從沃爾瑪的入駐爭議看中美小鎮文化的不同

許韞祎

Abstract：Small towns culture can be representative of a countrys culture. This paper discusses local peoples different attitude toward supermarkets ‘entering Ashland in America and Guanlin in China to analyze two cultures.

Key Words：Differences between Chinese and American people； American Culture

【摘 要】小鎮文化具有代表性。本文分析中國官林鎮與美國阿西蘭鎮居民對大超市進駐的不同態度來看出兩國文化的不同。

【關鍵詞】中美差異；美國文化

The U.S. is a big country made up with small towns， and small-town culture is the core of America Culture. This paper will start on the basis of two small towns， Ashland in America and Guanlin in China， and analyze the citizens attitude toward business development， traditional culture and political rights. Ashland is a small town in Virginia with 7200 citizens. Such a town can be found everywhere in America. Guanlin（官林鎮） is authors hometown， which is a small town in Jiangsu Province. Since the rapid development of transportation and business， more chain supermarkets and shopping malls are expanding and asking for a bigger market， and their aim now is transformed from big cities to small towns.

Normally， American traditional towns are quiet and peaceful. With a main street through the town center， citizens have their main activities done within the town. Ashland is a wonderful place for aging people passing their retired life and for children growing up. However， the Wal Marts setting up in the city broke the peaceful atmosphere in the town and spread tension for citizens were worried about the large shopping mall would make the traditional shop owners lose their market and get starve. So， Ashland organized a democratic voting on the Wal Mart issue. Opinions were divided. On the one hand， aging citizens and shop owners vetoed to Wal Marts setting up for the reservation of towns traditional culture and traditional business.

Guanlin is a small town with many villages around it. Same as Ashland， big supermarket tried to get into the town. Different with Ashland， supermarkets succeeded in setting up in the town center and received warm-hearted welcome from government leaders for such a project is huge to a small town as well as to their political career. For citizens， it was a good thing too， for large supermarkets could facilitate their daily life and offer more complete service for them. It should be a win-win project but it could not hide the fact the local stores were affected and some traditional stores were gone. Farmers market used to be fulfilled with costumers but now it is not their first choice. The old lady who used to provide traditional Douhua（豆花） to Children was not there anymore.

To conclude， there exist three differences.

First， the process of decision is different. In America， towns are self-governed and self-reliant. On the contrary， Chinese citizens will not participate in the process of making decision， but only be told what the decision is. Of course， the building of a supermarket is a commercial activity， but it is a huge thing to a small town. The democratic process is fully operated in Ashland but poorly in Guanlin， which can show the American and Chinese peoples different relationship between government and people. In Ashland， more than half of government officers are voluntarily served by citizens. It is more like serving for the public and working voluntarily than being a leader （林達，2011：148）. On the contrary， in China， the governments decision is known by people only after the decision is made done， especially in small town with smaller population. It is the economic building efficiency that matters most rather than the process of democracy.

Second， peoples attitude toward traditional culture is different. In Ashland， citizens considered traditional business and relationship valuable and refused Wal Marts coming in order to protect the peaceful small towns traditions. From such protection， it can be told that the main street and its shops must be on a very important position. The main street is the center of citizens daily life， where they can get daily supply， chat with friends， build up social network， charge it when you forget to bring your pocket， etc. In such a place， everyone is familiar with each other and they are all neighbors or friends. By contrast， authors hometown which has experienced huge changes during the last 30 years since the Opening and Reform Policy. The Typical Jiangnan Town is losing its features and local citizens are losing their peaceful town in memory.

To conclude， by analyzing the Wal Mart setting up issue， this paper put up three main differences between American and Chinese Small Towns culture， which are the process of making decisions， peoples attitude toward traditional culture and peoples participation in public issues.

References

林達， 2011， 歷史深處的憂慮[M]， 生活·讀書·新知三聯書店.