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Lin ZhaoDavisonNational Committee on US-China Relations hosts events and webinars on China studies and issues. The recent webinars include "2018 China Town Hall". The keynote speaker was Condoleezza Rice, former secretary of state and national security advisor.
Other webinars of the month can be accessed at the "Event" website: https://www.ncuscr.org/events.
For example, on Oct. 18 the webinar topic will be "Economic Policy Making in China (1949 - 2016).
Lin ZhaoDavisonThanks to Professor Dube for the chart illustrating where Chinese people spend most money in the mini-lecture. It seems that Chinese people spend most money in tangible things like food, clothes, and cars for basic daily needs. As China has the ambition to eliminate the poor and majorities of its citizens become middle class, I'm wondering if Chinese people will spend more money on education, healthcare, sports and entertainments to improve quality of life.
Lin ZhaoDavisonThanks, Nira! WeiChat is a great tool used for Chinese instruction, especially for instant chatting and listening and speaking. I'll use WeiChat too.
Lin ZhaoDavisonXi wants to revive and make China strong again. Part of China's ambition is to increase its soft powers and influence the world. One of the good examples is Confucious Institute which supports Chinese language training in America and other countries. It has partnered with many K-12 schools and universities across the U.S. to provide Chinese langauge training. Other endeavors include exporting more Chinese films to other countries and hosting Olympic Games. Will China's rising economic powers be paralled with its soft powers?
Lin ZhaoDavisonIt's interesting to note that "关系" (social connections) entered into the Oxford Dictionary in 2016. It's known that"关系" (social connections) is a key to success in China. Are western coutries adopting the notion of "social connections" for upward mobility? America is a fundamentally merit-based system although social connections - human capitals - do play a role in life.
Lin ZhaoDavisonChina has income and opportunity inequality like many other countries. The eastern part of China is well developed and has much more capital and resources than the western part of China. The east coast cities like Shanghai are industrialized and are more open to the western world, and people have more money; on the contrary, vast lands of western region are not even developed with few populations. People in the west are poorer. These income and capital disparities lead to inequality of education and other opportunities.
Although elementary to high school education is free by the norm, elite schools are hard to get in and cost much more. People with low income aren't able to send their kids to the elite schools which employ higher qualified teachers. And students who graduate from those elite school have better chance to enter good universities which are highly concentrated in the eastern regions of China. Closing the gap of income inequality between the east and west of China is a tough challenge for China as well.
Lin ZhaoDavisonEntrepreneurship is a modern phenomenon in recent decades when private businesses are allowed. The millenniums launch businesses to create a new life for themselves. To my knowledge, many young Chinese people open their own businesses after earning a degree from Western countries because they want to try their own ideas and live a life they want. One of the successful Chinese entrepreneur is Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba. Jack was an English teacher. I'm wondering if his venturing idea was inspired from his English learning. He ventured his Alibaba business outside of China and it became a well-known business in American and the world. He certainly has benefitted from his English learning which develped his global vision. However, while Alibaba is enjoying is global success, Jack Ma announced his departure from Alibaba this year. I'm wondering why?
Lin ZhaoDavisonThanks, Jane, for thought-provoking questions about China's challenges. I think China is lack of global brand partly due to its educational system and instructional pedagogies. Traditionally, Chinese children were taught well following their master's (or teacher's) mind, they were not encouraged to challenge authorities and create their own solutions. Lack of creativity puts a lid on innovation.
China has little social trust, the rich migrates to developed countries for security. I think it's rooted to socialism which is a centralized government control system. Individuals are lack of ownership, even personal assets. For example, when a Chinese purchase a house, he/she owns the right of use for 50 - 70 years, the person does not own the land beneath the house foundation. The land is leased by Chinese government for 50 - 70 years and the lease needs to be renewed once it's expired. The rich in China do not feel secured of their personal assets. This may be the reason why they invest their money into properties in other developed countries or migrate to other countries where individuals can truly own their assets.
Lin ZhaoDavisonThe Hukou system is a complex issue. It does hinder mobility and educational opportunities for children, but massive migration from rural areas to big cities seems a non stopable trend which posts social problems. Such a trend creates inbalance of national economy. Farms need farmers to produce corns, rice, and other agricultural products, but are short of young people who are willing to stay to work; industries in cities have supplus of young people who are unemployed but don't want to go to countryside to do farming work.
Lin ZhaoDavisonIf I am correct, there are 7 major dialects spoken in China: 北方方言、吴方言、湘方言、赣方言、客家方言、粤方言、闽方言whereas Mandarin is the official language. There are also subdivisions of the 7 major dialects. Chinese people could not communicate with each other with many dialects in various regions until Emperor Qing united the written language across the country around 200 BC when he also standardized the currency and measures. People could read the same language although speaking different dialects. It was Emperor Qing's significant contribution to China because it helped unity of such a big country.
When I teach the Chinese language, I focus on Mandarin in simplified Chinese, but introduce Cantonese in traditional Chinese and let students be aware of the dialects.
Lin ZhaoDavisonAlthough I understand that the Chinese government built the "Three Gorges Dam" to supply more electricity to help local people's daily life and the indurstry in the region, I don't think it was the best solution to elevate industrial standards by sacrifying the very best beautiful nature not only enjoyed by Chinese people but also tourists from all over the world. The Chinese government could raise more money to build dams else where along the Yangtze River by protecting such a beautiful tourist site. They were indeed Three Gorgous. More environmental protection is needed。
Here is a link to the old "Three Gorges" scenes. People cried when seeing what hav disappeared.
http://www.sohu.com/a/235023374_800284
Lin ZhaoDavisonI also enjoyed the crash course about China's geography and demography and like the last slide comparing Chinese and Americans. Food is very important for Chinese people and food cultures are rich and diverse. One can certainly find food styles pleasing to his/her taste from mild to sweet to spicy. Dining is also an integral part of social activities. Relations are cultivated and business transactions are done at the dining tables. And Chinese people value relationships (GuanXi) very much. That may be one of the reasons why they spend so much much on food.
Lin ZhaoDavisonHi, My name is Lin ZhaoDavison. I'm a Chinese-American, tutoring Mandarin Chinese. I found the seminars about China and Asia are very helpful for my teaching practice. Language and culture go hand in hand. Learning about Chinese cultures is important for me to teach Chinese language well and answering students' "why" questions. I can enrich student learning with resources shared from the seminars and knowledge learned from the speakers and lectuerers at USCI. I look forward to working with you all and gain deeper understanding of Chinese cultures, history, philosophy and other aspects of China. Thank you.
Lin ZhaoDavisonComparison between US and China in size and population is interesting for students. Both China and US have rich natural resources, but Chinese people are concentraded in the East part of the country, and American people are more evenly spread throughout the country. Students may compare more factors like the geographic locations, natureal resources, capitals and and spread of residents throughout the two countries. I would assign a reserach project to groups of students so that find out facts about geography and demography in the two countries, and they would give a group presentation of their findings.
Lin ZhaoDavisonPeople were stripped of their names to fit into the potical environment and the world. They could not keep the names of their choices. The loss of family identity as a result of lost name is indeed an adversity. Students can do reseah on the original names being lost in Korea and learn about Korean human history.
