Since I needed a break from writing my thesis, I decided to create a photography blog, with all of my favorite photos that I have taken in Korea, China, Washington DC, Colombia and Seattle. Please feel free to check it out!
As all of you know, I listed Nanjing as my first choice for next year. Today I found a post on Ameson Year in China’s blog (apparently they have a blog?) about Nanjing! One of the employees at AYC took a trip to Nanjing while studying abroad and wrote a post about the city! Feel free to read more about Nanjing, and check out her photos of all of the fun things to do, see and eat (yum): AYC Nanjing Blog Post
Traveling around China, I’ve jokingly compared Beijing to LA, Shanghai to New York, Hong Kong to Miami and Xi’an to Boston or Philadelphia, but in this article she compares Nanjing to Washington DC! I found this pretty funny since I’ve been living in DC the last four years while I’ve attended the George Washington University. Now if only I could find a Chinese Seattle… but maybe without all the rain.
Since I’m still finishing up my next post about spring break amidst finals, thesis-writing (or lack thereof) and TEFL training, I decided I would share this gem with you all.
After discovering that I was heading off to China to teach English, a friend told me about one of his friends who did Teach for China in 2009. Teach for China is a hybrid of the Peace Corps and Teach for America, in which recent college graduates head down to rural Yunnan or Guangdong provinces (think Shaxi and Tiger Leaping Gorge) to teach English for two years. I have been considering applying to TFC after this next year (among many other options). The main reason I’m telling you this, is the girl wrote a blog about her experience teaching and living in China. I’ve been reading through it while procrastinating for finals, and I came across this literary gem of a letter, written by a Chinese student for his English teacher. Feast your eyes on this gloriousness:
The homework assignment last night was for our students to write an essay about their favorite place in the world and why we should travel there. One student, Cameron, wrote a letter to my co-teacher Dan to convince him to go to Paris:
——————————————
A Recommendation letter for Dan
Dear Dan,
Hi! Since you have been very tired these days, I suggest that you should fully relax yourself after the summer camp. If you want to broaden your view, France would be a no better choice.
Paris, as you know, the capital city, attracts millions of visitors every year, with its world world-famous landmarks, such as the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, the Louvre, and its beautiful streets. Paris is really a place that catches your eyes.
Since you are a little overweight, I realized that you must be a huge fan of all kinds of delicacies. I think you should try the original goose liver and the various kinds of French bread! They will all fit your appetite! (But just do not eat too much, care for your weight).
It’s common knowledge by everyone that Paris is the most romantic city in the world. So, Dan, it’s your chance now, take your girl with you and then fly to Paris, buy her 99 roses (or 999 if you think you can afford it) and ask her to marry you under the Eiffel Tower, and pledge your troth, think how happy and moved she would be! (And she’ll agree!)
So, just one trip to Paris, you can kill two birds with one stone, the gourmet meals and the beautiful girl. Wouldn’t you like to come? The choice is yours.
Writtin by Martin Liu.
If you’d like to check out the rest of her blog and see what I’m in for if I decide to do Teach For China, here is the link. Make sure you start from the beginning. After she completes her year in Teach for China (apparently it was only one year back in 2009), she moves to Ecuador and then heads back to China. Enjoy!
Richelle
Since I need a break from studying, and I can’t figure out how to start my online TEFL class, I decided I’d cover a few important things that I missed when my computer died last year, starting with: Spring Break! While it has been a year since I visited Hong Kong, Macau and Hainan on my for my Independent Travel Week/ Spring Break, it feels like just yesterday- and I have plenty of photos to remind me of my adventures.
I still remember the day before I left for Hong Kong. There was only one things standing in my way: midterms. I had stayed up late Thursday night to study- as late as I could seeing as I was dying from the worst cold I had ever experienced in my entire life. I’m not kidding. I could barely even speak during my Chinese oral exam, let alone use proper tones, and I’m sure the class hated me with my constant nose-blowing and sniffling. Even though I felt absolutely horrible, the sense of freedom I gained from completing my exam was enough to completely eradicate any sickness from my mind. Hong Kong here I come!
The next morning we woke up at the crack of dawn and departed for the airport. Our group consisted of 6 students: five girls and Nate (who else). We were to spend three full days in Hong Kong and Macau, and another four in Hainan, the Hawaii of China.
I always thought Hong Kong was a very integrated part of China. I knew it was autonomous, but I had no idea how separate it really is! We had to pay for international airfare, and Chinese people need a visa just to visit! 
If any of you feel like your passport is looking a little sparse, I suggest you pay a visit to China, Hong Kong and Macau- you’ll fill up a good two pages with entrance and exit stamps. Visiting Hong Kong is like visiting another country. People speak Cantonese, write in traditional characters, and drive on the left. They use different money (the Hong Kong dollar) and require tips at restaurants. I don’t know if I could accurately describe Hong Kong, but if I were to try, I would say it is a hybrid of China, London and Thailand. I’ve never been to Thailand, but with the tropical humidity, bamboo scaffolding and lack of Mandarin- I may as well have been in Thailand.
After exiting the plane, the six of us split in half and took cabs to our hostel in down town Hong Kong. As we entered the cab we witnessed one of the most shocking things I have ever seen in China. No, it wasn’t a bloody stump with a bone sticking out, and no, it wasn’t a cockroach sitting in the coals of my hotplate. It was even more shocking: my cab driver had an ipad. Yes, you heard me, an ipad. How in the world could this cab driver afford an iPad? I don’t even have an ipad?! Five minutes into the cab ride we discovered how: let’s just say cabs are expensive in Hong Kong. Actually, let me re-phrase: EVERYTHING is expensive in Hong Kong.
Aside from the ridiculous prices, Hong Kong is beautiful! It was warm, sunny and a little humid. There were big, white fluffy clouds in the sky and green rolling mountains. As we entered into the city, we passed by the turquoise blue sea, surrounded by beautiful resort villas and grand suspension bridges. Hong Kong is absolutely breathtaking. As we drove into the city, I became more and more impressed. People followed traffic laws, no one honked, the streets were clean enough to eat off of and lined with designer shops. Double decker busses whooshed pass us and the buildings leapt up towards the sky.
When we finally arrived, we exited our cabs and walked towards our hostel past designer shops full of clothing that I will probably never be able to afford. Eventually we reached 
our hostel, Hong Kong Mansion, and entered through a side door, climbing up dirty concrete steps to a small, dingy waiting area; we could barely all fit in the room. I almost died laughing looking at the sign to our hostel, which was filthy and missing a letter. Yep, definitely a mansion. After forking over more cash than I thought humanly possible in one day, we were informed that we would only get one room key for all 6 of us, and if we wanted more keys we would have to pay about $15 for the privilege of using one extra key. Really?? $15 may not sound like a lot, but in a country where I was used to eating dinner for $4… it’s a lot. We decided to just go with the one key, knowing that we could never split up since, wouldn’t you guess.. our phones didn’t work in Hong Kong.
After emptying our wallets, we were told that the large 6-person rooms were located in a different building two blocks away. Really? So we grabbed our stuff and headed over to our room. We eventually found the building, a somewhat dilapidated high-rise apartment
building. The inside reminded me of a bathroom with sea foam green walls and a multi-colored tile floor. We crammed ourselves into the elevator and eventually found our room. We entered into a teeny tiny modern living room with a navy couch and bright, shiny red walls. This living room led into three 6-person bedrooms, two bathrooms and a kitchen that consisted of a fridge and water boiler. We unlocked the door to room #1 aaaand… it was the size of a closet. The three bunk beds took up all of the space in the room so that only three people maximum could stand on the floor. We changed out of our plane clothing and into something nice and summery to fit the tropical weather. We then stumbled upon something amazing: no internet censorship in Hong Kong??! Our internet was insanely fast and we didn’t need a VPN to get on Facebook! Freedom at last!
Our hostel room
But we were not in Hong Kong to play around on Facebook, and soon enough we were off to explore the city. That afternoon we walked around Hong Kong, and relaxed at a park with a jogging track that had a path for runners and walkers. How is this city in the same country as Beijing where you can get hit by a car on the sidewalk and have it be your fault? Yes, you heard me right, sidewalk. That evening we had dinner at a Japanese restaurant (and were shocked by the automatic gratuity on our bill), and then headed out to a few square blocks of streets that contain Hong Kong’s bars and clubs. We saw Irish pubs, swanky bars, crazy nightclubs and daring street dancers. After a fun night out, we headed back to our hostel- but had a hard time falling asleep due to the summer camp-like environment our room provided.
The next morning, we wandered around Hong Kong, drank some crazy fruit juices and window shopped. In the afternoon we got dressed up and took the high speed ferry to Macau! Macau, a former Portuguese colony, is also another autonomous island in China. We made our way to the ferry, purchased our tickets, ate some McDonalds standing up because there was nowhere to sit.. and basically killed time for an hour or so before it was time to leave. When we boarded the ferry, we were pleased to learn that we had been upgraded to super class! Fancy!! We made our way up the stairs and enjoyed the ride in relative luxury (the bathrooms were golden!).
super class!
As we arrived, we peered through the foggy windows and saw bright lights and casinos! It was very interesting to see that the water around Macau was a foggy brown, rather than a crystal blue like Hong Kong; but the water wasn’t the only thing that was different: visiting Macau was like entering a Chinese Europe. Imagine if Portugal, China, Thailand and Las Vegas had a baby: welcome to Macau.
We first took a cab into the Portuguese city center, admiring Catholic churches, tile mosaic public squares and colonial-style buildings. Interspersed with the Portuguese architecture were very modern high rises and dilapidated apartment buildings covered in artistic graffiti, and in the distance you could see sparking casinos. We spent the evening wandering around Macua, admiring parks, popping in casinos and taking funny pictures with vacationers.
Finally, we decided it was time to check out the biggest casino in the world: the Venetian! I couldn’t believe my eyes when we pulled up in the cab; I had never been anywhere this fancy in my life. We wandered around the canals, spotted a ballroom showcase (I was SUPER excited) and even tried our hand at gambling!! I was too scared to try any of the table games, but I ended up winning $15 HKD in slots!!! Which is almost nothing in American dollars…. The interesting thing about Macau is that Macau has its own currency (of course), but all of the casinos only take Hong Kong dollars. Not knowing this, we all exchanged way too many of our HKD for Macanese pataca (yes, that’s it’s name). Nate actually won a lot of money playing Blackjack.. and then preceded to lose half of it at a different table. Quit while you’re ahead! That’s how I won my 15 HKD.
Macau is the only place in China where gambling is legal, so naturally, mainlanders flock to Macau the way we flock to Vegas. But while many people compare Macau to Las Vegas there is a very large difference: Macau has a distinct lack of fun, carefree, party attitude that is present in Vegas. The Venetian had one bar that was almost impossible to find, had an extremely expensive cover charge and was almost empty. The people gambling were serious, as if it was their duty to win back as much money as possible for their families. Casinos in China are a way to make money, not a fun activity.
This trip to Macau was enough to confirm that I am really not a gambling person.
Eventually, it was time to head home. We boarded the crowded ferry and, unfortunately, were not upgraded to super class. It was freezing, and most of the girls were in dresses and without jackets. We all tried to doze off on the two-hour ride, but it was way too cold and extremely bright under the harsh fluorescent lights.
The next day the girls all wanted to go to Hong Kong Disneyland, but Nate and I weren’t quite convinced it was worth $100. We wanted to see a little more of Hong Kong on our last day, so the two groups (gasp) split up! We had no way to contact one another, but we picked an arbitrary time and hoped everything would work out. So the girls went off to Hong Kong Disney, and Nate and I set off to explore Kowloon, another island in the Hong Kong sphere of influence. Sometimes I wonder how people survived without cell phones.
We took the ridiculously expensive subway under the water to Kowloon in hopes of wandering around the Ladies Market. When we arrived, the vendors were just beginning to set up, so we grabbed some stuffed breads at a bakery and wandered for two hours. At one point we were entering a mall when a teenage boy bumped into Nate. “Excuse me, sorry!” he said to Nate in English. Where were we???! Eventually it was time to wander the Ladies Market. Why they call it the “Ladies Market”, I have no idea. The market sells everything from Obama Mao shirts to beautiful paintings, little girl dresses and elephant banana hammocks. Nate picked up a pack of Mao playing cards, while I got a “silver and jade” bracelet. The stones could be jade, but the “silver” definitely turned my wrist green.
After the Ladies Market, Nate and I set off to find the Jade Market. We ended up becoming hopelessly lost, and couldn’t find anyone that would admit to speaking English OR Mandarin! I felt completely helpless. I was so used to at least being able to struggle by with Mandarin, I forgot what it was like to not speak the local language and I didn’t like it. After living in China, I can’t imagine traveling somewhere else and not being able to speak the language without feeling ignorant. Anyway, after struggling for a good 45 minutes, we eventually found a white woman with a backpack on her front. She looked like an expat so we tracked her down. She gave us very specific directions and we were finally able to make our way there. When we arrived we were somewhat disappointed. The jade market is merely a street full of extremely expensive jade shops.. but we did wander through a pretty cool local food market on the way!
Our last stop of the Kowloon tour was to a local temple. Nate and I had a great time posing with our zodiac animal (the sheep), admiring koi fish and relaxing in the shade. Eventually we decided to head back and wander around a clothing market in Hong Kong for a good hour and a half before the Disney girls returned. We grabbed some mango juice and waited in the room- thank god we had the key!
Once they returned in matching Mickey shirts, we all headed out to dinner. We decided to eat at a little street-side baozi place, and had the displeasure of eating one of the worst meals I have ever had in China at a ridiculous price. We ordered baozi, which was pretty good but 5X the price it is in Beijing. Still hungry, we ordered.. what can only be described as a dry rice ball filled with even drier pulled, fluffed pork. It was gross and I wanted to down 3 water bottles after eating it. That’s what we get for trying to eat cheap in Hong Kong…
Best. Dinner. Ever.
Eventually, we headed up towards the peak, the best view of Hong Kong! We took a cable car that chugged up the mountain at an angle that was almost vertical! Hannah, who is afraid of heights, was freaking out, and started crying. But we made it to the top in on piece, and wandered to enjoy the view. We eventually ran into the Alliance International Business students who were there for their field study trip. Apparently there were two GW guys on the program but I didn’t know or meet either of them. Fun fact: I have Business Chinese with one of them now, and hung out with the other one at an Alliance event I planned two weeks ago. Small world.
After climbing way too many stairs to count, we finally made it to the top, and watched the light show from above. Every night in Hong Kong, the city shines multicolored lights on the high-rise buildings in swirling patterns and colors. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go watch Skyfall. (Half of Skyfall is set in Hong Kong and Macau). We would have loved to stay at the peak longer, but it was so windy. The wind almost blew me over a few times, and Windsor was having major problems with her skirt. It was also a bit chilly at that altitude with no coat. Finally, we decided to head back and get a good night’s sleep before our flight to Hainan the next morning. We ended the night playing “Up and Down the River” (our signature card game) with Nate’s Mao playing cards.
Visiting Hong Kong and Macau was an amazing experience, and I would love to go back someday… albeit with more time and a little more money.
*Some of these photos have been stolen from Hannah Lee (Thanks Hannah!)
Since we are approaching finals, in the spirit of education, I thought I would share a paper I wrote on the One Child Policy for my History of Modern China class last semester. Since I go to GW, the king of “real world practicality” and politics, we were told to write a policy brief on a current issue in China, using historical backgound to argue a policy position. Living in Beijing for a semester and traveling to the two other most populous cities in China, I find the One Child Policy very intriguing. I have seen the population issue, or “renkou wenti” as they say in China, first hand. The large population causes many issues, however, the One Child Policy has also caused issues in and of itself. Some I had learned about before entering China (the aging population and lack of girls), and others were a complete surprise to me (bride trafficking). Please keep in mind that this brief does not completely represent my own personal opinion; I am merely arguing a stance on the issue and providing a possible solution.
The policy briefing below is written to American policymakers to inform them of the serious consequences of the One Child Policy, and urge them to collaborate with Chinese government officials to loosen the One Child Policy, while simultaneously working towards creating a social security fund for the older generation.
Chinese One Child Policy Brief
One of the most controversial government policies to date, China’s One Child Policy has led to major demographic challenges and vast human rights issues. In an effort to develop Chinese people of “quality over quantity”, the Chinese Communist Party has created many serious problems such as human trafficking, the largest gender distribution gap in the world, and a lack of funds to aid the retiring population. Because of this, it is pertinent to the stability of China and the future global economy that the Chinese Communist Party loosen their restrictions on the One Child Policy, and begins to work towards creating a Social Security system.
The One Child Policy, implemented by Deng Xiaoping in 1979, is not the first attempt China has made to control its ballooning population. Between 1970 and 1979, Mao Zedong’s “late, long, few” policy, which called for later childbearing, greater spacing between children, and fewer children, had already resulted in a halving of the total fertility rate, from 5.9 to 2.9 births per woman. However, Deng Xiaoping, worried that this voluntary initiative was not strong enough to reverse population trends, developed the One Child Policy. Two years after the implementation of the policy, China’s birthrate decreased to 2.3 births per woman. Deng Xiaoping’s reasoning in implementing the policy was to create Chinese people of “quality over quantity”, stressing that parents should invest their resources into one child, creating a society of well educated, healthy, hardworking individuals.
While much of the world views the One Child Policy as a strict one-child rule, many families are allowed to have multiple children. If the first child has a disability or both parents are only children, the couple is allowed two children. In many rural areas, if the first child is a girl, families are permitted to “try again for a son”. In addition, many Chinese minorities are allotted two or even three children, to preserve ethnic groups and cultural diversity in China. Approximately seventy percent of Chinese people live in the countryside, meaning millions of families are allowed more than one child. Finally, in many areas of China, wealthy families are able to have multiple children by paying a heavy tax. There have been many concrete benefits of the One Child Policy, and if the policy stays in place, Richard Jackson, the author of “The Dimensions of China’s Aging Challenge”, predicts that India will surpass China as the world’s most populous country by 2020, and China’s population will peak by 2030 (10). This is why it is important not to abolish the policy entirely. However, these changes, while fulfilling the government’s goals to reduce population, have created many other serious issues that can be resolved only by restructuring the One Child Policy.
With the introduction of the One Child Policy, the desire to have a son became increasingly important. Since the time of Confucius in 500 BCE, respecting ones ancestors through continuing the family line is a man’s fundamental obligation and is considered a repayment to his ancestors. China’s traditional patrilineal descent system ensures that only males can pass on the family line. Because of this, a daughter is often considered an outsider from the moment of her birth because she will not bring economic value to her family once she marries into to her husband’s family. Even with Mao Zedong’s popular slogan “Women hold up half the sky”, traditional gendered values are still a large part of Chinese society, especially in the rural countryside. Currently, in the cities daughters have begun to provide support to their parents, but in the countryside, tradition stands. Therefore, it is important for rural Chinese families to have a son not only for lineage purposes, but also for social security. In rural China, sons come with a lifetime of security; they will work in the fields, support their parents and carry on the family line. Females, however, will be married off and will not continue to support their parents. In a country with no concrete social security system, families without sons face serious problems.
To solve this issue, the Chinese government has allowed many rural residents to “try again for a boy” if the first child is a girl. Following the birth of a girl, if the second pregnancy also results in a female, this pregnancy often “disappears,” allowing the couple another attempt to have a son. While the city has easily adapted to the One Child Policy, continued son preference in the countryside makes implementation difficult and leads to gender-ratio complications. In the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Survey, 75 percent of respondents in wealthy Jiangsu province were satisfied with their one child regardless of sex, whereas in poorer Yunnan province, 55 percent were satisfied with one male child, but only 30 percent were satisfied with one female child (Hesketh et al). This long-standing Confucian preference for male over female has led to a complete disruption of many aspects of Chinese society.
Selective abortions, adoption, infanticide and family planning have led to a vastly skewed sex ratio in China. The sex ratio at birth, defined as the proportion of male live births to female live births, ranges from 1.03 to 1.07 in industrialized countries. Since the onset of the One Child Policy, there has been a steady increase in the reported sex ratio, from 1.06 in 1979 to 1.17 in 2001(Hesketh et al). During Mao’s era, elderly citizens were supported by the government through the “Iron Rice bowl”, a government policy that acted as a form of social security, job protection and welfare for all citizens who worked in government industries or agricultural communes. With the disbanding of the Iron Rice Bowl and the implementation of the One Child Policy, Chinese families were forced to revert back to traditional methods of family support, leading to an resurgence of son preference. Most countries in Europe, the Americas and the Middle East all have what one would consider “normal” sex- ratios within the 1.03 to 1.07 range; however, currently the sex ratio in China is the most disproportionate in the world. Sex-selective abortion after ultrasonography accounts for a large proportion of the steep decline in female births; however, actual figures are impossible to obtain, because sex-selective abortion is technically illegal.
Many missing females simply go unreported, living with relatives or abandoned at orphanages. While these females are present in society, many do not survive to adulthood. Ninety five percent of children in Chinese orphanages are healthy girls, however, due to neglect, starvation and exposure, most will die in the orphanage as an infant or child. For example, an orphanage in Nanning, Guanxi reports that ninety percent of the fifty to sixty female infants that arrive on a monthly basis will die in the orphanage (Skalla, 347). While infanticide in China is illegal, neglectful orphanages are an institutionalized way of ridding China of its unwanted female population.
One main issue stemming from the “missing girls” phenomenon is the lack of available brides for young men. By 2020 there will be 30 million men unable to find spouses (Jackson, 14). This causes many fundamental issues within the Confucian traditional family structure of China. Without the ability to marry and produce an heir to the ancestral line, these men will bring great offense to their ancestors and will become a disgrace in the eyes of their family and the community. Many fear that an “army of bachelors”, unable to participate in traditional customs of marriage and family, may stir political unrest. According to Nicole Skalla, author of “China’s One Child Policy: Illegal Children and the Family Planning Law”, an unmarried man between the ages of 24 and 35 is three times more likely to murder a man of the same age (351). The aggression caused by lack of ability to marry and produce a family in a society in which marriage is not only expected, but required, will undoubtedly spark political unrest against the policy or even the government itself.
To solve the issue of missing women, China has developed a new system of underground bride trafficking. Hundreds of thousands of women have been abducted from their homes to be sold as brides to paying husbands. Many women even go voluntarily for the promise of a better life, but then are unable to reject a match once the money has exchanged hands. The lack of women has also resulted in increased numbers of commercial sex workers, with a potential resultant rise in human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV) and other sexually transmitted diseases.
The rapid reduction in births has also created another major issue known as the “aging population”. By 2020, China will be adding 10 million elderly to its population demographics each year while simultaneously losing 7 million working-age adults (Jackson, 7). While many developed countries are also undergoing this transition as families decide to have fewer children, these countries are much wealthier than China; this is known as China’s “premature aging problem”. In the 1960′s, only 7% of the population was elderly, however, now the percentage of elderly Chinese is roughly 33%. Similarly, in 1960 the median age was 20, however, China has now surpassed America in “age” with a median age of 47 (Jackson, 8-9). The main issue with this “prematurely” aging population is a lack of available funds to support these people. Currently, only government workers and employees of state-owned companies receive any sort of pension from the government, which is roughly only 31% of the population of elderly Chinese.
While the traditional family structure of sons supporting parents has been successful since the Song Dynasty, the One Child Policy is creating a strain on the system. Urban couples may attempt to support both sets of parents, however this creates a financial burden on the family. This problem is commonly referred to as the 4:2:1 phenomenon, meaning that increasing numbers of couples will be solely responsible for the care of one child and four parents. In the past, parents could rely on multiple sons to support themselves in old age; however, many rural families without sons are left with no children to care for them. Without government help, this creates a major social issue.
By restructuring the One Child Policy to create a “Two Child Policy”, many of the social problems created by the current policy will be solved. The Two Child Policy would encourage families to have one child with positive incentives such as better housing, but limit families to two children. Rural families would be allowed two children, but then would be allowed to “try again for a boy” if the first two children are female. Finally, the Two Child Policy would place no limit on ethnic minorities. The Two Child Policy would not only solve the 4-2-1 problem, but would also reduce the gender disparity gap. The preference for sons in the countryside is an issue that is deeply engrained in Chinese culture and history; now, the Two Child Policy will work to combat the gender disparity through practical means. If families in the countryside must produce two female children before they are allowed to “try again for a boy”, it will help increase the number of women in society.
While families in the city would be allowed two children with the Two Child Policy, studies show that over one third of Chinese families in major cities are satisfied with one child. This change in beliefs can be seen by the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Survey, which states that 35 percent of the urban women questioned preferred having only one child, 57 percent preferred having two children, but very few women (an average of 5.8 percent) wanted more than two (Hesketh et al). Even in areas like Tibet, where most couples are permitted to have three children, 65 percent of the women wanted only one or two children.
In addition to the Two Child Policy, other steps must be taken to reduce the gender disparity gap and aid the aging population. While the Two Child Policy will solve the 4-2-1 problem, as well as increase the female population, it will not solve the practical need for sons in the countryside. By implementing a social security system in China, the need for sons as a practical concern is no longer as dire. With the government caring for the elderly population, there will be less pressure for families to have male children. Allowing Chinese families to have more children will also solve the “premature aging problem”. With a larger young adult population, there will be more working members of society to contribute to the retiring population via social security taxes. While the son preference is a deeply engrained issue that dates back to the start of Confucianism in 500 BCE, by supporting the elderly population through Social Security, this alleviates much of the practical concern for rural families as well as the pressure on urban couples to support both parents.
Works Cited
Child Family Policy after 25 Years.” New England Journal of Medicine 353.11 (2005): 1171-176. Print.
2. Jackson, Richard. et. al. “The Dimensions of China’s Aging Challenge.”
China’s Long March to Retirement Reform 4.22 (2009): 7-17. Print.
3. Skalla Nicole. M .”China’s One-Child Policy: Illegal Children and the Family
Planning Law;.” 30 Brook Journal International (2004): 329-55. Hein Online. Web.
As many of you may know, about a month ago I received a job offer with Ameson Year in China! I’ve been extremely busy trying to get all of the materials together: background checks, health clearances, and signed agreements etc, while simultaneously researching what city I want to live in next year. After much deliberation, here are the top 5 in order listed on my preference sheet:
1. Nanjing
2. Hangzhou
3. Suzhou
4. Wuhan
5. Shenzhen
Nanjing is a smaller city about two hours away from Shanghai by train. It has been the capital of the Chinese empire on several occasions including the Sui, Yuan, and Ming empires as well as the Republic of China under Sun Yat Sen. The name Nanjing literally translates to “Southern Capital”, while Beijing means“Northern Capital”. That means that if I move to Nanjing I’ll have lived in all three capitals of China! Currently, Nanjing serves as the capital of Jiangsu province, and sits on the south bank of the Yangtzee river. Nanjing is also home to many important moments in Modern Chinese History such as the Taiping Rebellion and the Nanjing Massacre, otherwise known as the “Rape of Nanjing”. While both these events are difficult moments in Chinese history, Nanjing has rapidly developed into a major second-tier city with skyscrapers, a subway and many parks, restaurants, bars and museums.
Hangzhou is another smaller city very close to Shanghai and capital of Zhejiang province. Famed by Marco Polo as the “most beautiful and magnificent city in the world”, it sits on West Lake, an equally beautiful and historical place that has ”influenced garden design in the rest of China as well as Japan and Korea over the centuries”.
Suzhou, otherwise known as the “Venice of the East”, is a small city of 4 million people in Jiangsu province. Known for its gardens, temples and canals, Suzhou is a major tourist attraction as well as a center for China’s silk industry.
Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, is located in central/southern China. A somewhat larger city of 10 million people, Wuhan is known for its wide variety of breakfast and snack foods.
Finally, Shenzhen is a large city in southern Guandong province, just north of Hong Kong. In fact, Shenzhen is so close to Hong Kong that there is a bridge connecting the two. Shenzhen is a hot city with a vibrant economy. It’s home to the Shenzhen stock exchange and is now considered one of the fastest growing cities in the world.
Now that you’ve heard a little about my top choices, we’ll see where I get placed! As of now, I’m studying for my last round of finals of my undergraduate career, writing my thesis and wrapping up my internship with the Alliance for Global Education. It’s been a busy year: 5 classes, interning 22 hours a week, ballroom practice 5 times a week, interviewing applicants for the admissions department, leading orientation for the exchange students, working as an alumni ambassador for my study abroad program and much more. It will be nice to relax in Beijing this summer (albeit with a gas mask to save me from lung cancer); I’m already working on planning a trip to Qinghai and Tibet! Next year should be a great year and I’m honestly so excited to return to China. Let’s just hope I don’t get bird flu.
“I delight in the challenges that a country like China poses to westerners. Sure, I occasionally catch myself pounding the wall in frustration, but the thing about the PRC is that every turn is a new adventure. For me there’s nothing worse than being bored, and boredom is just not possible in China. See these lines on my face? They weren’t there before.” -Tom Carter, Photojournalist
The quote above perfectly encapsulates why I want to go back to China next year- life is different, challenging and exciting! Tom Carter began his experience in China teaching English, and eventually transformed himself into a renowned photojournalist, capturing moving images of people in Chinese society.
You can view the link to his interview here and a webpage of his photos here. (Thanks to my mom for finding this)
His career path just goes to show that you never know where life will take you. For me, the prospect of heading back to China at 22 years-old with a clean slate and a loose life plan is exciting, encouraging and inspiring. Who knows? Maybe I’ll become a photojournalist too! What is life without the crazy experiences that can only come from traveling the world? While I’m not old enough to measure my life experience in wrinkles, I’ll try to measure it the best way I know how: in stories and snapshots of memories.
Hi Everyone,
Three of my photos have been nominated for a photo contest with my study abroad company. It would mean the world to me if any of you that see this before Friday 3/8/2013 could vote for one of my photos in the photo contest. All of the votes are through facebook and all you have to do is write a comment on the photo! 1 comment= 1vote (“likes” don’t count). Please share this with any family and friends and help me win an Ipad so I can write blog posts on the go when I move back to China next year!!
Please vote for this photo!!
Here are my three photos that were nominated:
“Chatting with a Yunnan Dancer”- Lijiang, Yunnan
“Gazing out Over the Yangtzee”- Chongqing
“A Line of Yurts in the Heavenly Mountains” -Urumqi, Xinjiang
Thanks for all of your support!
The Alliance students just arrived in China two weeks ago, so I decided it would be a good time to reflect on my experience in China and how things have changed since I’ve been back home.
It was just over a year ago that I left for my Asian adventure. I was nervous, scared and unsure of what to expect out of my seven moths in China. While in China I had a lot of great times, made amazing friends and ate some really good food. Even the hard times (broken computers, getting stranded on mountains) now make amazing stories. I will admit, the last few weeks in China, I was ready to go home. I missed my family, friends, and most especially the familiar. Living in China can be hard and I was ready for things to be easy again. I didn’t want to have to argue with the fuwuyuans in Chinese about fixing the internet, I didn’t want to have to change tables in a restaurant because the sweaty shirtless men at the table next to me were chain smoking and I definitely didn’t want to have to study Chinese ever again.
When I boarded the plane home I was excited, exhausted and nervous. How much are things supposed to cost in the US? How do you order something in English again?? As I landed in Seattle I was overwhelmed. Everyone was so tall and so… white. I could understand all of the conversations and read all of the signs, and even though everything should have felt familiar it felt… strange. It was too easy.
When my mom picked me up at the airport it almost felt like coming home after a normal semester of college, but there was something distinctly different. I arrived home and sunk into my giant bed and never wanted to get out. I didn’t belong here did I? I belonged back in China… but when I was in China I never belonged there either. I always stuck out: my lack of fluency, my white skin, my direct personality. I definitely didn’t belong in China… but I didn’t belong here either. I wished I was surrounded by my Alliance friends. They understood my China jokes and Chinglish phrases, they shared my experience and they would understand what I was going through.
The next evening my family and I went out to a Mexican restaurant. I absolutely love Mexican food, and I had been craving fajitas since I ate them at La Bamba for my birthday in Beijing. But when I got the food, everything tasted bland to me. I solved the situation by dumping a whole bowl of salsa over the entire thing. The most awkward aspect was that I had forgotten how to order things in English. I was so used to asking for things in Chinese that when I returned I would directly translate the Chinese into English “Please give me..” No. That’s not right. “I want a…” No.. that sounds rude. What was I supposed to say again?! I also told the Mexican waiter xie xie when he gave me my food. What is happening to me?? Did I forget how to speak English?
I was only home for six days in Seattle before I had to leave again, and I have to say it was a hard six days. I felt lazy, I had no desire to go out or do anything, but yet I had so much to do to get ready for school! I knew that there was such a thing as reverse culture shock, but I always laughed the idea off. I’ve lived in the US my entire life! Leaving for seven months won’t change anything right? Wrong.
Joe told me that I might have some trouble coming back to the US since I had been in China for so long. Every day in China was new and exciting and I was constantly forced to think in another language. Apparently, once you place yourself back in the familiar after months and months of living in the new and strange, the brain slips into a minor depression from lack of stimuli. I mainly felt like I was cheating. It shouldn’t be this easy should it? I should be practicing my Chinese and struggling to communicate to accomplish the most basic tasks. But with only six days at home, before I could even wrap my head around the idea of being back in the US, it was already time to head back to school.
Arriving back at GW after a semester away was also a little strange. I wasn’t used to seeing all of these people around campus that I knew! In China, if I spotted an acquaintance I would immediately run over and start up a conversation. After all, I only knew so many people in China… But what was I supposed to do when I walked past someone who lived on my floor freshman year? What about Someone I had a class with a year ago? I didn’t know.
Let’s say I do start up a conversation with someone. Then comes the dreaded question: “How was China??!”. How do I even begin to answer that question? “Amazing! challenging, enlightening, delicious, life-changing”… I settled on the neutral “Oh… really great!”. I could have a 10-hour long conversation about how much China has changed my life, but every conversation was the same.
Even my roommates who had also studied abroad didn’t seem to understand my experience. Two of my roommates studied abroad in Spain, and while I admire the fact that they took area studies courses in Spanish and one roommate had a home stay, it was a very different type of study abroad experience. They didn’t seem to have the heavy academic course load I did in China, nor the difficult adjustment I seemed to be having; granted, they had been home for three months while I was still in China. One of my roommates even told me she was bored in Spain. I never had time to be bored in China; I didn’t even have time to sleep!
I felt like I needed to seek out other people who had studied abroad in China- other people who would understand. While I eventually settled back into the routine of life, I still find myself making immediate connections with people who have an interest in China. It has sort of taken over my life! It wasn’t until this semester that I made friends with a few Chinese majors and minors in my classes who had studied abroad either last spring or fall. It is always such a relief to talk about my experiences with these friends because I feel like they are the only people who understand my past life in China and are interested in all of my crazy stories! Earlier this semester I made hotpot with a friend who studied abroad on a different program in Beijing, and that same friend has even introduced me to Chinese tv shows and cartoons I can watch to practice my listening skills!
I find that I also get really nerdy about China in my classes, especially my Chinese history class last semester. Other areas of international affairs no longer interest me as much, and I mainly just want to focus on Asia. For example, this semester I’m taking a senior seminar on political Islam to graduate with honors from the Elliott School and I somehow managed to squeeze China into my thesis! (It’s about internet censorship in Iran vs China in case you were wondering). While I thought I was done with taking Chinese language classes, I realized that my Chinese was quickly slipping away and eventually decided to register for Business Chinese. While it may have been one of the worst decisions for my sanity and/or health, my Chinese is quickly improving! My professor is the head of the Chinese department and is very intense- I have about 3 hours of Chinese homework a night for a three credit class. It doesn’t help that there are kids in my class who are fluent. But my Business Chinese class has given me a Chinese resume and prepared me for interviews in Chinese. I also have a whole new group of friends who are just as obsessed with China as I am!
The longer I stay away from China the more I want to go back! Life in China was more exciting, dramatic, interesting and unique. It was also more difficult, frustrating and demanding… but what is life without a challenge right? I know I’m glamorizing China in my head just like I did with the US my last few months in China, but I know I will regret it for the rest of my life if I don’t move back to China next year. Besides, what would my life be without adventures around Asia?
This is another one of those posts that’s pretty funny… in retrospect. So if you’re planning on teaching English in China, read away because this could be you.
I had decided in Beijing that I was going to get a job over the summer teaching English to make some money. I immediately sought out a job, checking a wall of postings at Village Café- the only semi-decent western restaurant near campus. There were a few jobs, so I wrote down their numbers and began calling. I wanted to teach a class of little kids, rather than tutor high schoolers for the TOFL exam (to prove their English is good enough to study abroad). I found one listing for the Wild Goose Pagoda English school, I gave them a call and the woman asked if I was free in an hour to meet with her. Sure!
A few of my friends had jobs teaching English in Beijing. It pays very well: about $20 an hour without a college degree or a TEFL certification (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). In Xi’an it’s about $10-15, but even that is better than nothing. At 3:00 I walked to the edge of campus to meet the Chinese woman, Cynthia, who would show me the Wild Goose Pagoda School. Cynthia was your typical Xi’annese girl: dressed in an ill-fitting white qipao and strappy white platform sandals straight out of the 90’s, she had her shoulder-length hair in a messy ponytail and frameless glasses on her makeup-less face.
Cynthia led me down Changan’nan lu, and we hopped on the bus to the Wild Goose Pagoda School. The school was located on the fourth floor of a hotel near a local elementary school. We hopped in the elevator and exited out into a dimly lit hallway lined with dirty classrooms. The first thing I noticed was the wreaking stench of pee, coming from the bathroom, which had probably never been cleaned. We walked down the hallway, escaping the smell, and entered into a classroom. Cynthia went over my resume, and told me that she could offer me a job, but that I would have to lie about being a student, as well as my teaching background. I taught kindergarteners how to read my sophomore year of college through the DC Reads program, but I had no background in teaching foreigners English. I agreed to lie, and we headed out the door to meet the head of the Wild Goose Pagoda School: Oscar.
Oscar was definitely not what I was expecting. A scruffy, American man in his late twenties, Oscar was your typical adventurous, outdoorsy American backpacker, who fell in love with China and made the conscious decision to live as an expat in a city that is not Shanghai or Beijing. I eventually learned that he and Cynthia were dating, of course. The three of us sat in large wicker chairs at a nearby café and talked about my future 2 month teaching career. Oscar mentioned a school where I could teach young kids, but it would require one session of free teaching before they would decide whether or not they wanted me. It was about forty-five minutes on the subway, and I would teach all day on Sunday. At the mention of the free class, Cynthia exploded into Xi’annese (a local dialect of the standard Mandarin), while Oscar argued with her in typical Mandarin. It was hard to get the gist of their conversation, but they eventually explained to me that Cynthia was afraid that the school would take my free class, and then never higher me, getting a full day of teaching for free. They said they would get a hold of the school, and try and work out a deal. Typical China.
The next day, I was to teach a class at the school as a free tester, and then they would decide if they wanted me for that Sunday. However, when the time came for me to head over to the school, I couldn’t get a hold of Oscar or Cynthia! About an hour after I was supposed to leave, Oscar called me telling me he couldn’t get in contact with the school, and that we would try again for tomorrow. The day came and went, the school proved unreliable, and I was jobless.
Two weeks later Cynthia called me asking if I could come in and meet a family to tutor a high school boy in English. I hopped on the bus, found the school, wandered past the pee-soaked bathroom, and sat in the office waiting to meet the student and his dad. I was a little early and I brought some Chinese homework to keep me busy. Cynthia, dressed in the same, white qipao, waited patiently next to me, impressed that I was learning Chinese characters in addition to the language. 2:30 came and went, and there was no student. After the family was 45 minutes late, Cynthia started frantically calling the father. Eventually, she was able to get ahold of him, and he said he would call his son. The son had apparently set up another appointment with a different language tutor, not knowing the time of our appointment. Miscommunication much? I agreed to wait an hour for him, and set to work on my homework. After about an hour and a half Cynthia and I grew anxious. Where were they? Cynthia called the father again, and long story short: it was a massive exchange of phone tag that led to me waiting for this kid for FOUR HOURS.
I was so angry and had never felt more disrespected in my life. I’m not some teacher that sits around all day from 9-5, I’m a student who made a special trip all the way to the school to sit there for four hours with no pay. I was fuming, but apparently the father apologized and offered to take Cynthia and I out to dinner (it never happened). To make it up to me, Cynthia took me to a little hole in the wall place to get fish for dinner. We sat at a dirty table next to a chef who was snoring loudly, and drank Bing Fengs (Xi’an’s local orange soda) while we waited for our fish. The fish was definitely very good, but left me craving the amazing fish that my friends and I would get at a restaurant near campus in Beijing. I thought back to how eating fish with heads and skin used to freak me out, and laughed
After our meal Cynthia asked if I wanted to get ice cream. I’d finished almost all my homework during my four-hour imprisonment at the school, so I agreed. We walked a few blocks over to the Wild Goose Pagoda and surrounding plaza. It was an especially hot and sunny day and there were people everywhere. It was impossible to get through without ruining someone’s picture. After following Cynthia through the crowd we came to our destination: KFC.
Cynthia and I found the only table available in the restaurant, and thankfully it was by a window and away from the chaos and noise inside. Cynthia treated me to a strawberry sundae and we sat and chatted. She gushed about her relationships with Oscar, saying all of her friends were jealous of her for dating a foreign boy. She also let it slip that teaching English in China is not a very lucrative career. Cynthia desperately wanted to go to America and meet Oscar’s family but Oscar barely had enough money for his own ticket, let alone hers (his family has to buy his ticket home year after year).
After we finished our ice cream Cynthia walked me to the bus stop and I made my way home. She promised to call if another job opened up… She never called
The week before I left for the Silk Road trip, I was walking back to the hotel/dorm with Gabe and Cheng. Since Gabe and I were in the more advanced Chinese class, we decided we were going to mainly speak in Chinese for the night. We had maocai for dinner, went and bought some chuar, and then walked back through campus together, chatting in Chinese. As we were walking back a young Chinese man in a grey suit stopped me and complimented me on my Chinese. He asked me if I was interested in teaching English and, without thinking about the limited time I had left, said yes. I told him I would be out of town that next week, but I was available for the two weeks after that. We exchanged numbers and he told me he’d call with details.
Eric, or should I say the “English Teacher head hunter”, called me two days later as I was on the train to Gansu. I could barely hear him as we were going through tunnel after tunnel through the mountains. He said he had found a family with a 17 year-old boy looking for a spoken English tutor from America. He wanted four or five two-hour sessions and I agreed. I told him we could arrange something the week I got back. Little did I know what I was in for.
The Sunday I returned from Shanghai I was exhausted and unprepared for my giant capstone project and Chinese final and dreading my tutoring appointment. It was arranged for us to meet in the lobby of my hotel-dorm and as I was getting ready I received a phone call. “Richelle, we’re here waiting for you downstairs”, I looked at the clock “you’re twenty minutes early!” I exclaimed. But I was told to rush downstairs because the parents were waiting for me. With an exasperated sigh I grabbed my purse and ran downstairs.
Waiting for me in the lobby was my seventeen-year-old student, Edward, his parents and Eric. I introduced myself in Chinese, and then proceeded to give Edward an English lesson while his parents observed. I started off by asking the boy to introduce himself and he launched into a typical memorized paragraph: “Hello, my name is Edward. I go to blank school. I am seventeen years old. I am interested in physics and medicine.” Etc. etc. etc. I eventually stopped him. “What do you like about physics?”, I asked. Blank expression. Edward wasn’t used to people asking him questions in English.
I spent two hours tutoring Edward that night, and another two later that week at a café on Shida Lu. His mom came to this one too, chatting with Eric and watching me teach her son. She and her husband didn’t speak any English, but she liked to watch the lessons anyway. One thing that I noticed about his mother was that she was very good at getting the lessons to run over, and when I say run over, I mean half an hour to forty-five minutes over. After every lesson, her son would have to come over and show her what he learned, and then he would be shy and mumble. Then Eric would give him tips on enunciation and volume because apparently “Americans are confident and talk loud”. This would go on for a good half hour at least… you get the picture.
With my limited time schedule, I had informed Eric that I wouldn’t have time to go all the way to the family’s apartment, seeing as it was on the opposite side of Xi’an from me. But of course, Eric called me and guilt triped me into taking the subway to North Xi’an for my third lesson. “It’ll only take 20 minutes to get there” he promised me. That was a complete lie. It took us almost an hour to get there on the subway, and another fifteen minutes of walking just to get to the apartment. Edward and his family lived in a very nice gated apartment complex with parks and playgrounds- pretty fancy for Xi’an.
I spent the afternoon tutoring Edward in is room, which was a pretty entertaining process. I asked him to talk about an American movie with me, and he said he really liked “Aveger”, which I took to be The Avengers. We then launched into a huge discussion about the definition of avenge versus revenge. It wasn’t until I had him describe the premise of the movie to me that I realized he was actually talking about Avatar. Whoops.
For our final lesson, we were supposed to meet at a café on campus, but yet again, his mom pulled the strings and had me coming to the apartment. Apparently Edward wanted to show me his high school. My capstone was due that weekend and I really didn’t have two hours to waste on transportation, but I couldn’t really say no. So I hopped on the subway and Eric and I made our way to North Xi’an. Edward made it to the metro and proceeded to walk with me to his high school, literally one block from his apartment complex. I was expecting a normal high school with a little campus- nope. His high school was a gated complex with 10,000 students! Most students were boarding students but he just happened to live nearby.
As we walked around the outside of his campus Edward taught me about school life in China. They had class six days a week from 6am to 10pm. It was against the rules to leave the campus during the week; they could only leave on Sundays. Even on Sundays there were very strict rules. Apparently they weren’t even allowed to go to the movie theater across the street! They also weren’t allowed to date either. Honestly, Chinese high school sounds awful. Even college doesn’t sound very appealing. 10 pm curfews and six people to a room with no refrigerators or air conditioning and only two desks. In Xi’an there is no hot water in the dorm buildings so they must go across campus to shower in the “shower building”. There also is no hot water in the rooms, hence the “hot water palace” where students fill up their large hot water thermoses to bring back to their rooms.
After wandering around the campus, Edward and I walked back to his apartment, where his mom had a bowl of crab apples waiting for us. I tried to be polite but they were SO GOOD I could not stop eating them. His mom loved it, and encouraged me to eat more… so I did. Eric encouraged Edward and I to talk about some of the major differences between America and China, and Edward, surprisingly enough, brought up the subject of guns. I then explained to him the history of the 2nd amendment and why we should historically be allowed to have guns (don’t get me started on what I actually think about America’s gun laws). After I finished talking, Edward told me he thought it was a great thing that Americans have guns because “If I had a gun, I would stand up to my government too”. WHAT. I almost had a panic attack. He continued, “If I lived in America I would want a gun to protect myself and other people”. “So do you think I should have a gun?”, I asked. “Yeah!” he exclaimed. “You should definitely carry one around with you in America to protect yourself. Everyone should have guns because bad people can have guns”. Okay then. I’m just glad his mom doesn’t speak English or she probably would have killed him.
Note: If any of you are worried about this getting traced back to the Chinese government I’ve changed everyone’s English names, which are not their legal names anyway, and there is no record of me ever having taught in China. Come to think of it… I don’t even know the name of the company that I was supposedly working for…
After we chatted in English about guns, Edward’s mom invited us all out for dinner. I was very pressed for time with my capstone and my Chinese final, but in China if someone invites you out to dinner you don’t say no, so I went. We walked across the street to the mall and entered a fancy Chinese restaurant. We all sat down and I could tell they were nervous about what kind of food I would like. I told them that I loved all Chinese food, would eat anything and assured them that yes, I do in fact love spicy food. The group of us all ordered fresh squeezed watermelon juice, which was absolutely amazing, along with many traditional Xi’anesse dishes. Before we started eating, Edward’s mom asked for some serving chopsticks, which I thought was interesting. She then proceeded to spoon food onto everyone’s plates before picking up her chopsticks. Afterwards we all took turns with the serving chopsticks. I thought this was a little strange, seeing as most people in China eat from the family style dishes with their own chopsticks (part of the reason we were always getting each other sick). I must’ve made some sort of comment about how I’d never used serving chopsticks before unless someone was sick, and my Chinese companions were extremely surprised! Apparently they had been using the serving chopsticks for my benefit! I assured them that the serving chopsticks were not necessary and all three breathed a sigh of relief and the dinner became much less awkward.
After dinner we took a bunch of photos, said our goodbyes and I headed back to campus. It was a long subway ride home, and while I was in somewhat of a rush to get back and start writing my capstone, I was a little sad to be leaving my gun-loving, Avatar watching 17 year old friend. While the whole tutoring experience was kind of a mess, and a little bit stressful, I think Edward taught me much more than I taught him.
