China in the News

[Anonymous]

Ancestral Human Skull Found in China

"A human skull tentatively dating back 80,000 to 100,000 years may shed light on a murky chapter of evolutionary history, its discoverers say."

This is a good article to include in a Biology evolution unit. It discusses an archaeological fossil find from central China that may provide information about the pivotal link from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens. It also mentions information about "Peking Man" (skulls previously found outside of Beijing) and scientific models of human origin.

[Anonymous]

China Diverting Major River to "Water" Beijing Olympics

"Landlocked Beijing has begun tapping a lattice of reservoirs, rivers, and canals across eastern China to provide plentiful water for this summer's Olympic Games."

I can only imagine what diverting water from the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers is going to do to the natural ecosystems surrounding the rivers and to the farming communities that rely on the water, not to mention the areas where they are constructing the channels...

And how about this: "This push for economic growth has devastated China's environment and waterways. The World Health Organization estimates that polluted drinking water kills nearly a hundred thousand Chinese citizens each year."

There are many great discussions that can stem from this article in Science and Social Science classes.

[Anonymous]

In L.A., his own wall of China

"Zhao Yan Feng left home to teach Mandarin at Dorsey High. He learns that not all of his students see language as a gift."

This is an interesting article about the experiences of a teacher from China who is teaching Chinese classes at Dorsey.

[Anonymous]

Daily Breeze newspaper, March 2, 2008.
Many Asian cultures are very superstitious, and with the opening of the Olympic Games on August 8, 2008 (08-08-08), the Chinese believe that babies born on that day will have very good fortune. So, Chinese hospitals are gearing up with additional hospital beds and staffing in anticipation of a peak in births on August 8, with some mothers opting for C-sections in order to ensure delivery on the desired day. The article mentioned that some mothers are even scheduling C-sections weeks ahead of their scheduled due date so that they have the baby on August 8th. Seems like a great risk, but goes to show how very superstitious they can be. It was interesting to note the jump in the number of C-sections being performed in China just so babies are born on a lucky day. China now has one of the world's highest rates of C-sections, again, a very surprising fact. It is 10 times more than the 1970 rate.

I know first-hand how superstitious Japanese people can be. My dance teacher told me not to use my given Japanese middle name, Misa, because she said it was a "bad luck" name after consulting her fortune telling book (I think it had something to do with the number of strokes used to write the character). When I was deciding on my professional stage name, she gave me two choices of names based on the Chinese characters. She said they were "good luck" names. We had to reschedule a big dance recital from November of this year to March of 2009, again, because her book indicated that it was a bad time. One strong superstition I do believe in is never place the head of a bed facing the north, even if it creates an inconvenient arrangement of furniture in the bedroom. It is considered bad luck to do so. I think kind of like feng shui. I recall when my husband and I were househunting years ago and walking into a bedroom and seeing the the foot of the bed against the wall and the head of the bed in the middle of the room. The homeowner was Asian, and I realized that the foot of the bed faced the north and that is why the person's head was facing the south. My mother, on the other hand, had some superstitions, but nothing like my dance teacher. But I think she was the one that taught me about the head of the bed not facing the north. So, check it out. If you are having a lot of bad luck, see if the head of your bed faces the north. If so, rearrange your bed!
[Edit by="willoughbyak on Mar 2, 9:07:06 PM"][/Edit]
[Edit by="willoughbyak on Mar 2, 10:26:31 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

Los Angeles Times, March 1, 2008
"In L.A., his own wall of China."
This article is about a teacher from Northern China who is part of a 2-year program that sends teachers from China to school districts arcoss the country. Zhao Yan Feng, a university instructor in China, is assigned to Dorsey High School in LAUSD and teaches 50 students in two classes. Class management was a major inhibitor to his initial success, as students tended to be defiant and disrespectful, but as he acquired new skills with the help of some veteran teachers, he used creativity and new approaches to gain the interest of his students. Dorsey is a tough, inner city school. I know because that was my first assignment coming out of college as a naive 20-year old. I learned not to lose sight of my keys and rollbook or they would be stolen and my job would be in jeopardy (I was told); never bring my purse into the classroom unless it is locked up, and if I left pencils or pens on my desk, they would disappear by the end of the day. Many of the students have very limited basic skills, creating an even greater challenge in foreign languge instruction. Fights on campus are common, and fights inside the classroom do happen. But never try to breakup a fight between girls--they're the most viscious. It was painful to read about Zhao's experiences and about his doubts in finishing his two-year commitment. I wish he could meet Chi, our Chinese teacher, and share experiences, but the classes are worlds apart. I have always felt that trying to teach Chinese to American students needs to start at a much younger age, much like PVPUSD did in teaching Mandarin in the kindergarten PE classes. Zhao's progress with his classes seems to have improved, according to the article, but it would still be interesting to meet him and hear his observations. I will share this article with Chi, our Chinese teacher at PVHS. I wonder if Zhao had any idea of the kind of learning environment he would be faced with. But then again, he might not have taken the assignment. It's too bad that he didn't have some classroom management training before he entered the classroom. He had to learn the hard way, and it must've been extremely stressful. I wonder why he was placed in such a difficult school, out of all the schools in the nation?[Edit by="willoughbyak on Mar 2, 11:04:26 PM"][/Edit]
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[Anonymous]

I just read an interesting article on the China today website. It talks about the inflation rate in China and how the cheap labor is not so cheap anymore and companies are looking to other countries for manufacturing. Dr. Bazhu had touched on that on 2/25. He talked about how China is starting to see manufacturing competition from other countries like Vietnam.

The article goes on to say that China's "industrial revolution" is producing one of the largest groups of consumers on the planet. But of course thanks to our USC couse we already knew that!

address of the article:
http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/personal-investing-guide/2008/01/04/chinas-great-leap-elevates-the-risk.html

[Anonymous]

This is a JAPAN in the News piece:

Japan Looks to Robot Future

This is an interesting article about students egineering robots that exhibit emotions. It also mentions that Japanese factories that use robots welcome them on their first day with Shinto ceremonies! The impetus behind this robot revolution: "With more than a fifth of the population 65 or older, the country is banking on robots to replenish the work force and care for the elderly."

Here is another good quote from the article: "Japanese are also more accepting of robots because the native Shinto religion often blurs boundaries between the animate and inanimate, experts say. To the Japanese psyche, the idea of a humanoid robot with feelings doesn't feel as creepy — or as threatening — as it might do in other cultures."

Good discussion piece for Science and Social Science/ Psychology classes.

[Anonymous]

It will be really interesting to watch the news reports of Beijing air quality as it gets closer and closer to the Olympics. We'll see if any of the air quality "solutions" that have been put in place have any effect. Hopefully the government will look into more long-term solutions to this problem, for the sake of people's health. There is a good photo of the present state of air quality in this article from the Los Angeles Times:
Olympians air a gripe about Beijing

[Anonymous]

Sunday, March 16, L.A. Times,
"Defiance, crackdown spill over from Tibet" A1
I've been fascinated with this crisis when I first read about it in Saturday's Times. The Tibetan monks have staged major protests and demonstrations against Chinese owned businesses in Xiahe, Tibet. Generally passive, the Buddhist monks seem to have had it with Chinese rule since the Chinese govt took over in the 1950s. This is the worst violence in the past twenty years, and the Chinese govt is blaming the exiled Dalai Lama for instigating it. There appear to be deaths already, but it has been difficult to determine which figures are accurate. China has, in the past, been able to quell any information that has gone out into the Western world about negative incidents like this, but with technology, the information about the Chinese crackdown is in real time. My son just pulled up a video clip of the unrest on YouTube. Apparently, protests have occurred before, but today, modern technology (cellphone and Internet services) is working to a great disadvantage to the Chinese leaders, something they hadn't considered before as they promoted cell phones. Tibetans there are afraid to leave their homes because of the violence and unrest. With the upcoming Olympics, the Chinese govt is determined to control this situation and supposedly they will use firm measures. It will be interesting to continue following this. It seems that some embassasies around the world are voicing their concern that China allow the Tibetans their freedom. When we visited China in April, I bought a book about the history of Tibet at one of the Chinese bookstores. I became interested in Tibet because my husband spoke about the Chinese takeover of the country years ago, and this really intrigued me.
Stayed tuned for more.[Edit by="willoughbyak on Mar 16, 9:51:08 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

I had read an article earlier today about the take on this issue in New Zealand. My boyfriend is from New Zealand and is constantly berating America for "getting in bed" with countries that disregard human rights. I do understand that we have a track record for this, and New Zealand is known to enforce embargos to these types of countries, but they have agreed to move forward with their trade deals with China this time. It looks like globally the world is more interested in their own economy than human rights anymore, so I wonder what the future will look like. China is just too powerful for countries to "rule out" of their economy- no matter what.

[Anonymous]

Just had to add a comment to the superstitions of the Japanese. When we were selling our house back during the recession of the 90s, we were having a heck of a time selling it. Many people went through, but no one seemed to be interested. Then one day a Japanese couple came through, and the realtor told us they were putting an offer on it simply because of the direction it was facing. They went on to chop off an entire room because it jutted out and did not fit in to the "feng shui" of the layout. Interesting; I've never heard of anyone chopping off square footage due to superstitions until then. Anyway, at least we finally sold our house and they are still living there - though they took out all the shrubbery and made Japanese gardens; very peaceful looking.

[Anonymous]

RE: Marie Kuhn's posting about a March 9th article on Japan and Robots

It seems that Japan is really in the forefront in robotics. One of our friends' son is majoring in robotics at his Japanese university. I don't know of any major here specifically in robotics. It might fall under Engineering, but I don't believe there is a discipline under Engineering in robotics. I could be wrong. Isn't Japan one of the first to delve into the production of a humanoid robot? If one Googles "robots," there are all kinds of links for robotic companies, and a great many of them are Japanese. The connection between robots and the Shinto religion is quite a surprise. I wonder where the U.S. is relative to the Japanese and the world in the field of robotics. My son just showed me a You Tube clip of a robot in Japan that plays the trumpet. There is another You Tube clip of Asimo, a Japanese robot manufactured by Honda that can do household chores, dance, walk, run, serve drinks to people, and walk up stairs (and even take a spill). Amazing. As long as he follows Asimov's three principles for robots (I, Robot), I'd like one for Mother's Day, thank you.[Edit by="willoughbyak on Mar 16, 9:59:04 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

K Blackstad,
I found another article on studying Mandarin in China. It's a huge article that appeared in the L.a. Times Travel section on Sunday, January 6th. I had saved it with the intention to write about it. I'm disappointed that I couldn't get to it until now. It's intended for the adult who may want to travel abroad to study a language such as Mandarin.

"How Do you Say, 'I'm Lost'?" by Susan Spano, Times Staff Writer. LA. Times, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2008. Page L1.
Susan writes about her experiences studying Mandarin for three months at the well-known Beijing Language and Culture University, which was recommended to her by a Chinese professor at her alma mater, Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. The school focuses on teaching Mandarin to overseas students. She acknowledges how difficult it is to learn Mandarin and that she didn't really learn or master the language during that short period. After all, at the Monterey-based Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, learning Mandarin is a 63-week course. The BLCU has about 15,000 students including native Chinese who are studying to become Chinese language teachers. Other students come from about 120 countries. To furnish her dorm room, she visited Ikea. I had no idea Ikea was in China. If one is considering going to China to learn Mandarin, this article is very valuable. Not only does it describe her personal experiences from her living quarters to her classmates and daily routine and class lessons, it provides helpful websites and information on how to go about getting there and signing up. The other half of the article is by Elliott Hester about his experiences learning Spanish in Antigua. His duration was only a week, but he wanted the experience of immersion and travel. He provides some tips on learning a language (downloadable lessons, free podcasts, electronic dictionaries and translators, online classes, etc).

[Anonymous]

L.A. Times, Monday, March 17, 2008, "China plays victim for its audience," page A1

Related to my previous posting about the impact that crackdown in Tibet has had on the media in China, the Chinese are manipulating the media so that the Tibetans look like the bad guy and the Chinese are the innocent victims. They are doing this by showing still and video coverage of the Tibetans (and editing it to their advantage) attacking the Han Chinese and destroying property. This is inciting anger among the Chinese citizens. The
Communist controlled media is also appealing to the emotions of the Chinese citizens by interviewing the Chinese who have been affected in Tibet, knowing that the personal stories of those who have lost property will be more powerful than general propaganda. The government seems to be successful, as Chinese citizens are demanding more police presence in Tibet and some believe the government's suggestions that the Dalai Lama is trying to ruin their upcoming Olympics. This strategy is a far cry from the Tiananmen Square situation in which many Chinese sympathized with the students. Analysts are saying that the Chinese have learned well from the Westerners about public relations, taking ideas from the White House and Pentagon.

[Anonymous]

Here's a recent article relating to the one-child policy in China:

China won't waiver in family planning policy

Interesting to note that the fine for having a second child in Beijing is around 100,000 yuan. Is that around $14,000?

And here is another really interesting link to an article on "the work of the government":

Report on the Work of the Government

It addresses family planning, employment and wages, with a brief mention of the elderly, women and minors.

[Author]

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