Follow up articles

Here are some follow up articles that I will post as I find them:

This one is regarding freedom of the press and I especially think it is interesting how many people in China are hired to simply monitor blogs...I wonder how often or if mine was monitored.

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/200808/s2342221.htm?tab=latest

This one is about the protest parks and how two women were interrogated after submitting the first application to protest.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/21/china.humanrights

Leaving China

I saw my friend from UNC in the subway - it turns out we had been at the same handball game! What a coincidence!

I spent a long time walking around the Olympic Green and watching the torch. The flame is pretty loud - you can hear it roaring when you are standing in the Olympic Green. I had such a great time watching all of the Olympics sports. It was so fun to support other countries and to see all of their team spirit. I took a couple of Chinese roommates to handball games with me and they loved them as well. I don't have time to talk about who I saw play and the outcomes, but rest assured that I had a ton of fun.

The hostel we are staying in is also amazing. It is in a traditional hutong and the neighborhood makes me feel like I am living in "real" China (see picture). Our neighbors are Chinese people that live in hutongs as well. We are not restricted by curfews or gates and doormen. I like it.

I am leaving tonight and I can't wait to go home, but I definitely plan on coming back. Looking back on my first post, I think I accomplished what I set out to do.

1) I read my book To Live on the plane ride here and plan on reading it on the way back to see what perspective I have gained.
2) I did contact a few businesses, but none responded (I am guessing with the Olympics, there was too much going on). At least I did get to see how an NGO was involved in the development of an impoverished school as well as just seeing how businesses were affected in preparation for the Olympics.
Something I would like to focus on next time I go is more about how the government regulates and restricts innovation, entrepreneurship, and small v. large businesses as well as international v. national. I definitely have more of a feel I think, but it's something I could expand on.
3) I met a LOT of people, both Chinese and foreign, and learned about what they have done in China and what their opinions are about different issues.
4) I definitely learned about all of the following issues which I addressed in my first post:
A couple of issues/topics I want to pay attention to: the Olympics and its perception from many different lenses, environmental issues, human rights issues, the effect of China's changing demography on its future (especially the effect of the one-child policy and economic factors),
5) And NOW, I am inspired and can't wait to come back.

Bye China!

Vocab phrase of the day: 中国加油，奥运加油！（Zhongguo jiayou, Aoyun jiayou!) Go China, Go Olympics - the official Olympics cheer

Weightlifting, Boxing, and Handball

Another article I wrote:

On August 8^th at 8 pm, every restaurant and shop in Beijing had customers and employees alike crowded around a TV set watching the Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. That night, 26 venues and parks around Beijing had big screens for the general public to watch the Opening Ceremonies and 5 venues had its own additional fireworks. Some parks were at capacity by 5 pm and shut their doors to newcomers.

The Opening Ceremonies smartly stayed away from drawing attention to Mao Zedong, the Cultural Revolution, and current controversial events. Rather, they celebrated the other two centuries of Chinese history and culture, with performances containing tai chi, calligraphy, puppets, kites, and references to ancient Chinese stories. The show was extremely creative and well-done with an impressive torch-lighting at the end and very precise execution throughout. After the finale, the rumbling of the fireworks could be heard from all over Beijing.

Walking around the Olympic Green and Olympic Village yields a greater appreciation of what goes into the Olympics. The Water Cube and Bird’s Nest are certainly two of the most impressive stadiums. In the Olympic Village, athletes hang their country’s flags down from balconies and the media waits by the gates for the appearance of an athlete. On one corner, people gather around to exchange pins, one person exchanging fifty pins to get a more valuable one.

Corporate sponsor displays as well as Olympics history displays are set up, with the opportunity to get a picture with a torch from a previous Olympics. The Today Show sets up every night at 7 pm so that it airs at 7 am EST in the U.S. Along a road in the Olympic Village, people set up displays of calligraphy and other handicrafts celebrating the Olympics. One elderly man stands with his cart in which he spent seven years, since Beijing was awarded the Olympics, riding around China to promote a Green Olympics.

While many of the Beijing residents prefer to watch the Olympics on television in the comfort of their own homes, people from all over the world attend the games, from more popular sports, such as swimming and gymnastics, to the lesser known sports, such as handball and weightlifting. At the less popular sports, groups of Chinese students, seniors, and clubs are invited to fill up some of these seats and act as a cheering section to get the audience riled up.

Celebrities, athletes and political figures from around the world have also appeared at numerous events to show their support. At one handball match between Germany and South Korea, members of Germany’s Olympic basketball team, including NBA player Dirk Nowitzki, came to support their fellow athletes. In an odd cultural twist, Chinese cheerleaders come out with people dressed as the Olympic mascots, Fuwa, during intermission to engage the crowd and dance to the likes of “Hey Mickey,” made famous from cheerleading movie Bring it On, to “All for One,” from Disney’s High School Musical 2.

At events such as handball, judo, boxing and weightlifting, there are many empty seats. While the Olympics office was sold out of tickets, independent companies have been trying to sell tickets for much more than face value. The demand for Olympics tickets is still high, with foreigners and locals alike searching for reasonably priced tickets. However, since scalping tickets is not allowed, companies must sit in their hotel rooms or offices in Beijing and wait for people to come to them, resulting in an inability to fix the imbalance between empty seats and the huge demand to fill them.

Even with an excess of empty seats, it is amazing to sit with people from all over the world and cheer on the Olympics. From the nervous excitement of the coaches and athletes to enthusiastic fans, this is where the spirit of athletics comes alive. It is exciting to see pockets of people around the stadium erupt in chants as their athlete comes out to face off. Some fans even cheered for their country in Chinese! At one boxing match, enthusiastic Chinese inspired by US fans cheering in Chinese, joined in cheering “USA”, as the US fans completed in Chinese “GO!”. As the Olympic flame continues to roar in the Bird’s Nest, fans celebrate the hard work and accomplishments of every country’s athletes and cheer on a successful Olympics.

Judo

Vocab word of the day: 柔道 (rou dao) Judo

Today I went to go see Olympics Judo (men and womens) at the Beijing Science and Technology University (see picture). Today's sky was not as cloudy/polluted as yesterday's (with even some blue sky here and there!), but it was so humid I finally gave in after 2 months and bought a 2 kuai fan. Everything seemed to run smoothly, at least from what I saw. They did only let us go through the detector one at a time, so a small line was forming, but it wasn't too painful. I got there almost 45 minutes ahead of time, so I don't know how smoothly it ran as it got closer to game time. There were tons of volunteers around to help out and I even saw one of the Chinese roommates that live at my campus volunteering there. He was really excited to see me and even gave me some bottled water.

Inside was air-conditioned, which was excellent. I am pretty sure I bought the last Judo ticket alloted to America through Co-sport because when I bought the ticket, they only let me buy 1 (they usually let you buy more) and I was also in the last row. Even after seeing all the delegations walk in yesterday at the Opening Ceremonies, it wasn't until I saw the Kazakhstan judoka come out that I was reminded that this is the OLYMPICS! There are athletes and fans here from literally all over the world -- when that hit me I got goosebumps. Just sitting around me were Austrian, French, Hungarian, Mongolian, Japanese, and of course, Chinese people. It was so fun to see little pockets of people around the stadium erupt in chants as their athlete came out to face off.

I had never seen Judo before, but the more I watched, the more I understood and came to enjoy watching it. I still got a little bored after watching round after round and not fully understanding what each move means, so I talked to the Chinese people around me. It is definitely a strange feeling to feel more comfortable talking to Chinese people now. Even with something as simple as asking the time, I know a Chinese person will understand me, but I can never be sure if the other visitors around me speak English. It also gives me another chance to practice my Chinese and strike up a conversation.

My article that I wrote for the UA News: it connects Chinese culture and the Olympics
http://www.snponline.com/articles/2008/08/09/upper_arlington_news/news/ua%20beijing
_20080808_1158am_1.txt

Opening Ceremonies!

Vocab word of the day: 鸟巢 (Niao chao) Bird's Nest

Tonight there were 26 venues around Beijing which had big screens for the general public to watch the Opening Ceremonies. 5 venues had its own additional fireworks. We tried to go to Ditan Park to watch, but as we were standing in line to buy a 2 kuai ticket at approximately 7:55, they closed the door and said it was too busy. While this situation was slightly frustrating as we heard the Opening Ceremonies begin to play on the big screen, we hailed a taxi and raced back to our school to watch it.

My first impressions: Extremely creative, well-done, and impressive. I think China would be proud to hear a foreigner say this because this is exactly what their goal was. It also looked really hot in the Bird's Nest as every shot of the audience showed people fanning themselves. The Opening Ceremonies smartly, in my opinion, stayed away from drawing attention to Mao Zedong, Cultural Revolution, and current controversial events. Rather, they focused on the other two centuries of Chinese history and culture, with performances containing things such as tai chi, calligraphy, puppets, kites and references to ancient Chinese stories. Everything appeared to run very smoothly and I definitely thought the lighting of the torch at the end was pretty amazing. Among the other prestigious athletes to be picked to finish the torch relay in the Bird's Nest, I thought it was cool that the first Chinese gold medalist, Xu Haifeng, was included as well as the gymnastics superstar, Li Ning. Since we were watching the Chinese broadcast, it was fun to see how much we could understand. After the ceremony ended, we could still hear (but not see) the fireworks from our campus.

To read more about Li Ning: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-08/09/content_9061594.htm
To read more about Xu Haifeng:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/sports/5931877.html

Protest Parks

If you want to protest during the Olympics (for whatever reason) you need to first apply through the Chinese government. They have set aside 3 parks around the city for you to protest in, one of which is very close to my school.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/sports/olympics/24china.html?em&ex=
1217044800&en=73a0c374a6c165c2&ei=5087%0A

Regarding tomorrow's Opening Ceremony and how they organized the order in which delegations will enter the birds nest.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-sticky7-2008
aug07,0,6617055.story

CHINGLISH ALERT:
At Jialefu, the grocery store. There are two escalators side by side (but escalators and elevators are the same thing in Chinese).

Please stabd on the right side. Left elevator emergency only.

I found this to be slightly contradictory, because I think if I got stabbed while standing on the right side, I'd probably consider that an emergency, in which case I would want to stand on the left side.

Olympic Torch Relay

Yesterday, we took a bus to go see the Olympic torch relay. I remember seeing the torch relay in 1996 when the Olympics was in Atlanta and the relay came through my hometown. Even though we waited almost 1.5 hours to see someone quickly run by with a flame, I still like the symbolism of unity that comes with the flame. Each runner doesn't have to run very far, which is to allow more people to participate. Yesterday, Yao Ming and the first Chinese astronaut were two of a slew of famous Chinese that were torch carriers. The street was possibly the most crowded place I have been in China (see picture), comparable to a crowded subway car. I had previously heard that we would not be able to see it because the government picked people to be on the sidelines. While this was true (I suspect many were probably Olympics volunteers), there was a place behind them for the rest of us to watch. As the torch went by (see picture for exchanging of the flame), I couldn't help but join in the enthusiastic roar of the crowd. Their excitement was contagious!

A torch relay flag summed it up best:
红遍全国加油中国！
My translation: The whole country is passionately cheering on China!

奥运会！ (Olympics!)

On Sunday we went to a Spanish mass at Wangfujing, a popular shopping area for tourists and locals. The mass was started last week especially for spanish-speaking Olympics guests. It was fun! Afterwards we went to a small night-market at Wangfujing where they have many bargaining shops and strange foods, such as scorpion! Yum.

There are lots of news articles going around, but the bottom line is Friday at 8:08 PM, the Games will start! Everyone is arriving now.

I especially like these AP videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPBMsuI1Ygw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqkdTzUt_Jo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coJ3V8LwtFQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgmkEK2_8ok
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8OV-dAV60I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biwZyGnu1RU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktTPg2ZU6hg

And these articles:

http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-Olympics/
idUSSP10245120080805?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/beijing-olympic/knowledge.htm

The land of the "free"?

I haven't completely developed my thoughts on this, but I think its definitely an issue worth thinking about.

I think that it is ironic that while the U.S. is considered "free," Chinese people have different kinds of freedoms that we in the U.S. do not really have. In many ways, because some freedoms in America restrict other freedoms, there are certain aspects in which Chinese people are more free. I think this is partly because American freedoms are mostly based on personal and individual freedoms, but community freedoms are considered less important and thus ignored and more restricted in the name of individual freedom. In any place, with one freedom comes the restriction of another. There are so many regulations that aim to protect businesses and people, but restrict the community as a whole. Whether you agree with these freedoms or not, a couple of examples I can think of off the top of my head is: little kids peeing in the grass because they can't wait to find a bathroom, bringing your own bottle of wine into a restaurant, walking into a room of acupuncture patients in the hospital. While this certainly signals a difference in culture and possibly partly the difference between a developed and still developing country, I think both Chinese and American people don't really realize what freedoms they lack since they don't have them and people that did have them aren't around anymore.

While China has its fair share of regulations, they are mostly based on government security and political issues, while the U.S. regulations are mostly affected by the freedoms we have in law. However, as far as I have noticed, there are many more annoying small rules and regulations in the U.S. One example I thought of which illustrates while at the airport in both Hungary and China this summer. When I was little, kids were still allowed to play on the luggage delivery belt. Now, in the U.S., we aren't. This rule was probably created because one child pinched their fingers and while I'm sure some people in the company made this regulation out of genuine concern for kids, it was definitely also made so they don't get sued or get in trouble. With the freedom to sue and demand retribution (even though in this case, parents should be taking responsibility) comes the restriction of other small freedoms that can sometimes enrich a person's life - this next example illustrates this.

In China, there are parks with pingpong tables bolted down and work out machinery intended for elderly people use. Starting at about 5:00 am, this park is full of elderly people working out, playing pingpong and badminton, socializing, etc. This park has probably helped many of them prolong their lifespans by establishing a daily routine of being active. Why don't we have this in the U.S.? Besides the obvious fact that most parks (save for the occasional simple pullup benches) are 1) geared towards children and 2) someone would probably steal or vandalize the equipment, 3) some child or person would somehow injure themselves and instead of taking responsibility, sue the parks and recreation. I would like to address these below.

1) Chinese culture puts emphasis on obeying elders and by providing the elderly with a place to socialize and stay healthy, the less the rest of the community needs to take care of their elderly. 2) China does not have the same gang culture that the U.S. has and it is definitely evident by the lack of vandalism and graffiti. I really haven't seen much at all. I think another reason is that guns are forbidden in China (except for certain police and army). In the U.S., with the freedom of arms comes the restriction of innocent people's right to life. It is exactly this reason that I feel much safer on the streets in Beijing. Finally, I think that family values come into play. If someone thinks about vandalizing the pingpong table or exercise equipment, they think twice because they know their grandma probably uses it every morning. In the same respect, they probably play pingpong or hang out at the park too.
3) The emphasis on community from Chinese culture and Communist influence is also obvious. The mindset is that we as a community need to cooperate. Don't lose face by getting in a dispute. With our freedom to sue people and engage the law, we lose a little bit more of that carefree life. While I definitely agree with our freedom to correct wrongs, some people just like whining in order to get ahead in life. I don't know if I would call it dishonesty, but there are ridiculous trials in which people are just simply suing for the money and not really to correct a wrongdoing, and in many cases, not taking responsibility for a very simple problem that could have been resolved easily (i.e. because I burned my finger on my hot coffee, it's McDonald's fault). Ridiculous.

My vision of elderly equipment in the U.S: A child plays on the equipment, not using it properly because his parents never taught him how to properly use it and are now not paying attention because they are talking on their cell phones. The child somehow gets his finger stuck and starts screaming. His parents rush over and take their child to the doctor, finding that his finger is broken. His parents then sue the parks and recs for not having child proof hinges or something on it and the result? The equipment is removed. How many times have I seen something like this happen from when I was a kid compared to now? Countless times. Likewise, my parents childhood was definitely less restricted by the law then when I was a kid than kids now because Americans have become obsessed with safety, entitlement, and the need to regulate everything.

The saying "with great power comes great responsibility" applies to every person too. In the U.S., the individual has an increasingly great amount of individual power in the form of individual rights, but I don't think we are taking an increasing amount of responsibility. Instead we sometimes take every opportunity to abuse these rights, limiting our freedoms, encroaching on others' rights, and limiting opportunities as both an individual and a community. In China it is opposite; individual rights are more restricted, but the unrestricted carefree nature of the people as a whole are what, for example, allow us to learn from each other, make the parks more lively, and enrich the welfare of the community.

The Great (Wall) Sleep

I think this article has a very interesting spin on it. Definitely think it is short-sighted and only focuses on 'suspicions.' However, it still highlights some things the government is doing to crack down on any potential wrong-doers.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4449148.ece

I love watching the Associated Press news clips, especially their thoughts on the environment in Beijing and preparing for the Olympics. Easily found on google by searching the olympics. Here is the link when I last searched Olympics on the AP website.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/external/search.hosted.ap.org/
wireCoreTool/Search?SITE=ORMED&query=olympics

Last weekend we went to the Great Wall with the intention of spending the night (see first picture, note pretty sky!). When we entered the Great Wall gate, however, it was pretty clear to the ticket takers what our intentions were. By the time we took the chairlift to the top, the security guards on the wall already knew we were coming and watched us walk around. It didn't help that there were maybe 3 other tourists there. We talked to the security guards (also known as Shifus) and begged them to let us sleep on the wall, but they said since July 26th, they aren't allowed to let anyone stay overnight on the wall. The last people from my school that stayed overnight was on July 25th. Darn. Since the Shifu understood that we really wanted to see the sunrise on the Great Wall, he told us we could stay at his place! So we climbed down the wall, along the way meeting every Great Wall official that stays by the wall, and then went to the Shifus restaurant/house where we ate and played cards. We then went into our rooms and slept 8 to a hard bed, staying up late telling ghost stories. At 3:30 am, we woke up and climbed back up the Great Wall to see the sunrise (see second picture). It definitely didn't compare to Taishan, but it was still an amazing feeling to have the Great Wall all to ourselves as the sun rose in a beautiful sky and gave us a clear view of the wall in both directions (see 3rd picture).

tower to get onto the unrestored section. The unrestored section was especially fun because we had toWe then walked all the way to the east end of the restored section of Mutianyu and climbed through a window opening in the last fight our way through trees and bushes to get to small clearings where we could appreciated the wall in its natural run-down state (see last picture). It is in the unrestored section where I could best imagine an army attacking from one direction and what it would be like to live in such a remote area. The fact that this part is so mountainous explains why it was only attacked once, but the idea of building the wall or living on the wall in such a remote area is still beyond me.

Cultural Revolution

Yesterday my teacher shared with us her experiences during the Cultural Revolution. The Cultural Revolution took place from 1966-1976 (when Mao Zedong died) and in 1978 a new era of liberation was officially declared. Here's a little bit about her story:

She lived in Beijing and had an older brother and sister. Beijing life was better than country life: every family had a food booklet and food coupons for specific things such as rice and noodles (she still had a few which she brought in for us to see). How many coupons you got was based on size of family and whether you had girls or boys. There was also another special booklet for special food such as peanuts or sweets which were saved for special occasions. If I understood correctly, there was a type of energy booklet as well where you were only allotted a certain amount of heat, etc.

Those in the country were expected to grow their own food and give most of it to the government, leaving only a small portion for them to live off of. The economy recessed and life regressed. A lot of farming families especially had no money anymore and only had food stamps. It was better to have less food stamps and a little bit of money because than you could buy food stamps from other people (and buy the kind of food stamps you wanted). Sometimes farming families would marry off their eldest daughter to get the marriage money from the groom's family so they could feed the rest of their family. My teacher had a friend in college that this happened to and after having a child and many unhappy years of marriage, she ended up committing suicide.

Foreigners were given special paper money and food rations. Since her older sister worked in a place where there were some foreigners, my teacher had some of this foreigner Chinese money. Really cool.

Colleges shut down. Everyone was sent to the country and only a small number of people (those with 1 child sometimes, for example) were allowed to stay in the city. Only 10-20% (depending on where it was) were allowed to attend high school based on their test scores. My teacher was one of them. In 1975 she graduated from high school and, since there were no open colleges, went to the country to be with the rest of her family. She was part of a teachers program, so they told her she would only be in the country for 1 year working in the fields with other teachers. She said this was a very unique position because she knew she would only be in the fields for a year, but other people did not know. The end of the Cultural Revolution, obviously unknown at the time, was over the next year in 1976. She was then 1 of 2 teachers picked to go back to Beijing to teach high school (she taught Chinese). In 1977, at the age of 20, she took the college entrance exam with her 15 year old high school students. Only 1%, based on test scores, were able to go to college. She was one of them! In 1978, she went to a college for teachers and, except for 2 years at a book editing business, has been a teacher in Beijing ever since.

Olympics Update

First of all, here's an article about some of the restrictions Beijing has been putting on the city in anticipation of the Olympics.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/147780

This article is about some last minute preparations for the Olympics. Very interesting spin on the article - I think some of people's comments in response to the article are particularly insightful.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/29/sports/olympics/29beijing.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Today I went to SOHO in the business district to pick up my Olympics tickets from the Co-Sport office. They gave us very good directions, but I left the office feeling unsatisfied. I didn't even have a problem getting my tickets and I still left with a sour taste in my mouth. There are a couple of aspects that I think the company could improve. (Picture: Olympics ad in the subway)

1) Confirmation process
To pick up your tickets, you must have your confirmation email printed out. You can't just have your confirmation number, you must have the actual piece of paper. Normally, this shouldn't be an issue, but it was definitely not made clear that they wouldn't let you have your tickets if you didn't have an email printout. This kind of information should be on their website. I luckily thought I remembered reading somewhere that I needed it and really only had it with me because I printed it out with my flight itinerary and all of my other plans for my trip. Unfortunately for some people who ordered their tickets early last year, they may only have their confirmation number and not have this specific email anymore. The company should have this information available in their own system. (Picture: Olympics ad in subway) I realize they need to avoid giving tickets to the wrong person, but they know who their customers are. If someone has an ID and confirmation number, that should be just as good as a piece of paper with the same information. Theoretically, the confirmation email they sent us should be the same one we received. I have read multiple people's blogs that have had trouble getting their Olympics tickets just because they did not have the email. While I was in the office, a lady was turned away because she didn't have her email and she looked as though she really didn't understand what she needed and why. For such an international company, they need to be able to adapt to their customers more. In my opinion, they shouldn't expect a customer to bring in something that they themselves sent as electronic communication. Maybe there's another reason that their policy is such a hassle, but there has to be another, better way to confirm identity and confirmation numbers. In the end, their policy is just going to create more hassles because it is clear that a lot of their customers don't understand what is expected of them. Customers will have to come twice after realizing they can't get their tickets without this specific piece of paper, and then will also leave with a sour taste in their mouth. I would suggest if they want to keep that policy that they set up a computer and printer in the office. The office has already seen its share of disgruntled customers, but once the Olympics gets closer, it's going to be full of angry customers without tickets.

2) Customer Service
I asked the Chinese lady behind the counter a question about how late we could arrive to a game. She started to explain to me that she's not sure but that she would guess 1/2 hour. However, midway through her explanation, the American lady working there walked over and said, "Actually, we aren't authorized to give out this information because we don't really know. I would suggest you look around online." Now I realize this is an international company, but it just made so much more sense that the American would say that they aren't authorized to give out information. First of all, the Chinese person made it clear that she wasn't sure, but at least she gave me a ballpark answer. The American person's answer stood out like a sore thumb because not once since I've come to China has someone told me they aren't "authorized" to say something. Why couldn't she have just said "We really don't know."? If she said something more consumer friendly, I probably wouldn't have left the office feeling so disgruntled. (Picture: big Olympics stand with flowers that have been set up all over the city) Secondly, if anyone has tried to find schedules or current information about what's going on in China (other than tickets for shows and even these sites don't have completely current information) in English, it's next to impossible. In Beijing, the best way to get accurate information is from talking with another person. I did check the CoSport site and of course my question was not answered. Telling me to look online is like telling me to look for the needle in the haystack, while remembering that the needle may not even be in that haystack. Maybe my answer is indeed somewhere on the internet, but I have not found it yet.

30 Hour Trip Part 2: Qufu

After arriving at the base of Taishan, we took a 45 minute taxi cab ride to Qufu, Confucius' hometown. I was especially excited to make this trip because my Chinese last name is Kong, Confucius' last name (in Chinese). Everyone in China with the last name of Kong is somehow descended from Confucius. Even though I realize I'm not really a descendant of Confucius (really?), I was still excited. It was also appropriate because last Thursday's lesson was all about Confucius. We saw where Kongzi (Confucius' Chinese title) and many of his family members as well as his most famous student, Mengzi, was buried (see picture: green mound on left is Confucius' burial place, stone is commemorating Mengzi). Mengzi took over Confucianism after Kongzi died and further developed his ideology. I thought it was a strange atmosphere because it was kind of like an overgrown park with tall stone tablets seemingly randomly placed in overgrown grassy areas.

After visiting the cemetery, we took a bicycle powered carriage (see picture) to Kongzi's palace (see a picture of a doorway to the gardens). This is where government people took care of business and also where Kongzi and his descendants lived. Kongzi had 3 sons, the middle one deciding to continue to live in his house. It was Kongzi's 77th generation of descendants that decided they weren't going to live there anymore. Talk about a long history! We didn't have time to go to Confucius' temple, but it was still great to see what we could.

We didn't have return tickets to Beijing yet, so we took a bus back to Tai'an to try to find tickets. We tried to buy return tickets when we first arrived in Tai'an the night before, but all train tickets (except for standing room only) were all sold out until Monday. Since we hadn't officially sat down for a meal yet, and were physically and mentally exhausted, standing for 6 hours into the wee hours of the night was not an option. The Olympics has basically turned Beijing into somewhat of a one way out city. We finally found a bus that left at 2:30 pm and arrived in Beijing at about 9:30 pm.

On the bus on the way back, a Chinese college student came back to talk to me. He said that a lot of Chinese people want to talk to foreigners, but are too shy and are afraid they will say no (which made me glad I didn't say I was too tired to talk!) He went home for the weekend and was heading back to Beijing because he has an internship in the Olympic village catering and serving food. One interesting part of our conversation was about Beijing life. I asked him if he wanted to stay in Beijing after graduation to work and he said that he doesn't know. His older cousin works in Beijing and has already gotten stress-related illnesses. He said he thinks that Beijing life is just too fast for him. I thought this was interesting because while Beijing is by far bigger than any American city (and obviously faster than country life), it is also much slower than cities like Chicago or New York. A lot of factors obviously play into the speed of your individual life, but on the whole, Beijing life is definitely slower than an American city.

30 Hour Trip Part 1: Taishan

Friday afternoon started a whirlwind 30 hour trip to climb one China's most famous mountains, Taishan. During our 6 hour train ride to the city of Tai'an, we talked to a 23 year old who works in Beijing, but lives in Shandong province. It's really easy to strike up a conversation with a Chinese person because you can simply ask them how to read a character or what the name is for an object around you. We discussed everything from World of Warcraft (WOW) and Linkin Park to Shakespeare and the Wright Brothers. Not that I really understand how to play WOW, but he said that different cultures have different ways of playing. According to him, American people like to first play and then chat, Chinese people like to play and chat at the same time, and Korean players like to play together in unknown or lesser known rooms or areas. Before he got off at his stop, he gave me his business card, but not with 2 hands as is customary. I wonder if that was a reflection of changing times or just the informality of the situation (perhaps both!).

After arriving in Tai'an, we were greeted by a huge bust statue of Lei Feng (remember him). We arrived at about 10 pm and took a taxi to the base of the mountain. The mountain didn't open until 12, so at about 12:30 am, we started our ascent. See Wikipedia for a Tai'shan lowdown. There were a ton of little worship places and rock inscriptions of the way up as well as natural beauty (see picture for natural rock bridge). The mountain is most famous because every emperor climbed (or got carried up as I suspect) this mountain and worshipped the gods. Why did we start climbing at 12:20 am? The most famous thing to do on this mountain is see the sun rise. Because of the popularity of this event, there were a lot of people climbing at the same time as us. I was surprised at the number of elderly people and young kids especially that were climbing during the night. A Chinese roommate told me Chinese people believe climbing the mountain and seeing the sunrise ensures you will have good health and helps you prolong your lifespan. Climbing all through the night was definitely an experience. I just kept reminding myself of Laozi's saying " The journey of a million miles begins with 1 step." As we were climbing, we would go through spurts of energy and exhaustion.

When we returned to Beijing, our teacher made a great analogy. Climbing a mountain is like our 8 weeks of intensive Chinese. The first week is excitement and adaptation to something new, the next week is adjustment, the next week you're motivated because you've figured it out, the next couple weeks are just plowing along, and then you realize you're almost done. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel (or in this case the sun rising at the top of the mountain) and suddenly the anticipation of the end makes it really hard. The hardest part definitely was the last leg of the mountain when I was hoping I could just put one foot in front of the other. In comparison, we have just hit this stage in our studies (with about 2 weeks left) and it definitely takes an effort to stay motivated.

So back to Taishan. From 12:30 am to about 5:00 AM we climbed the 6000 steps to the top of Taishan, just in time to find a good place to watch the sunrise. During our last 45 minutes of climbing, we watched the stars turn into blue sky. The sunrise was beautiful and the moon stayed visible throughout the early morning hours. There were hundreds of people gathered on Taishan to watch the sunrise. About 7:00 am we made our way down the mountain, opting out of the chairlift. We walked half of the way down the mountain so we could appreciate the mountain's beauty and see all the worship areas and rock inscriptions that we missed out on during the night. On the way down we saw people hoisting wares (see picture) on their shoulders, hired to bring goods up the mountain every day (it reminded me of what sherpas do). I can't imagine climbing that mountain every day! It seems like transporting things by chairlift would be a lot easier, but China definitely relies more on physical man labor. When we reached the halfway point we took a bus the rest of the way down. After making it to the bottom of the hill, Part 2 of our 30 our whirlwind trip commenced.

Vocab word of the day: 日出 (ri4 chu1) Sunrise

How to deal with foreigners

Our community director emailed us a link from her friend's blog. Her friend saw some posters up around the neighborhood directing Chinese people how to interact with foreigners during the Olympics. He took pictures and translated...I think it's a really interesting example of propaganda.

(it's too long so you'll have to cut and paste)
http://www.peacefulrise.org/2008/07/18/
interact-with-foreigners-olympics-propaganda/#comment-119

Minorities and Resumes

Just as a side note, sorry for the lack of pictures in this post, but I did want to include one. Last saturday we went to Tiananmen Square to watch the flag raising (every morning at 5). There was music playing, Mao Zedong's picture on the wall in the background, and many soldiers. There were also a TON of people there to see it.

This is somewhat of a continuation of my last post re: Where in the World... in an attempt to shed some light on "What are the deciding factors in choosing your child's ethnic group?" One of my teachers said that if parents had the choice (one parent was a Han, the other a minority), they would always choose for their child to be registered as the minority. Basically, the government gives minorities a lot of opportunities and pretty much implements a form of affirmative action, whether it be through laws, regulations or favoring minorities in jobs, education, etc. The idea behind this is that the Han majority group has a larger support system with more opportunities so they need to take care of the minorities and give minorities more opportunities.

For example, the 1 child act allows minorities to have 2 kids (in some more rural places 3 or 4). I originally heard minorities could have as many kids as they wanted, so I'm not sure about the number, but I know it's more than 1. I think each province decides how strictly they enforce the 1 child act as well as other rules and regulations.

Some provinces and cities also have their own laws favoring minorities. For example, in one of my teacher's hometowns, there is a law that says if a minority commits a violent crime against a Han, the minority is not to blame. My teacher also said she thought this was a little strange, but it's an old law that is still in effect! This law seems to overstep the rational boundaries of affirmative action into reverse discrimination against the majority...However, other cities and provinces have their own laws (probably more reasonable) that cater to the specific minorities that live in those areas.

The last example my teacher gave me is the GaoKao, the college entrance exam that all high school students must take if they want to go to college. This exam is pretty much the deciding factor as to what college will accept them. We were in Shanghai during the Saturday GaoKao and we saw parents nervously waiting outside schools for their kids to finish. Anyways, minorities get a few extra points automatically added on to their score which gives them a small advantage and increases their chance of going to a better school. This makes me wonder what Chinese companies' policies are on minorities.

Along a different line, some of the Chinese roommates showed their English speaking roommates their resumes (many of the roommates are applying for jobs and internships in the near future). On their resume they have everything from "I like animals" to their relationship status, hobbies, and personality. They said that everyone puts these personal things on their resume because companies want to get to know them. This struck me because colleges in China don't look at these things at all, but companies want to know all this personal information. It seems like it is almost opposite in the US; personal information is usually not included on a business resume, but college applications include these things.

Summer Palace, Lao Beijing

Last weekend we went to the Summer Palace, one of the most famous imperial gardens in China. It's lake was made to imitate the West Lake in Hangzhou. From the lake you could get a pretty clear view of all the buildings and there is also a really pretty mountain backdrop on one side of the palace, so we pedaled a boat around the lake to see all the buildings. Established around the 1750's, the Summer Palace it was used as a summer hangout for emperors. I still can't imagine having such a huge beautiful garden all to myself! The buildings there look very similar to other historical buildings around Beijing - for example, the buildings at Beihai, Song Qing Ling's gardens, and even the Forbidden City. The architecture and design of these buildings all have common characteristics. There is also a garden called the Old Summer Palace but it was burned down by the British in the 1860's during the Second Opium War; it is still just ruins.

Our school treated us to a Lao Beijing performance, which is basically a group that gives traditional Chinese performances. We saw everything from a magician to kungfu to a man that put swords down his throat (see picture). There was also a lady that expertly played Chinese hackeysack and could even jump rope at the same time! There was Jingju, which is a Beijing form of drama and traditional performers with masks that they would quickly change. Another girl spun plates while doing acrobatic moves and another played the guzheng, a traditional Chinese instrument similar to a zither. Finally, there was a guy that played Edelweiss on the saw and another guy that kept a rythm with clappers while saying tongue twisters. It kind of reminded me of a Chinese version of the Renaissance festival.

On Sunday (7/20), a driving policy went into effect in Beijing (effective until September I believe). Basically, the policy says all license plates that end in an odd number can only drive on odd numbered days and license plates that end in an even number can only drive on even numbered days. I personally think the odd numbered cars get the longer end of the stick because both July and August have 31 days. Between the hours of 1 am and 3 am everyone can drive. Party! This policy is to 1) try and reduce pollution before and during the Olympics as well as 2) reduce transportation problems. Taxis, government approved vehicles, Olympic vehicles, and all other public transportation are exempt from the policy. We'll see how well it works!

Vocab word of the day: 单双号 (Dan Shuang Hao) - Odd Even Number Transportation policy

CHINGLISH ALERT:
(I found this on a trash can at Huaqing Hot Springs in Xi'an)
Protect circumstance begin with me

Where in the world...

One of our textbook themes was China's people, geography, climate, topography, etc. Our oral exam was to talk about our own state and its characteristics. I had to look up a bunch of information, like square km, population, climate, etc. In China, every child knows the exact size of China (in square km.) and its population. When noone in our class knew the same information about the US, our teacher said "Oh it's ok that you forgot the size of the US." Unfortunately, I never knew and I definitely could not even now tell you the size of the US in square km. This definitely is a subtle reflection of the differences in Chinese and US education. Chinese education is many times more about memorization and pure knowledge whereas US educations is more about encouraging creative thinking and innovation. I think if I had to learn statistics, they were more regarding population rather than geography. However, I never took a geography class. I think the US stance regarding this kind of education is that statistics are obviously important (seeing trends, evaluating our society), but they are also something we can look up. Developing our own personal opinions and interpreting, for example, statistics, is different. I'm not saying one way is better or worse, but I have heard a lot about these differences in education and sicne I can't observe these differences firsthand, I think this is a great example.

Also, one of my teachers mentioned something interesting about Chinese minorities. There are 55 minorities and 56 ethnic groups (55 minorities + Han ethnic group). Every Chinese person belongs to a group. However, my teacher's parents were from two different groups, one from the Han, one from a minority. Rather than simply being a part of both groups, the parents must decide at birth which group their child will be a part of. My teacher's parents decided for her to be the minority. The obvious reason I can see is that my teacher can have as many children as she wants as a minority, but I'm not sure what kinds of advantages and disadvantages there are to being one or the other as far as government, opportunities, etc. are concerned. What are the deciding factors in choosing your child's ethnic group?

Textbook Themes Part 2

Chapter 13 - History of Chinese names and naming people
Chapter 14 - Chinese dramas, plays and their significance
Chapter 15 - Developing new words to adapt to new inventions, technology, etc.
Chapter 16 - Chinese history, dynasty's etc.
Chapter 17 - China's topography
Chapter 18 - Sun Yat-sen
Chapter 19 - Confucius
Chapter 20 - the Great Wall of China
Chapter 21 - Imports, exports, and business
Chapter 25 - The advancement of technology and information

Let's go fly a kite, etc.

It was another beautiful day - rivaling the one a couple weeks ago. They set up a Beijing Olympics stand by my favorite square (that is full of people dancing, flying kites, roller blading and playing hackey sack at night) because an Olympics exhibition will be in a building across the street. We played hackey sack with about 8 people. I bought a small watermelon kite and we already had a big one (see picture). Chinese people are expert kite flyers, no running involved. Our kites got tangled with others' a couple of times but it was so much fun!

I talked with some students today about Mao Zedong, the Communist party, Taiwan, and the one child rule. I realize much of the following conversation is somewhat short-sighted and simply put, but I'm just relaying our conversation (which was in Chinese).

Regarding Taiwan, they said that the Chinese government doesn't have any influence over Taiwan's government. The two governments recently started working together more closely following Taiwan's change in president. Last week, Taiwan and China started flying direct for the first time since 1949. However, the last I read, the mainland also has missiles pointed at Taiwan. I read an article that talked about how China's government tries to do subtle things to affect Taiwan, such as sending mainland people over to Taiwan to work and thus establish some sort of mainland influence. It also said how China's government was rooting for the current Taiwanese leaders to win the election and were possibly supporting them financially. That said, the fact that Taiwanese people vote helps them to maintain a sort of independence. The students said they hadn't heard anything about mainland influence, but we agreed that other countries sometimes know more than us about what our own country is doing.

Regarding the Communist party, they said that a lot of people are part of the Communist party, but a lot of people aren't. Part of the reason a lot of people aren't is that it's kind of a bother to become a member. You have to show interest for a while and for a few years must prepare for written tests, oral tests, and an interview before being admitted. Some of them said next year they can become a part of the Communist party. The tests are about historical leaders and their opinions and thoughts on different government regulations and situations (kind of like a "what would you do if you were the president?"). They said they think a lot of these steps are really unnecessary, but it's just part of the process to become a member.

Regarding Mao Zedong, they said that generally, they think Chinese people like him, especially the Communist leaders. They like him mostly because he helped many people. However, they also said that a lot of people have mixed feelings because he oppressed many people, for example burning their books, making them work on farms, not allowing children to receive education etc. I asked them why the Communist party still "idolizes" him if there are such mixed feelings and they said this is something they really do not understand either. They suggested that maybe they are using him as a type of role model with the goal of "creating a better China" in mind, just not in the same way. I also asked them whether they had freedom of speech - they said yes; if they wanted to say she didn't like Mao out in the streets, it wouldn't matter today. This picture is from my visit to Tienanmen Square.

Regarding the One Child Rule (Vocab word of the day: du sheng zi nu 独生子 女) and having children: Mao Zedong encouraged everyone to have lots of kids - more kids was better. He himself had many wives and children. After his death, the One child rule was enacted. This rule said those from the Han ethnic group could only have 1 child. Those from the other 55 ethnic groups (minority groups) are not subject to this law and there are other Han ethnic group exceptions (which I don't know the details of). I believe some of these exceptions involve farmers, paying a lot of money for a second child, being highly ranked in the Communist party, and some families (in some situations) can have a second child if their first child is a girl. However, the students said that if it hasn't already been enacted, a new population-control law is going to be put into place allowing those born after 1980 to have 2 children. The government realized that there will be a huge swell of elderly people with a much smaller population of working adults to take care of these elderly people. This is one population problem. Another is a huge imbalance between male and females. The students said the tradition of preferring a boy is still in play in China. However, they said she doesn't think there is really a reason to prefer boys anymore. Before, they were preferred because the wife usually went to live with the husband's family and parents almost always lived with their children. So if you had a son, you could pretty much guarantee you would be taken care of. However, now less and less parents are living with their kids and the tradition of the wife moving to the husband's home is also now not as popular.

The "Amazing Chase"

Last weekend, we went to Xi'an, where we not only saw the famous Terracotta Warriors, but also participated in a school-organized "Amazing Chase" around Xi'an. Our first task was given to us on the overnight train, which was to find the hotel ourselves. After we found the hotel, we got our next clue. We first went to the South Gate of the city wall, where we had to rent 2 bicycles built for 2 (since we had 4 people on our team) and bike the wall to find two of our teachers for the next clue. The next clue led us to the Beilin Museum, where we had to answer some questions about different historical artifacts. On the way we had to buy a xun from a local street vendor, which is a musical instrument that has finger holes and you play by blowing over a hole on the top. We had to play a little song and answer questions for our next clue which led us to the Muslim minority street. Here we had to scour the many street vendors looking for a Ding Laoshi, who is a famous local painter and teacher. After finding the theme in his works (which was farming and farmers; although his style was dot painting), he gave us our next clue. We then went to old mosque ruins and answered questions for our next clue which led us to a big pagoda on the outskirts of town. We were only allowed to walk to all of our next destinations except for the pagoda, which was a 20 minute bus ride. After answering some questions, we found teachers and had to "ti jianzi," which basically means we had to play the Chinese version of hackeysack with them. Our final clue was to take a taxi to the center of town and find the finish line (see picture) in the square in front of the Bell and Drum tower. Our team came in first place and won 400 RMB (about $60). Yay!

I loved the Muslim minority street because it had a ton of food and trinket vendors. I ate a lot of their famous food, such as prune juice (sold everywhere on the street) and this spicy, vinegary, jello type food. I didn't really like the jello, but I also had some delicious skewers and stews. It never occurred to me that there were Chinese Muslims, but there is a huge Muslim minority. In the US we really only see Muslim people from the present-day Middle East, so it was definitely different to see a Chinese person in typical Muslim dress (see picture).

The next day we went to the Terracotta Warriors (see picture). This was so cool! There is so much history I could share, but it's nothing that you couldn't read about in a book or online. However, I thought it was interesting that only a relatively small portion had been excavated. I love the fact that every life-size soldier and person (some believe there are clowns, acrobats, etc.) was modeled after a real person. Historians believe 8 face molds were used and then molded to reflect certain features. Some people look happy, some look tough, some have weapons, some don't. They believe the people were made in an assembly line fashion, Ford-style. I think it's fascinating that it wasn't found until the 1970's (when people were digging a well), over 2000 years after it was finished. Historians can also figure out a lot about the culture back then, from religious beliefs to what kind of technology and tools were available at that time. Xi'an actually has a ton of Terracotta Warrior like ruins, buildings, artifacts, etc. underground all over the city, but the government decided to leave them there for now to protect them from oxidization and destruction, according to my teacher. This is why Xi'an doesn't have a subway.

After visiting the Terracotta Warriors we went to Huaqing Hot Springs (see picture), with a history as early as the Zhou dynasty in 711 BC. Among other tenants, this was also the temporary residence of Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party during the world-famous Xian Incidence in 1936 (see Wikipedia for more info). It was really a beautiful place and people still go to the baths to relax.

CHINGLISH ALERT: While the English translation is actually pretty good, I picked this to share because it's not something we would normally put on a sign in English, but I think it reflects Chinese culture in a way. In English, we usually describe a bad sentence as awkward and a good sentence as having a good flow. However, in Chinese, they describe sentences as ugly sounding and pretty sounding. This sign reminded me of this Chinese way of describing sentences because it is probably the prettiest English translated sign I have seen. (At the Big Wild Goose Pagoda - one of the most famous Buddhist pagodas in China)

"May your hands show mercy and May your feet care for the green earth"

3 Day Weekends Rock

This weekend we are going to Xi'an, home of the Terracotta Warriors. We are taking an overnight train there and back in a hard sleeper-can't wait for this experience! Friday we have an "Amazing Chase" which will involve us going around Xi'an completing tasks and racing to the finish line. We had our midterms today, so classes are officially half over.

I went to McDonalds! They have the same sanitation standards here as in the U.S., so relatively clean bathrooms (and American toilets, which are a plus) are almost always guaranteed. McDonalds is like a hang out place here. To make an analogy, McDonalds:China;Caribou:U.S. There are regular tables, but also comfy chairs and tables where you can study, eat, and just relax and chat with buddies. The McDonald's culture in different countries is very interesting and while I don't have time to explain it now, the book Golden Arches East, edited by James L. Watson, specifically Chapter 1: McDonalds in Beijing by Yuxiang Yan explores the role of McDonalds in other countries and examines many cultural differences between the Chinese concept of fast food and McDonalds and McDonalds in the U.S.

I got 2 pies/6 kuai (off the 6 kuai menu, which is comparable to the $1 menu) and they were Pineapple and Sweet Taro. Buying 2 pies for $1 has been one of my favorite McDonald's orders since I was little. Both flavors were delicious! (see picture)

Another dessert which is popular here (but not at McDonalds) is crushed ice with an array of toppings, including fruit such as watermelon, strawberries, pineapple, etc. and vegetables such as small green beans, red beans, etc. (see picture) It might not sound very appetizing, but it is SO delicious. I would like to open a "health food dessert store" in Chapel Hill and sell only healthy but still delicious desserts. I think one of the many reasons the US has the "fat" stereotype is because we eat so much dessert after every meal! Our dessert here has been watermelon. The Chinese concept of dessert at a meal is usually fruit and sweets or chocolate are usually for snacks in between meals. I have been going through strange dessert cravings and often succumb to buying chocolate ice cream at night...

Vocab word of the day: 麦当劳 (Mai dang lao) McDonald's
For now, off to Xi'an!

CHINGLISH ALERT:
(at one of the gardens we went to)
Your love creates greenness
Be careful, Beware of Pond

Caochangdi Art District

Last Saturday, we went to the Caochangdi contemporary art district in Beijing. There are galleries from many different countries, with both local and foreign artists. 798 is the most famous art district in Beijing, but it has become very commercial and largely run by the government (which means that it it's art shows and artists' works are censored). However, Caochangdi is very new and has refused to receive government funding so that it can protect artistic freedom. They said government officials have come to some of their art shows and they have been censored in the past, but recently they have not censored any of their controversial art. However, there is still an uneasy feeling when they come around. At the Three Shadows art gallery they have the largest contemporary art library in China and it was about the size of my elementary school library. I think this partly reflects why this art district wants to stay free of government influence: they want to be able to grow and expand into a true contemporary art district that can address contemporary issues. (The first picture I really liked. It is a canvas painting depicting the Olympics. The color red, the Olympic mascots, symbol, and rings, and the actions of the swimmers all create a very active scene).

There were some really interesting works of art: There was a set of fiberglass life-size sculptures which embodied six conceptual themes: Paying Rent, Foot Washing, Rape, Oppressing, Dying a Martyr, and History Observed. There was one group of sculptures which showed the oppression of farmers through real and metaphoric means. I thought they were kind of grotesque at first but they grew on me by the end. (The picture I included depicts a farm boss grinding his workers into cornmeal, in short implying that he is sacrificing his workers health and working conditions to earn profits). I think the fact that the sculptures are so lifelike and yet very metaphorical is what really gets the message across.

Another artist, Xiong Wenyun, had a display called Ten Years of Moving Rainbows, which experiments with the use of subtle color in the environment. One of her moving rainbows was a motorcade of trucks with different colored tarps on the Sichuan-Tibetan highway. The way she used color to add emphasis to her photography combined "contemporary art, society, history, culture, local ecology, environmentalism, and activism". It was a really impressive display. (The picture here is the rainbows of color on different houses; she used colored tarps on doors).

Chinese customs

Today we learned about 'textbook' Chinese customs that you would find in any book on this subject. However, not everyone likes reading these books, so I thought I would share a few.

Giving presents: In China, the receiver doesn't open presents in front of the giver. They first refuse the gift, then say thank you, put the gift aside, and continue talking to the giver. This signifies that the receiver really appreciates the friendship and not the material thing they received. In the U.S., we like to see people's reactions and sometimes insist that the receiver open it. We also sometimes like to open it in front of the giver to show our appreciation; putting it aside in some contexts could seem like we don't appreciate the effort. (This picture is from Shanghai showing a little stand where you can buy presents!)

Giving business cards: In China, business cards are always given and received with TWO hands face up to the receiver. A little bow can also be included. In the U.S., there isn't really a custom, so we usually just use one hand.

Giving compliments: In China, you always deny a compliment and sometimes put yourself down a little. I've heard an almost fluent English speaker get complimented and say No, no, my English is very poor. In the U.S., modesty has different degrees, but usually a compliment is just accepted with a thank you. Sometimes, an excuse is given, for example, if the previous example was in the U.S., someone may say, thank you, it's only because my dad was an English teacher. Other times (in both China and the U.S.), the compliment is returned with another one, such as thank you, your Chinese is very good as well.

Asking personal questions: In China, it is perfectly acceptable to ask a person how much they make, how much their parents make, if they are married, why they aren't married, and their age. The younger generations are starting to treat these more as private matters and only talk about these things with their closer friends, but it is still pretty common. Topics about sex are only discussed with extremely close friends, and it is especially never discussed between (even extremely close) friends of the opposite sex. In both the China and the U.S., it's pretty acceptable to ask someone what they do and if there is a reason for doing so, how old they are. In the U.S., we have the notion that we can't ask women how old they are, but we can ask men. I haven't noticed anything specific like that here yet. In the U.S. we can typically talk to close friends, regardless of gender, about anything, but we don't usually ask age or marriage unless we are somewhat close and salary is usually only between very close friends.

Eating food: In China, people rarely invite people to their house for dinner. If they do, they make a LOT of food and insist on giving their guests more. They go all out when making a dinner. The guests are expected to try everything (even if they don't like it) and the host can then see what the guests like and offer more. If they want something else, they wait for the host to offer it. In the U.S., it is polite to at least try everything (especially if the host makes a special dish), but guests can usually eat however much they want and eat whichever dish they would like. We don't usually wait for the host to offer more. (This picture is when I ate "hotpot," also known as "malatang." It is a bowl heated with spices and boiling water with two sides (one spicy, one not) and you order what meat and vegetables you want to put in it. Very popular in China!)

Blue Skies!

Today the skies were Carolina blue, just like a typical Chapel Hill day. It was really hot, but it didn't matter because the air felt fresh and unpolluted. I heard that last summer, the sky was like this everyday. However, because of the Olympics, the government has been sending rain clouds up in the sky to induce rain and is guaranteeing blue skies every day of the Olympics. See the May issue of National Geographic on China for more explanation and a picture of this cloud shooter machine. Basically, they are controlling the weather. What is this doing to the environment? I also now know why everyday around 6:00 p.m., it starts raining. Haha. Well maybe that's not the real reason, but I bet it has to do something with it. Wouldn't it be interesting to be a Chinese meteorologist right now!

I have a polluted and blue skies picture of the same square to compare. Just to preface the pictures, they are taken around the same time of day. On the left is the polluted one. It didn't rain much on this day and there is basically just a haze of pollution. The right one is the clear skies one. You can see that the air is much cleaner and it was so much easier to breathe! The sky is blue instead of grey (which isn't fully clear from these pictures), but you can actually see the sun shining and the building and square is much clearer (even though it was taken from farther away).