Thoughts/observations/comments:
- Karaoke/K-TV/KTV is huge in China. Everyone loves to sing. Interestingly, my friend made the comment that she has never heard a Chinese with a bad voice and she thinks that it's due to the tonal quality of Mandarin. I personally have not come to any conclusions about this. What do you think?
- Went to the "new socialist countryside" for a few days at the end of our stay in China. I was surprised that the "countryside" was not actually as rural as I thought it would be. Instead, they were little guest houses fully equipped with small dining areas, sleeping areas, and of course, KTV facilities. I did not enjoy the food in the countryside as much as in the urban part of Beijing. The good thing though is that we still had dumplings in the countryside for one meal, so that made up for it! :)
- I didn't realize how many migrant workers there were in Beijing until we heard a talk from a migrant workers' rights worker. The guest lecturer spoke about the severity of occupational health neglect in China and I was so touched that at one point, most of the class including myself and the translator was in tears. One particularly moving story involved a young girl who was around our age who worked in an assembly line in a factory in Shenzhen. The factory doors were locked to ensure that the girls/workers would not steal materials from the factory. Unfortunately, one day, a fire broke out and most of the workers died not from the fire itself, but from suffocation. In memory of his daughter, the girl's father spent a lot of money on the girl's funeral because he said that in his eyes, his daughter was always very obedient to him ("ting hua") and never did anything to anger him. I was enraged that the company that the factory was under got away without any blame. In addition, the Hong Kong manager of the factory got away without any blame while the mainland China manager of the factory only got 10 years in jail. 10 years total amongst 3 people somehow is enough to compensate for the deaths of at least 8 young factory girls. This has really made me wonder about the meaning of justice and the legal system. How just is the law? And to what extent does this question depend on the country and the particular government in place? Is it culture-specific or is justice universal?
- Everywhere, I can see signs of the Olympics, such as through the billboards, television etc. I can really understand why the Olympics can evoke such a great sense of pride from the people. Just during my one month in Beijing, I could already feel the atmosphere that is being built up! I can't wait until the actual games start on 8 Aug 2008 (those of you who are Chinese will understand the auspiciousness of this date 08-08-08, right?). It's amazing how much Beijing has prepared itself for the Olympics, including cleaning up pollution, building more subway lines and drastically reducing public transportation fares for everyone and unifying the transportation system. I really am very very impressed. I hope that the world can see the efforts that are being made and that these improvements can be sustained in China in the long-run.
Places visited:
- Temple of Heaven
- Forbidden City
- Great Wall - a restored section as well as an unrestored section.
- Beihai Park
- The Olympics venue, including the Bird's Nest!!!
All in all, these were all very cultural and historical visits for me and really helped me to connect with China and my culture. It makes me proud to be Chinese and to be able to share the richness of this country with other people. I hope that through the Olympics, more people will have a glimpse of the many traditions and the long history that China has. While I know that the Beijing Olympics 2008 are controversial globally due to a variety of reasons, I hope that the world can just unite in the name of sport and be peaceful during this time. An idealistic thought, I know, but one can still hope. After all, I really think that idealism and big ideas instead of passivity are the beginnings of change.
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