I read the article by Elaine Yau about the success of Chinese TV, but not film overseas. I found it interesting that it seems the relatability of the themes presented in Chinese TV series are what makes it easier for it to cross international borders whereas the themes in Chinese film tend to be too nationalistic to be successful. This point wasn't completely surprising though considering the conversations we have been having about nationalism over the past weeks. 

Now, what I did find to be quite fascinating though is that one of the reasons film hasn't been as widely accepted has to do with the Chinese being painted as saviors and looking down upon other cultures/people. Why I found this interesting is because it made me consider how much other countries, including the US do this too and yet have been successful globally. I think in part it may have something to do with the actors and how well known they are, as according to the article many Chinese film stars are stars in China but have yet to become well known abroad.

I'm interested to know if Film/TV is an industry that Xi Xinping really cares about getting to a point of crossing international borders, or if it's simply about a spreading and thus better understanding of Chinese culture that's the goal through Film/TV. 

For the task to share an article, I was interested to look more into the consequences of the importing of plastic to China, but also the consequences of banning imports on both China and the world. Most information I found was quite dated, China had implemented a ban in 2018 on most imports of plastic waste. But I found this article from 2022 which addresses some of the things I was wondering about. Firstly, the processing of plastic waste is very detrimental to the environment, and this article actually states its supposed to create more carbon emissions than coal by 2030. Secondly, it states how NOT importing is having positive effects on China because it's allowing them to cut down on their carbon emissions, but also it's causing western countries to build their own plans for waste management that does not rely on others. 

I think it will be interesting to see how this ban does actually impact China as one of the worlds biggest producers, but also polluters. I'm wondering how this will help them cut down their carbon emissions by 2030 or beyond. 

In the article "China's would be parents and their climate concerns", it's interesting to see that youth around the world are thinking and feeling the same way.  They have little hope for the future of "their world," and the planet.  The article focuses on China's youth, however, I hear the same thoughts from young people in the USA and Europe; they do not want to bring children into this world given the current current conditions which they perceive as getting worse.  And, similar to the opinions of the Chinese youth in the article, the young people I speak to feel  that climate concerns, while urgent,  are not the principal reason for not having children; economic concerns figure first.  I know so many young adults here (my sons included) who do not have hope for the world's future; they continually worry about political instability, wars over natural resources like water, food shortages etc.  Much like Emma, the 27 year old investor in the article who said "I always imagine the world will already be burning by then...".  My sons (29 & 31) start discussions with "your generation will be the last to have access to generational wealth and a retirement plan...."  ,"my generation will see wars over water and food supplies..."  "There's no way I'm bringing a child into this world..."   

In my classroom:  I would use this article to focus on the emotional similarities between human beings, with the goal of realizing the connections that exist between different cultural groups. The youngest group interviewed for this article was 20 years old, and everyone had, at least a college degree.   My students are 12 - 14, and do not come from educated backgrounds.  90% of my students are Latino, and 10% are black.  The majority of my students are very concerned about the environment, and the toxins being poured into their world, BUT, they still have hope for the future, and the majority want to have children one day.   I don't know if this hope is a result of their youth or of their lack of in depth knowledge of the worldwide effects of such serious topics.  Problably a mix of both.  Nevertheless, for my classroom it is a great way to highlight the humanity of foreign culture,s which they can connect to their own. My guiding questions would be; What can youth do to change these circumstances? Do you agree/disagree with their dire predictions?  How can we use social media positively to connect with others who have the same concerns as we do?  How can we start a "global action" movement for change?

One last point: Only 173 climate-concerned people were surveyed.  It would be interesting to conduct a survey of less educated people to see if they have the same concerns, and attitudes towards reproduction, in order to understand how prevalent this feeling is throughout all of China's youth.  If this attitude is wide spread, how will the government of China react?  Especially in light of the previous 1 child policy.

I watched the video by Kyle Obermann where he is interviewed and showcasts China's nature. I really, really enjoyed listening to how he described the beauty of China, the policy behind national parks and the issues people in rural China face. His photos were stunning and it is amazing how both Pandas and snow leopards share a climate. I had no idea that China had such natural beauty. Additionally. Ktyle explains how the Chinese government in 2018 established a national park administration to manage the parks more closely and as a result, more parks were formally recognized. I think it is important to preserve and protect natural environments around the world so this is a great step forward. 

Worth noting is his discussion of the difference between the education levels and health quality of east and west China. Namely, that eastern China has a higher quality of life than those living in western China. Additionally, he commentary about how 99% of the rural population living around nature reserves live in poverty. I appreciated his empathy and understanding as he explained the lack of economic opportunity for people living in these areas. Most people in this circumstance rely on poaching animals and/or forestry to make a living. However, as more national parks are formally recognized, poaching becomes outlawed. Kyle explained how people rely on poaching for survival so they continue to do it regardless of environmental, moral or legal consequences. It is a complex issue because poaching laws are essential, yet people need to survive. I wonder what the consequence is for illegal poaching? What animals are they poaching? And who is supporting the market for poaching animals?

Though I knew from previous work I did from the week, the animation regarding national carbon emissions was quite astonishing. China, by over DOUBLE the amount of the US in the #2 spot, is by far the largest emitter of carbon emissions. In the lecture around the same spot, it's mentioned that as of about 7-8 years ago, about 4000 people per day were dying prematurely due to air pollution. This is a horrific statistic, and takes me back actually to when I traveled on my Fulbright. We were given a warning about air quality in Beijing prior to travel, but it's something that is quite wild to experience. The high rates of pollution seem to be reserved of course for more industrialized parts of the country, as well as the coal producing Inner Mongolia (we also went to Mongolia where it was a bit evident, but less so than in Beijing). 

With China investing heavily in renewable sources of energy, I'm wondering how long it will take to see changes in the air quality and emissions in the country? Actually this prompted me to look more into this and I found this article on how the renewable energy projects actually need more policy support to get up and running. However, it does say Xi plans to cap carbon emissions by 2030. This however takes me back to the documentary I watched this week and just makes me wonder what the fallout will be for those in more rural areas who are working to survive in industries that are contributing to pollution, what does it mean for their livelihood? 

As a film nerd, I jumped at the chance to listen to the discussion on film censorship in China. This is a trend I have noticed a lot more recently in the last decade, with decisions of casting, posters, and scenes being decided by how or even if they would play in China. The one section that really stuck out to me was the call for a unified response to combat Chinese censorship, because it will only get harder as China continues to grow economically. I believe China's growth combined with the financial hit studios took due to the Covid restrictions have made it so that China's vision for movies is here to stay. I found this article stating that while the frequent movie goers (those who attend 3+ a month) are back to pre Covid levels, infrequent movie goers are still down, and there does not seem to be a positive outlook of it growing at least in the short term

 https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/research/frequent-us-movie-goers-are-back-infrequent-attendees-not-so-much

With that said, it makes more sense than ever for Western movie studios to tailor towards China's market. The mention of just slight changes (a Chinese bank card at an ATM, a Chinese beverage company's can in the background) shows that this does not necessarily have to alter the story to connect. I am also curious how Chinese cinema continues to grow, and how that will be viewed by Hollywood. While not breaking into American markets yet, foreign films are starting to gain traction in America. RRR is a great example of this, an Indian movie that found an audience in America.

While thinking about this session, I was reminded of the incident between the Houston Rockets in the NBA with comments about Hong Kong in 2019. I found a video that goes over the relationship between the NBA and China, and even found a familar face in it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHpFjtuAYLQ&ab_channel=Vox

The Chinese Dream, Belt and Road Initiative and the future of education: A philosophical postscript

Michael A. Peters Beijing Normal University, Beijing, PR China