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.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, July 28, 2008
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 a
reas 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
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 a
reas 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
Thursday, July 24, 2008
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
(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
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
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.
Monday, July 21, 2008
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
Friday, July 18, 2008
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?
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
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
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
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 onl
ine. 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"
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 onl
ine. 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"
Thursday, July 10, 2008
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
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
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
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).
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).
Monday, July 7, 2008
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!)
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!)
Sunday, July 6, 2008
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).
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).
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Happy 4th of July!
3rd of July - Yesterday, we went to a big square in our neighborhood to experience the typical Chinese nightlife. This basically involves many groups of people dancing to different music. There was dancing with brightly colored fans, ribbon twirling, polka type dancing, ballroom dancing, an aerobics type dancing, and even a mock roller skating rink. It was so much fun to see this square full of such life and people having a genuinely good time doing something they love. There were people both old and young, couples and singles, all having a great time. It was great to just be in the square and watch all of this activity happen around you.
We went and played with our Chinese version of a hackeysack (see picture)
and bought a kite from a local vendor. In the process of purchasing our kite, we accumulated our own little crowd of about 20 Chinese people that came over to watch us purchase the kite and then attempt to fly it. Yes, non-Chinese people sometimes like kites too! Many people watched, laughed, or tried to help as we got the kite up in the air and unsuccessfully played with our hackeysack.
Vocab word of the day: 毽子 (Jianzi) Chinese hackey sack
4th of July - Today in class we talked about Lei Feng, a famous Chinese soldier who was known for his unselfish demeanor and always willing to help others. Mao Zedong, in 1963, said "Learn from Comrade Lei Feng" and decided that Lei Feng would be taught as a role model in schools. My roommate knows him as the man that they should strive to be like because he helped others. We talked about whether we think society in general is willing to help others and is giving of their resources.
Our teacher told us a story about how a young person found her friend's lost wallet, but when she met this young person to retrieve it, the young person asked for money. Instead of giving this young person money to get her wallet back with her ID card, etc., she walked away because she
didn't want to encourage this kind of behavior. I think that takes a lot of courage because it is definitely a hassle to redo all of your ID's, etc., especially in China because there are a lot more steps you have to go through. However, I definitely agree with her decision. This young person didn't pick up the wallet due to genuine concern that the owner may need it; rather, it was a purely selfish motive and an opportunity to gain some cash.
I could probably go on and on about this topic. For example, if an elderly person gets on the bus, we should let them sit down. We've never been old, so we don't know what it's like. They were young once, and hopefully did the same thing. Now it's our turn. While they might need that seat on the bus, but I think elderly people should do what they can to contribute to our society as well, whether it be planting flowers at church or simply talking to a lonely person.
So what can we do to ensure that our society has at least a base level of respect and kindness? 1) When I was in high school, we had to say our greatest fear: mine was "failing as a parent." It took me a while to come up with a fear that satisfied me, but I still stick by this one. Parents need to educate their children to not just reap the benefits from our society, but to give back. Don't just say "always let elderly people have the seat on the bus." Do it. Take your kids on a public bus and offer your seat to an elderly person. I remember a homeless person out in the middle of winter begging for money and my mom giving him a pair of gloves to keep his hands warm. There's no rule, law, or right that says this is what you should do, but there's no need for one. Learn by example, like Lei Feng. Parents our a child's first role model.
2) Volunteer. I think that having that feeling of doing the best you can with what you have (Theodore Roosevelt) to leave our society a better place than when we entered it is the best feeling you can have. It sets a bar. If I don't feel this good at my first job, then I haven't found the right one.
Oh yeah, and by the way, Happy Independence Day, USA! We went to a Texas barbecue place to celebrate and then a foreigners bar/club street to dance to some American songs. It was a nice celebration and small break from Chinese culture. Tomorrow, back to China.
We went and played with our Chinese version of a hackeysack (see picture)
and bought a kite from a local vendor. In the process of purchasing our kite, we accumulated our own little crowd of about 20 Chinese people that came over to watch us purchase the kite and then attempt to fly it. Yes, non-Chinese people sometimes like kites too! Many people watched, laughed, or tried to help as we got the kite up in the air and unsuccessfully played with our hackeysack.Vocab word of the day: 毽子 (Jianzi) Chinese hackey sack
4th of July - Today in class we talked about Lei Feng, a famous Chinese soldier who was known for his unselfish demeanor and always willing to help others. Mao Zedong, in 1963, said "Learn from Comrade Lei Feng" and decided that Lei Feng would be taught as a role model in schools. My roommate knows him as the man that they should strive to be like because he helped others. We talked about whether we think society in general is willing to help others and is giving of their resources.
Our teacher told us a story about how a young person found her friend's lost wallet, but when she met this young person to retrieve it, the young person asked for money. Instead of giving this young person money to get her wallet back with her ID card, etc., she walked away because she
didn't want to encourage this kind of behavior. I think that takes a lot of courage because it is definitely a hassle to redo all of your ID's, etc., especially in China because there are a lot more steps you have to go through. However, I definitely agree with her decision. This young person didn't pick up the wallet due to genuine concern that the owner may need it; rather, it was a purely selfish motive and an opportunity to gain some cash.I could probably go on and on about this topic. For example, if an elderly person gets on the bus, we should let them sit down. We've never been old, so we don't know what it's like. They were young once, and hopefully did the same thing. Now it's our turn. While they might need that seat on the bus, but I think elderly people should do what they can to contribute to our society as well, whether it be planting flowers at church or simply talking to a lonely person.
So what can we do to ensure that our society has at least a base level of respect and kindness? 1) When I was in high school, we had to say our greatest fear: mine was "failing as a parent." It took me a while to come up with a fear that satisfied me, but I still stick by this one. Parents need to educate their children to not just reap the benefits from our society, but to give back. Don't just say "always let elderly people have the seat on the bus." Do it. Take your kids on a public bus and offer your seat to an elderly person. I remember a homeless person out in the middle of winter begging for money and my mom giving him a pair of gloves to keep his hands warm. There's no rule, law, or right that says this is what you should do, but there's no need for one. Learn by example, like Lei Feng. Parents our a child's first role model.
2) Volunteer. I think that having that feeling of doing the best you can with what you have (Theodore Roosevelt) to leave our society a better place than when we entered it is the best feeling you can have. It sets a bar. If I don't feel this good at my first job, then I haven't found the right one.
Oh yeah, and by the way, Happy Independence Day, USA! We went to a Texas barbecue place to celebrate and then a foreigners bar/club street to dance to some American songs. It was a nice celebration and small break from Chinese culture. Tomorrow, back to China.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Maple Women's Center
On Sunday, a couple of other students and I went to a NGO-run elementary school in an impoverished area on the outskirts of Beijing. We went with the Editor in Chief of the Maple Women's Psychological Counseling Center (www.maple.org.cn). It was great to get out 
of the city and see something new. The lady told us that while the school may look somewhat shabby, this school is one of the best school for impoverished kids in the area due to its NGO funding. The school was running a five-day program so we helped out in the classroom with the activities. We went to lunch with the teachers and the teacher I sat by had previously worked in Hong Kong with the Salvation Army and decided to move to Beijing to teach in low-income schools.
The kids were already learning English, so they asked me how to say English words and we talked in Chinese about their interests and what the U.S. is like. They called me Kong Laoshi; laoshi means teacher and Kong is my Chinese last name. All of these kids were from poor farming/peasant families and it was definitely an awesome experience to get to meet them. Many of the boys said their hobbies were painting and martial arts, and girls said dancing, painting, and growing flowers. We played lots of games and did some activities that
involved talking about our feelings and problem solving in different situations.
While the lesson portrayed the same message that a 4th grade class might teach, the teaching style was definitely different from U.S. schools. (Keep in mind this was only a 5 day class, so I probably did not get the full classroom experience of a typical school.) If a student spoke particularly articulately, we would all clap for the student. While I remember learning discipline, respect, and following directions in class, it seemed that every activity had more of a focus on these three things. At the same time, the kids were still just kids: there was the class clown, the know-it-all, the shy one, and the giggly one. At the end of class, each student took turns self-reflecting by telling the class what they think they did well and what they can improve for the next day. I certainly never had to do that when I was 8! This definitely seemed to echo the collectivism culture here (at least that's what I'm interpreting it as). It's hard to explain in words, but there is definitely an aura of humbleness and openness about each other's strengths and weaknesses that you don't find in the U.S. It's not all about competition or talking about people behind their back or being embarrassed about something small: rather, it's about accepting these differences and striving to improve them with other's help.
CHINGLISH ALERT:
(My notebook I bought from the supermarket)
How are you doing? An outstanding individual in limited editions eyewear to make each frame since using only traditional and precious materials for work of art hand made to the very highest standards. Hello.
of the city and see something new. The lady told us that while the school may look somewhat shabby, this school is one of the best school for impoverished kids in the area due to its NGO funding. The school was running a five-day program so we helped out in the classroom with the activities. We went to lunch with the teachers and the teacher I sat by had previously worked in Hong Kong with the Salvation Army and decided to move to Beijing to teach in low-income schools.The kids were already learning English, so they asked me how to say English words and we talked in Chinese about their interests and what the U.S. is like. They called me Kong Laoshi; laoshi means teacher and Kong is my Chinese last name. All of these kids were from poor farming/peasant families and it was definitely an awesome experience to get to meet them. Many of the boys said their hobbies were painting and martial arts, and girls said dancing, painting, and growing flowers. We played lots of games and did some activities that
involved talking about our feelings and problem solving in different situations.While the lesson portrayed the same message that a 4th grade class might teach, the teaching style was definitely different from U.S. schools. (Keep in mind this was only a 5 day class, so I probably did not get the full classroom experience of a typical school.) If a student spoke particularly articulately, we would all clap for the student. While I remember learning discipline, respect, and following directions in class, it seemed that every activity had more of a focus on these three things. At the same time, the kids were still just kids: there was the class clown, the know-it-all, the shy one, and the giggly one. At the end of class, each student took turns self-reflecting by telling the class what they think they did well and what they can improve for the next day. I certainly never had to do that when I was 8! This definitely seemed to echo the collectivism culture here (at least that's what I'm interpreting it as). It's hard to explain in words, but there is definitely an aura of humbleness and openness about each other's strengths and weaknesses that you don't find in the U.S. It's not all about competition or talking about people behind their back or being embarrassed about something small: rather, it's about accepting these differences and striving to improve them with other's help.
CHINGLISH ALERT:
(My notebook I bought from the supermarket)
How are you doing? An outstanding individual in limited editions eyewear to make each frame since using only traditional and precious materials for work of art hand made to the very highest standards. Hello.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
长城 (Long city wall)
Vocab word of the day: 长城 (Long city wall) = the Great Wall
The Great Wall is certainly long and strenuous! On Saturday we visited the Great Wall which was AWESOME. I also fulfilled a childhood dream by wearing my Young's Dairy Farm t-shirt.
Some myths that I thought were interesting:
1. It is a continuous wall. (In fact, it is not. We walked to the end of the restored section and walked on the unrestored section which was full of foliage. Although we didn't see a spot like this, in some places along the wall there are simply watch towers and no wall connecting them.)
2. You can see it from the moon. (It was disappointing to find out this was false. Since 1st grade, I definitely thought this was true.)
3. Used for transportation. (It was not used for transportation and was purely defensive in nature.)
Interesting facts: The wall was built over a long period of time with no real overarching plan. Pre-1368 walls are rammed earth wall and dry local stone walls and separated the warring states. After that they were built with brick and stone & morter.
We went to the Mutianyu section, which separated Mongolia from China: the towers were built in 1569 and the wall connecting the towers were built in 1610. We saw places where the wall was
built directly into the tower and thus covered half of a window in the tower. We also saw old cannons, holes for grinding millet, water systems, and the Mutianyu "spur" (a section of the wall which juts out and was to prevent ambushes). Since the Mutianyu sectin was on a higher piece of rugged territory, this section of the wall was only attacked once in the Ming Dynasty.
Gunpowder was invented in China in 1000 AD and they imported cannon technology from Europe. They also used grenades and stones. Soldiers were encouraged to bring their families with them because the army believed it would 1) prevent desertion and 2) make the soldiers want to fight harder. What did the Mongolians want from China? The Mongolian soldiers wanted loot and captives which they could then trade and Mongolian political leaders wanted political recognition from China as well as trade relations.
CHINGLISH ALERT:
(At a Kung Fu show) This show is being performed by professionals: Please don't try this at home.
The Great Wall is certainly long and strenuous! On Saturday we visited the Great Wall which was AWESOME. I also fulfilled a childhood dream by wearing my Young's Dairy Farm t-shirt.
Some myths that I thought were interesting:
1. It is a continuous wall. (In fact, it is not. We walked to the end of the restored section and walked on the unrestored section which was full of foliage. Although we didn't see a spot like this, in some places along the wall there are simply watch towers and no wall connecting them.)
2. You can see it from the moon. (It was disappointing to find out this was false. Since 1st grade, I definitely thought this was true.)
3. Used for transportation. (It was not used for transportation and was purely defensive in nature.)
Interesting facts: The wall was built over a long period of time with no real overarching plan. Pre-1368 walls are rammed earth wall and dry local stone walls and separated the warring states. After that they were built with brick and stone & morter.
We went to the Mutianyu section, which separated Mongolia from China: the towers were built in 1569 and the wall connecting the towers were built in 1610. We saw places where the wall was
built directly into the tower and thus covered half of a window in the tower. We also saw old cannons, holes for grinding millet, water systems, and the Mutianyu "spur" (a section of the wall which juts out and was to prevent ambushes). Since the Mutianyu sectin was on a higher piece of rugged territory, this section of the wall was only attacked once in the Ming Dynasty.Gunpowder was invented in China in 1000 AD and they imported cannon technology from Europe. They also used grenades and stones. Soldiers were encouraged to bring their families with them because the army believed it would 1) prevent desertion and 2) make the soldiers want to fight harder. What did the Mongolians want from China? The Mongolian soldiers wanted loot and captives which they could then trade and Mongolian political leaders wanted political recognition from China as well as trade relations.
CHINGLISH ALERT:
(At a Kung Fu show) This show is being performed by professionals: Please don't try this at home.
Textbook Themes
In my Chinese class, we do a week's worth of work in 1 day, so everyday is a new chapter in our textbook. These are the topics leading up to my midterm. My textbook addresses a lot of current issues in China, so I feel as though I am learning a lot about the culture as well. In class we discuss these issues, compare them to the U.S., and discuss causes and solutions. A lot of these problems are problems that are still being addressed in different countries, many of which are hard to discuss in English, much less Chinese!
Chapter 1: Family structures, birth rates, children
Chapter 2: Marriage and divorce
Chapter 3: Population problems around the world, unemployment and government policies (One Child Act)
Chapter 4: Life after retirement
Chapter 5: Male and female equality, rights and discrimination
Chapter 6: Protecting the environment, noise, water, and air pollution and its effects
Chapter 7: AIDS, how it affects families and how it is contracted
Chapter 8: Smoking, drugs, and cancer
Chapter 9: Euthanasia
Chapter 10: What to do when you find money that isn't yours
Chapters 11 and 12: Chinese customs and society
Chapter 1: Family structures, birth rates, children
Chapter 2: Marriage and divorce
Chapter 3: Population problems around the world, unemployment and government policies (One Child Act)
Chapter 4: Life after retirement
Chapter 5: Male and female equality, rights and discrimination
Chapter 6: Protecting the environment, noise, water, and air pollution and its effects
Chapter 7: AIDS, how it affects families and how it is contracted
Chapter 8: Smoking, drugs, and cancer
Chapter 9: Euthanasia
Chapter 10: What to do when you find money that isn't yours
Chapters 11 and 12: Chinese customs and society
Bejing in the News
This article talks about government and law in China and how the expectations of Chinese people are gradually beginning to include certain rights. More about China than Beijing, but very interesting.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121486930573017659.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
This article talks about using traditional Chinese medicine in concordance with Olympics regulations. I visited a Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in Hangzhou and saw said deer penis.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4245002.ece
Dalai Lama and China resume talks today in Beijing. Maybe.
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSPEK26550320080701
Condoleezza Rice was in Beijing yesterday discussing Sino-U.S. relations.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jZZKrQszTnCrVHedQoazSUulMrvAD91K9GT00
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121486930573017659.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
This article talks about using traditional Chinese medicine in concordance with Olympics regulations. I visited a Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in Hangzhou and saw said deer penis.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4245002.ece
Dalai Lama and China resume talks today in Beijing. Maybe.
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSPEK26550320080701
Condoleezza Rice was in Beijing yesterday discussing Sino-U.S. relations.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jZZKrQszTnCrVHedQoazSUulMrvAD91K9GT00
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