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.
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