by the global hospitality industry after numbers of Chinese tourists increased over the years. Many European hotels now have electric kettles prepared when they check in Chinese guests.
Li enjoys her first weekend in Paris, back in September 2003, at famous tourist spots like Arc de Triomphe.
Many cultural issues, however, take more than tourist numbers to strengthen understanding.
"You can't really blame the French for not understanding China," Li said. "In French schools, before the end of high school studies, Chinese history spans merely a few pages."
By comparison, she noted, "Just look at me, a village girl from China, born to a carpenter father and peasant mother, and I found translated French novels on my father's bookshelf when I was little. That's how I was attracted by France and wanted to explore the vast world outside."
One of the first French novels she read was Alexandre Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo." Li said she was mesmerized by the steely determination of the protagonist, who overcame every challenge faced.
"In school, too, we read French short stories like 'The Necklace' by Guy de Maupassant in our textbooks," she explained. "But it's not a reciprocal situation in France."
Li said cultural understanding isn't really helped by French media that tend to focus on China's negative aspects, often ignoring its achievements.
Li as guest on "28 Minutes" on ARTE TV, January 2020
She has tried to share with the French a more balanced and nuanced analysis and point of view, and to facilitate mutual understanding between people of both countries, through various articles and conferences, through books she has written and through guest appearances on French TV.
"Sometimes when I was invited to appear on TV talk shows, I felt I was being set up as a target for criticism of China," she said. "But I don't want to pass up an opportunity to give a fairer perspective. I'm not afraid of debate. I'm confident that I can hold my own in any debate in French."
She added ruefully, "But sometimes, some people just want to label you a propagandist rather than using a rational or objective approach, when they have different opinions from yours. That does get frustrating."
Li's presentation titled "Decoding the Chinese Puzzle" at Business France in October 2015
Still, Li said she will continue to pursue her path, and she feels happy that she has received much positive feedback and support form many French, other Westerners, Chinese and those of other nationalities, who write to her after reading something she wrote or seeing her on TV.
"In the coming years, I will continue to write and launch new projects to strengthen the connections between our two countries," she wrote at the end of the book.
"Perhaps, fostering better understanding, communication and cooperation between China an France is one of the missions bestowed upon me by fate."
Book launch of "Cyrano, Confucius and Me"
Date: March 30, 2pm-4pm
Venue: Duoyun Bookstore @ Shanghai Tower
Address: 52/F, 501 Yincheng Road M., Pudong New Area
浦东新区银城中路501号52楼
Scan the QR code to get admission for Li's books launch.
