Henan Fights Back Against Years of Slurs, Jokes
ZHENGZHOU, China -- Thieves, cheats, fools, bumpkins. Zhao Xinbing heard such words used so frequently to describe people from the rural Chinese province of Henan that he became embarrassed to admit he was from there.
When fellow Henan natives visited him in Beijing, Mr. Zhao says, he would ask them to avoid talking in the elevator so their earthy accent wouldn't arouse negative reactions from neighbors. At work, he would hold his tongue when colleagues swapped Henan jokes. And he would swallow his pride when he saw "Help Wanted" signs in the capital that included footnotes barring applicants from Henan.
"The root of all this is that Henan people are poorer than people from the coast," says Mr. Zhao, a 38-year-old journalist. He finally got so fed up with the discrimination and prejudice that he and a couple of friends co-authored a book about it: "Henan Ren Re Shei Le?" or "Whom Did Henan People Offend?"
"Someone had to speak out on behalf of Henan," Mr. Zhao says.
A public-relations battle is under way to defend the honor of this land-locked, agricultural province against the chauvinism of city slickers to the east. Waging it are local writers, entrepreneurs, and even the Henan government. What's more, the campaign might be bearing some fruit, helped above all by a single point: Rising standards of living in central China are robbing haughty easterners of the ammunition to take potshots at their hinterland brethren. Successes in Henan's battle to gain respectability might be a model for other parts of China that feel looked down on by people on the coast.
Competition and tensions have colored relations among different regions in China for centuries. Beijingers generally can't abide what they describe as the stinginess of often-wealthier Shanghainese, while denizens of China's financial center look down on what they view as the bureaucratic attitudes of those living in the country's capital. Local protectionism sometimes results in de facto bans in one region against products from another. And as tens of millions of farmers have streamed from the countryside to the cities to find work, they have often encountered urban chauvinism.
Nobody has been the butt of more jokes in China than the people of Henan. For one thing, there are a lot of them to poke fun at -- nearly 100 million, making their province China's most populous. By area, Henan is about the size of Cambodia, which has 13 million people. Of the 80 million people from farming households in the province, about 10% migrate to eastern cities such as Beijing and Xiamen to work at construction sites, sweep streets, drive trucks and perform other types of labor that urbanites aren't interested in doing.
CHINA: BEYOND BEIJING
A Look at Strains Facing China's Hinterland
China is a tale of two countries. One, on the eastern coast and including cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, presents immense opportunity for the roughly 400 million Chinese who live there, for farmers who live nearby and can sell produce to the cities, and for migrant workers who come from the countryside to find work.
Then there is the other China -- inland and west, where more than 800 million Chinese live. These struggling farmers, laid-off workers, the unemployed and underemployed, pose an economic and political challenge to China's boom. China's leaders have made it a top priority to push growth deeper into the country. They, along with many foreign investors and analysts, fear the instability that could come from a widening wealth gap between the rich coast and poor interior.
This month The Wall Street Journal examines the country's prospects beyond Beijing, looking at the government's efforts to spur economic growth in the hinterland, the challenges facing foreign investors trying to do business there, as well as the political tensions and dramatic social changes already under way.
? Part I: China Girds for Future Shock
? Part II: Textile Firms Head to China
? Part III: Protests Grow Common
? Interior Cities Lure Foreign Capital
? Small Chinese Province Fights Back
So how did Henan end up with a worse reputation than, say, Anhui and Sichuan provinces, which also send millions of migrants to coastal cities? After all, Henan isn't even China's poorest province: It ranks 18th out of 31 in per capita gross domestic product. The answer appears to be a decade-long streak of bad publicity. The province is relatively close to Beijing, the heart of China's media industry, making it a natural destination for journalists seeking to explore the problems of the Chinese countryside.
Mr. Zhao thinks the trouble began with cases like the one in 1993 involving a Henan pharmaceutical company that got caught selling medicine that, according to its label, was for humans but that was in fact made for farm animals. The central government spotlighted the case in a campaign against fraudulent consumer goods. Never mind that shoddy products are made in every province; people across China came to associate the problem with Henan.
Image-wise, matters only got worse. The widely publicized collapse of a restaurant chain whose Henan-based founder had said would be the "McDonald's of China" fed the stereotype that businessmen from the province were braggarts with an eye for near-term profits.
In another episode that made national headlines, a large consignment of rice from Henan was found to have been mixed with a toxic mineral oil used to make the grain appear fresh. Stories about kidnappings and trafficking in women have brought disproportionate focus on Henan. And worst of all for the province's image has been an explosion of AIDS cases in some counties as a result of unsanitary techniques used to collect blood from farmers for commercial sale.
Things got so bad that even in rural Sichuan, parents sometimes would tease their children: "Behave yourself, or we'll send you to Henan." The trend has hurt more than just the pride of Henan people. The incident involving the toxic rice, for example, caused sales to plummet at the province's premier grain market in the town of Yuanyang. Some businesspeople in the province have been compelled to expunge the word "Henan" from the names of their businesses. Zhang Xiangchi, author of another book examining prejudice against Henan, says he knows of cases in which hospitals declined to treat people from the province on the assumption they wouldn't pay the bill.
The last straw for many Henanese came in 2001, when state-run China Central Television aired a prime-time television program featuring a group of crooks that were portrayed by actors speaking in the Henan dialect. Viewers from the province swamped CCTV headquarters with telephoned complaints. Not long after that, Messrs. Zhao and Zhang published their books.
"Henan people are the most Chinese people of all; their defects can be found in people across the country," Mr. Zhao wrote in his book. "Laughing at them is no better than the pot calling the kettle black."
Many people from the province like to point out ways in which Henan is a microcosm of China as a whole. It is the most populous province, just as China is the most populous country; the province's ratio of peasants to urban dwellers is roughly the same as the national ratio.
And just as Chinese citizens take pride in the age and depth of their culture, Henan people never miss an opportunity to remind compatriots that the province was the cradle of Chinese civilization. Several ancient Chinese capitals were inside Henan's present-day borders, and the invention of paper, movable-type printing, gunpowder and possibly the compass occurred here as well.
Partly in response to the negative press, the Henan government has been conducting seminars and exhibits across China highlighting the province's history. The publicity tour also seeks to lure investment and technology from coastal cities, underpinning what has become a quintessential Chinese strategy: to win respect by getting rich.
"Success," says Zhang Rui, the official running the promotional tour, "is our best defense."
Recent efforts to lift the economy toward higher-end services and manufacturing appear to be paying off. Factories for making frozen dumplings and other prepared foods have risen from the wheat fields. Henan now produces nearly half of China's monosodium glutamate, MSG -- the popular flavor enhancer -- and churns out seven of every 10 wrapped sausages that dangle in the windows of convenience stores across the country.
Zhengzhou, which is the provincial capital and one of China's most pivotal railroad junctions, has sprouted dozens of hotels, office parks and restaurants on the strength of a booming transportation sector, lending weight to local claims the city is "the Chicago of China." It is an environment that produces entrepreneurs who aren't so easy to dismiss as the man who failed at building the "McDonald's of China" several years ago. Take Liu E, chairwoman of the AQingsao Group . Sitting in one of her chain of 15 restaurants, she recalls being insulted once by a Shanghainese who described Henan people as "simpletons."
"We Henan folks may be plain-spoken, but I see that as a virtue," says the 40-year-old Ms. Liu as waiters dressed in 1930s Red Army costumes hurry about serving dishes with names such as "Spicy Goose Wings With a Fragrance of Seven Miles."
A former dining hall manager, Ms. Liu quit that job to open a restaurant of her own by getting bank loans that carried high interest rates. It was a risky strategy, but she was confident that her concept of unusual fare in a cheerful setting would distinguish AQingsao from the grimy, nearly identical restaurants that, less than a decade ago, were about all Zhengzhou had to offer.
Her formula was a hit and Ms. Liu has been expanding ever since. She says she is now investigating where to establish her first restaurant outside of Henan province. "Henan people can eat bitterness, and people who can eat bitterness are the ones who can achieve great things," she says. "It's a prerequisite." 河南人为名誉而战
小偷、骗子、傻瓜、老土……赵新兵经常听到别人用这些词描述河南人。每次承认自己是河南人的时候他都很尴尬。
赵新兵说，河南老乡到北京来看他的时候，他总要提醒他们不要在电梯里说话，以免浓重的乡音让别人反感。工作时，同事们拿河南人开玩笑的时候，他总是保持沉默。而那些注明了“不考虑河南人”的招聘广告会深深伤害他的自尊。
这位今年 38 岁的记者说，所有这一切不过就是因为河南人比沿海地区的人穷。终于，他对这种歧视和偏见忍无可忍，同几位朋友一起写了一本书《河南人惹谁了？》。
赵新兵说，必须有人站出来替河南人说话。
捍卫这个封闭农业大省名誉的公共关系之战已经展开，参与者包括本地作家、企业家，甚至还有河南省政府。这场运动看来已经有所收获，而首当其冲的重要原因就是：中原地区生活标准不断提高，让傲慢的东部人对内陆同胞的抨击少了许多。河南在赢得尊重之战中的胜利对中国其他感到受到沿海地区人们歧视的地区而言，可能也有借鉴意义。
广袤的中国大地上，不同地区之间的竞争和排斥几百年来从未间断。北京人受不了往往比他们更富裕的上海人，总说上海人精明小气；而居住在上海这个全国金融中心的人们也看不上首都人的官僚态度。地方保护主义有时会让某个地区的产品根本无法进入另一地区。数百万农民从农村涌入城市打工，常常遇到城市中的沙文主义。
关于河南人的笑话之多，其他地区无出其右。首先，河南的人口接近 1 亿，是中国人口最多的省份。从面积而言，河南同拥有 1,300 万人的柬埔寨接近。在河南省的 8,000 万农村人口中，约有 10% 进入东部的北京和厦门等城市，从事建筑、环卫、卡车驾驶或其他城市人不愿做的脏活累活。
可是，为什么河南人的名声要比安徽或者四川等省份还要差呢？这些省份也有数百万人口到沿海城市打工。不管怎么说，河南并不是中国最穷的省份：按人均国内生产总值计算，在 31 个省份中排名第 18 。看起来，这是因为河南省这 10 年来口碑不佳的宣传日积月累而成。河南离中国的媒体中心北京较近，自然而然地成为记者探寻中国农村问题的焦点。
赵新兵认为，这种不良印象始于 1993 年一家河南省医药公司制售假药的案件，以及与此有关的种种不利曝光事件。这家公司的药品标签上注明是供人使用的，但实际上却是兽药，被中央政府打击假冒伪劣消费品的活动曝了光。尽管每个省份都有假冒伪劣产品，但此后中国人一想起这类问题就会想到河南。
过于注重形象也会让事情变得更糟。一位河南人曾宣称要开设“中国的麦当劳 (McDonald) ”连锁企业而惨遭失败的经历被广为宣传后，河南商人就成了只盯住眼前利润的浮夸者的代名词。
在另一起震惊全国的事件中，从河南运到外地的一大批大米中发现掺杂了可使大米显得新鲜的有毒矿物油。绑架和拐卖妇女的案件也使得河南成为人们关注的焦点。对河南形象损害最大的莫过于部分农民在不卫生的技术条件下卖血，导致艾滋病患者人数剧增的事件。
情况严重到甚至在四川农村，父母也经常这样教育孩子：“乖一点，要不就把你送到河南。”这种发展趋势打击的不仅仅是河南人的自尊。比如，毒大米事件导致河南原阳县优质粮食市场的销售量大幅下降。一些当地商人不得不把“河南”二字从公司名称中剔除。审视对河南偏见情绪的另一本书的作者张向持说，他知道一些医院拒绝治疗来自河南省的病人，认为这些病人不会支付医疗费。
对众多河南人的最后一击发生在 2001 年，当时中国中央电视台 (China Central Television) 在黄金时间播出的一个节目中，演员扮演的一群骗子都操著河南方言。河南观众纷纷打电话指责中央电视台。不久后，赵新兵和张向持就出版了他们的书。
赵新兵在书中写道，河南人同大多数中国人一样，他们的缺点在其他中国人身上都能找到。嘲笑河南人无异于嘲笑自己。
来自于河南的许多人都喜欢指出河南只是整个中国的缩影。河南是人口最多的省，就像中国是人口最多的国家一样；河南的农村与城镇居民比例同中国的总体比例基本一致。
就在中国人以其悠久历史和古老文化而自豪时，河南人也不错过任何一个机会提醒其他省份的同胞：河南是中华文明的摇篮。历史上几个朝代的都城都位于现在的河南省境内，造纸、活字印刷、火药，可能还有指南针也都是在河南发明的。
也许是为了回应负面报道，河南省政府主办了研讨会，并在全国各地巡回展览，宣传河南的悠久历史。这种巡回宣传还有吸引沿海城市投资和技术的目的，凸现了中国人策略的精髓：通过致富赢得尊重。
河南省委宣传部副部长张锐说，成功就是我们最好的证明。
近期将经济提升到高端服务业和制造业的努力看来获得了回报。在河南这个传统小麦产地，生产速冻饺子及其它预加工食品的工厂正在蓬勃发展。现在河南的味精产量占中国的近一半，在各地销售的香肠中，每 10 根就有 7 根产自河南。
河南省会郑州也是中国最重要的铁路枢纽之一，借助于运输业的繁荣，郑州兴起了许多旅馆、办公园区和餐馆，给本地政府要成为“中国芝加哥”的宣传增添了一些份量。在目前的环境下成长起来的企业家不容易再犯几年前建立“中国的麦当劳”那位商人的错误。阿庆嫂集团 (AQingsao Group) 的女董事长柳娥回忆说，曾有一位把河南人称为笨蛋的上海人辱骂过她，而现在，她已拥有了 15 家连锁餐馆。
今年 40 岁的柳娥说：“我们河南人可能说话直率，但我认为这是优点。”她的餐馆服务员穿著上世纪 30 年代时红军的服装，端著诸如“七里香辣鹅翅”一类的菜肴穿梭在饭店中。
柳娥以前是一家食堂的经理，后来辞职以高利率从银行贷款开了这家饭店。这种做法很冒险，但她相信物美价廉的经营理念将使阿庆嫂从经营不景气的大众化餐厅中脱颖而出。
她的做法深受欢迎，此后饭店的规模就不断扩大。柳娥说，她目前正在调查在哪里开设河南之外的首家阿庆嫂饭店。她说：“河南人能吃苦，能吃苦的人能成大事。能吃苦是最起码的要求。”
