This lecture was truly scary. The water situation in china is a very urgent matter and I cannot believe that the government allowed things to get this bad. 16 % of ALL land is polluted and 20 % of all arable land is also polluted. We already dicussed how land is being used for urbanization purposes and how China is putting itself in the hands of major food producers because they cannot longer provide food for their growing population. This will cause a major problem for china because they will be forced to buy food and water from other countires making their economy dependant on such countries.

When my sister went to China to adopt her son, the family was surprised at how much air pollution there was in the northern parts of China. They did go at the end of January. She said the smog was terrible and she had already had a cold. She said that it was terrible trying to breathe and had to wear a medical mask when she went outside.

The cadmium is quite surreal. To think that a country the size of China would have this issue, especially in a main food item is a bit unnerving.

Lynne

From the readings and videos this week what stands out to me the most is how much the youth of China must carry the weight of the directional shifts the country is taking. I was speaking with my students in my Comm. class and somehow China came up...about the one child policy and how that is posing challenges for parental caretaking and could pose serious challenges for the economy in the future.  I recalled from the reading the term DINK double income/no kids.  The hardships these only children had to face with their parents working to drive the economy and meet certain standards and coupling that with the 'me' needing to succeed ideology is leading to people not wanting to have children. Of course this is problematic, but after reading and watching the videos for this week it does not exist in a vacuum; this is frame of thinking is a consequence of many of the issues that youth are facing right here in America. The similarities between the Chinese youth and American youth are striking and somewhat sad at the same time...same thing with parenting.  There is this need to drive and capitalize on your education, to be the best, and to seek out success for self gratification...in many ways we lose when we win. Parents are essentially losing their children and the environment is losing as well. I was present at a teacher workshop for the Transcontinental Railroad this weekend and we discussed how the Chinese were in many ways excluded from the historical details in photographs and such, but thank goodness there were good anectodal records preserved. We see what can happen to people in the drive for industry and modernization...and in many ways these people can be forgotten. I thought about that when reading about elderly parents and their children leaving the nest to seek out their slice of success for themselves and not looking back. Were these parents sacrifices for nothing? How will the youth and young adults of China participate in the continuing transformation of their country? It is as if the climb outpaced technology or reason and the critical steps inbetween for the things that matter. With young women seeking intimacy because their own parents (emphasis on the mom) were unavailable because they were busy, some not wanting children, and the yearning for self-expression. It will be interesting to see how this juxtaposition between youth and the government grows together or apart. There is so much that needs to be done and it appears that it will be left to the youth to make the necessary steps to keep their country on the road to success. It is a curious thing for sure. You mentioned in your video how many Chinese are attending schools in America and how it would be great to see Americans attending schools in China I believe. Would you consider the adjustment period of an American student similar to that of a Chinese student attending school here? Where do you see the gaps in why this is not happening both ways?

Billie, I had a lot of the same thoughts as you reading about Chinese youth. Turns out millennials are millennials, whether in China or America. In the Stanley Rosen article, I was especially struck by the way Chinese youth were stereotyped and criticized.

Rosen wrote that the youth are: “under attack in the Chinese media, characterized as the ‘me generation’ and criticized for being ‘reliant and rebellious, cynical and pragmatic, self-centered and equality-obsessed,’ as well as ‘China’s first generation of couch potatoes…’”

Those critiques could have been taken out of a clickbait “Ten More Things Millennials Have Ruined” article.

• The first video shares an awakening statistic that I have been talking about with students since watching the video:  In 2016 the population of the 'Millineals in China' are the 4th largest country in the world at 413 million people.  This certainly offers new perspective for unpacking global demographics.  
• The video also higlights the knowledge deficit in America regarding Chinese knowledge and culture.  About 10 years ago the Chicago Public School system was known for having one the largest Mandarin K-12 language programs in the country.  However, this has changed over the years.  A Confucious Institute opened in one of the top performing CPS high schools in 2006 and initially it was a huge success.  Many suburban school systems adopted dual language programs but many were short lived.  I'm curious to know the status of Confucious Institute in the US today and how they impact the teaching and learning about China -especially since this knowledge gap is seen as a huge deficit in our country.
• I assume the article titled 'The Bad Earth' is a contrast from Pearl S. Buck's 'The Good Earth.'   There are many big takeaways from this article that really made me rething the food industry as a whole.  Soil pollution is a universal issue -yet I'm surprised to learn that Hunan province is the largest producer of rice and the largest producer of cadmium.  The article also mentions the use of pesticides has doubled since 1991.  I'm curious to know if there is any regualtion for organic certification of food in China?  Non-GMOs?  And if so, how doe the regulation differ from the US/European regulations.  Also, with the rising economic growth what percentage of food products sold today fit into these categories?  

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/24/coronavirus-chinas-air-pollution-levels-smog-show-hit-to-the-economy.html

The Farewell is available from Amazon Prime. If you're a Prime member, you can stream it for free. If not, you can stream it for $3. It's available from Google Play and others for $3 to $5. Because it is an American film (though the director and cast are Chinese), you can't use it for your film review. Nonetheless, many really enjoy the film and I mention here because it is about relations across generational lines. The film grew out of a segment on This American Life. The trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgJT_9IGqsA.

The film did reasonably well at the box office for an independent film, earning $18 million in North America. It wasn't screened widely in China, earning just $550,000. Here's an LA Times review by Justin Chang: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-the-farewell-review-awkwafina-20190709-story.html 
Here's an excerpt:
"The more complicated truth — one that goes to the heart of this wise, emotionally generous movie — is that Billi is a woman caught between two worlds. Her defiance may be a product of Western individualism (and so, some might argue, are her writerly aspirations and her empty bank account). But it is also a sign of her fierce devotion to a family that means everything to her."