From China with devotion

By Alex Roman
Daily Forty Niner

When Cal State Long Beach student Cynthia Khatib visited China she didn't know what to expect - despite years of taking classes in Chinese language and culture.

"Before I went, I had never heard of a Chinese Muslim person. That just blew my mind," said a smiling Khatib, her blonde hair peeking out of a gray beanie. "I was completely ignorant before and I'm still very ignorant."

Khatib is the type of student that other students either look up to or completely envy. Besides being friendly and intelligent, she is double -majoring in international studies and Chinese and wants to receive a certificate in peace resolution through non-violent conflict.

Khatib also works on campus in the language lab and is involved in the Women's Studies Student Association, the International Students Association and the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgendered Resource Center.

"I am trying to start a political committee for the WSSA and bring speakers on international issues to campus," Khatib said. "I am new at it though, so we'll see how it all works out."

Khatib's trip took her to Chengdu, the capital of the Sichuan Province, with a population of 110 million covering 12,300 square kilometers. There, she studied at Sichuan University for six months.

Although she adapted quickly to her new surroundings, Khatib said she definitely learned that she had a ways to go before she completely understood how to negotiate her way around town.

"In Chengdu, it's all about the bicycle," Khatib said. "I would propel myself off city buses with my feet. You almost get clocked all the time."
Sometimes, the transportation situation was downright dangerous.

Khatib recalled brush with serious injury: "It was funny because I got completely plowed down and I was laying there bloody because I hit the ground so hard," Khatib said. "I just tried to get up with my pride and run into a shop and hide, but my friends ran after me and were laughing at me."

Khatib's misconceptions of China disappeared after spending so much time there and meeting so many different people.

"A lot of my friends from over there told me that in the last couple of years that it's become a lot more open, to where you can speak about whatever you want," Khatib said. "They were very wanting to talk about politics and exchange ideas and criticisms on their own government as well as ours."

After six months, Khatib returned to CSULB for the summer session.

"I came back because I thought I was going to graduate, but then I found out that they were going to be offering a Chinese major," Khatib said. "I had all these units in Chinese, but I didn't want an Asian studies degree, because I really wanted to focus on China."

Khatib said she came home with a whole new understanding of a distant, seldom-understood country.

"The Chinese are trying so hard," Khatib said. "I give it 10 years and there's going to be a completely different balance of power in the international arena."
Her first-hand experience gives her a unique perspective on the political and social climate in China.

"I don't think young people want it to continue the way it was going," Khatib said. "They want the Internet, they want development, they want a clean environment, and they want the freedoms that their parents want for them as well."

Cynthia Khatib