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China Elevator Stories
Hello From Siping (Jilin Province)!
I moved back to Siping a few days ago.
29/07/2025
Ruth Silbermayr
Author
I have just moved back to Siping. In June, when I visited my children for the first time after many years of not being able to see them in person, I took a cab to my old university one day and asked if they were currently looking for a German teacher.
Surprisingly, they said yes—and they hired me again. So now, I’ll be traveling to Changchun weekly to teach classes there, then returning to Siping, since this is where my children live. This is how things were set up back in 2017, when the university’s German undergraduate program moved from Siping to Changchun.
I could have also chosen to live in Changchun, but I prefer it this way so I can stay close to my children.
If you’ve ever traveled by fast train in China—or by any other means—you’ll know how stressful it can be with kids. It’s very different from just driving them somewhere in a car. The train stations are fine, but traveling alone with two very lively children who constantly want to explore and don’t tend to stay in one place for long can be daunting. We made it onto the train just in time.
They tend to run off and not listen, and I’ve been trying to teach them some rules, as I did when they were younger (which they seem to have been “untaught” since). I’ve taught them to stop and look for cars before crossing a street, which has only been somewhat successful so far. I’ve also taught them to wear a safety seatbelt when in a cab, though this isn’t always possible, because the seatbelts are sometimes covered by seat covers in the back. They’ve been trying to talk me out of it, saying it’s really not necessary for safety!
So I showed my younger son a video of a crash test dummy being thrown out of a car window during an accident when it wasn’t wearing a seatbelt—and staying safe when it was. After that, he put on his seatbelt without any complaints. I also told them I’d tickle them when we got home if they didn’t wear it. You wouldn’t think that would work—but it did! Getting them to wear a seatbelt has worked better, especially in Tai’an, where seatbelts are mandatory (at least in the front—some drivers also encourage passengers in the back to use them).
As for fast train stations in China: they can be very unsafe with lively children who run off and refuse to listen, thinking they already know everything and don’t need to follow adult instructions (don’t ask me who taught them this behavior—but it’s certainly what I’ve been experiencing daily). I’ve tried to get them to listen in dangerous situations, such as when a car is coming as we’re crossing a street—but this hasn’t been completely effective yet. They think I’m a bully for introducing safety rules and clearly show signs of ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder), which is common in children who have been alienated from one parent.
Otherwise, we’ve been working together fairly well—but the parental alienation is certainly severe and difficult to manage, especially with no one around who has experience with it or understands the issue.
They also seem to have been taught that I’m somehow unintelligent and have adopted a level of nationalism that makes me uncomfortable. I’ve dealt with similar issues in the past regarding my ex-husband, and my children have been quite heavily influenced.
I’m sorry to be so blunt—I don’t mean to speak badly of my children—but there is such a thing as too much love for one’s motherland. Or rather, brainwashing children into never thinking critically about their country while simultaneously disapproving too strongly of another—that’s not something I support, because it doesn’t reflect the truth. They only know Austria through stories, and clearly, it must be a country far worse than China (I can guess who taught them that). Now, while this might be true in some areas, it certainly isn’t in others.
I mean, I left Austria because it started to feel like a country reminiscent of the Nazi era—but I still believe that for children, it can be a great place to grow up, depending on the area, the family support system, access to good schools, friends, and everything else that contributes to a happy childhood. I believe that for children, growing up in the countryside is ideal—they can play outside all day and live in harmony with nature.
But I digress.
Chinese fast train platforms don’t have safety barriers—such as glass walls that only open when a train has arrived—and the platforms are extremely high. I believe such barriers are necessary. Maybe glass walls wouldn’t be able to withstand the air pressure when a train rushes through a station without stopping—but couldn’t they use other materials to prevent anyone from accidentally falling off the platform? I’m sure there are technical reasons for the current design, but still—these platforms can be frightening places when you’re waiting for a train.
We made it onto the train just in time, because the time between being allowed into the station and the train’s departure was extremely short. So we boarded a different carriage and walked to our assigned seats from inside the train. I usually never do this in China, but this time it was necessary to avoid missing the train.
We arrived safely, and my children are still staying with me in my apartment.
Have you ever had to teach children safety measures?