Kategori: City Guide

Cheese and Aubergines

I moved to China 4 months ago today. It has been, without a shadow of a doubt, one of themost invigorating and sensational roller coaster rides of my life, and i still have two months togo.
I'm 22 years old, and came to China for the same stereotypical reasons most people my agedo. They get the travel bug, they want to 'see the world' and 'expand their minds'. I was nodifferent. I wanted to be one of those cool guys I saw when I was younger, arriving home after astint of travelling, stubble on their face, wisdom in their eyes and an aura of accomplishmentsurrounding them. Add to this my yearning curiosity about China and Hey Presto, here I am -currently teaching Oral English down in Guangdong, I earn 2000 RMB a month and live with asquadron of other foreign teachers from all over the world, aged between 19 and 33.
China has not been the expected. I was unaware, before I came, of the level of ongoingdevelopment within the country. High rise building, flat screen televisions, well equipped classrooms, comfortable (to some extent) living conditions. I found myself pleasantly surprised. I wasprepared for the beastly and the basic. Mud huts, camp fires and the occasional swarm ofmammoths or something. Life in Dongguan, Houjie town is practically cloud 9 in comparison tomy minds eye before I left sunny old England behind in January. The living conditions werebearable. I could cope with cockroaches, with having to fetch my own water, with a rock solidmattress and a squat toilet. The one thing I couldn't live with, was the staring.
You receive a phenomenal amount of attention as a westerner almost everywhere in China, somuch so that to the reclusive and quiet personality, it can be a little overwhelming. Blue eyes,blonde hair, big noses and hairy arms are some of the things my kids find particularly hypnotic.I felt like a continual outsider when I fist arrived. People didn't make a lot of effort to makethemselves understood, I was overly and repeatedly warned about theft, my apartment was apig sty and I felt, essentially, alone. A feeling aided in no small part by the intensive, unrelentingand perpetual staring, kindly provided by every single person in a 20 meter radius.
But time makes all things easier. Eventually, like everyone else, I came to abide the stares,even indulge in them at times. I saw the funny side of the language barrier, tasted the chickensfeet and sang at KTV. I submitted to the flow of Chinese culture and haven't looked back since,but it wasn't until today I realized how intrinsically similar it is to my own.
When the Chinese take a photograph they will not say 'Cheese!' like we do back home. Insteadthey say, with total conviction and sincerity on their smiling faces, the wonderful word – 'Aubergine!"
Amused at first, it dawned on me that I had no reason to be judgmental. Where I am from theysay cheese! Cheese? ?Cheese?? Why on earth say anything at all, why not just count to 3 andbe done with it? Why, as human beings, do we feel the need to yell a non-specific food whensomeone takes a photo of us? Do me a favor and google it, send your response [email protected].
I always thought 'You have to be crazy to live in China for 6 months'. Today I asked myselfwhy? Perhaps it's because of the tenable sanity of my co-workers, but I don't think that's thereason. China is home to one of the oldest and most profound cultures in the world, and has avery, VERY large number of inhabitants. They can't all be mad.
China is globally known as a country of contrasts. Of vividness and resounding humanity. It is inthis country that I have witnessed some of the most heart wrenchingly beautiful and disturbinglybizarre scenes that the human race can offer, and as extreme as these moments have been,the core of them, their motivation is as clear to me as crystal. Love, hunger, hatred, jealousy,compassion, curiosity, lust, pride, bravery…..I could write for weeks and not finish this list. Weall share a modus operandi for life, no matter where we're from or where we go, we are pushedand pulled by the current of our emotions, by our fragile and fickle hearts.
The definition of insanity is to repeat the same action a number of times and expect differentresults. Isn't that what we all do everyday when we wake up? When we get out of bed andpledge ourselves to our daily routines? Aren't we all, to some degree, a little bit crazy? It's myconclusion that you have to be, not just to live in China, but to live in this world. This worldwhere we shout random foods at a camera when we see a flash.
At least we're all shouting words from the same category, so, in the end, how different can wereally be? We may all be a bit crazy, but at least we're crazy together! So, instead of graspingonto your own culture, take a break. Let go and allow the culture of another country to embraceyou, and you may be surprised at the amount of similarities you find, just like I was thisafternoon in sunny, southern China.
(The author is an oral English teacher in Guangdong. )

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Beijing Shopping

What to Buy
As the capital city of the Five Dynasties of China, Beijing has a history of over thousands of years. It was known as a metropolis with developed businesses and a prosperous economy since ancient times. Many skillful craftsmen settled the area long ago, and passed down their excellent skills generation by generation. We can still find the traditional handcrafts with typical eastern features in the many business streets and markets. Cloisonné, Ivory Carving, Jade and Lacquer are known as the four best traditional handiworks of Beijing. In addition, Curios, Silk, Pearls, Snuff Bottles with Pictures Inside, and Artificial Flowers are also worth buying and well liked by tourists. Candied Fruits and confectionaries of all kinds will make your mouth water, and are wonderful presents for friends.

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What Do You Like Least About Living In China?

Expats living in China can have unrealistic expectations of what life here should be like, often based on rather warped memories of their home countries. (Whenever I’m frustrated by bureaucracy I think back to the American Department of Motor Vehicles and feel grateful that there’s no place like home.) We can also forget that living as an expat in other countries can be equally, if not more, challenging. Of course that doesn’t mean that people living in China – locals or foreigners – can’t have legitimate complaints or peeves about living here; nor do a few complaints about crowded subways or lack of orderly queues make you an enemy of the state. Sometimes it helps to get things out – a little complaining among friends can potentially stave off an outburst against strangers later – so we asked you…

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Grain in Ear

Grain in Ear, June 6, the sun is 75 degrees by the yellow. Because our country is vast in territory and climate characteristics of the same cycle also varies. Our country in the middle of the Yangtze River, downstream areas, increased rainfall, higher temperatures, into the continuous rain the rainy season, the air is very humid, the weather was unusually hot and humid, all kinds of clothing and equipment vulnerable to mold, so, in the middle and lower Yangtze River region put this weather called "Huangmei days."

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Main Tourist Attractions in Beijing

Tian’anmen Sguare Situated in the center of Beijing, the Tian’anmen Square is 880m long from south to north ,and 500m wide from east to west, with an area of 440,000sq m. It is the largest square in the city center in the world. The Monument to the People’s Heroes and Chairman Mao Memorial Hall stand in the center ;on the western side of the square is the Great Hall of the people. On the eastern side is the National Museum of China; on the south stand the Zhengyang Gate and Qianmen Embrasured Watchtower, and on the northern side the Tiananmen Gate-tower and the Palace Museum. The Tian’anmen square is imposing, spectacular, tidy, symmetrical and full of power and grandeur. At dawn every day, the five-star red flag the national flag of the People’ Republic of China, is being raised slowly and solemnly.

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Red Envelopes on Weibo

Popular messaging service WeChat is hogging the limelight this Chinese New Year — by giving the traditions typical of this festive period a facelift.这个农历新年，大众短信服务平台“微信”抢尽了风头——使节日的传统习俗焕然一新。
As technology has altered the way people in China carry out certain traditions during Chinese New Year, at no point is it clearer that Weixin, the version of WeChat available in the country, has emerged as a frontrunner in the wave of change.随着科技对中国人庆祝新年习俗方式的改变，微信——中国的微聊媒介，可谓劲头十足，俨然成为这次变革的弄潮儿。
The Weixin team came upon a brilliant idea of taking the Chinese New Year tradition of gifting money into the digital era. Basically, rather than (or, perhaps, in addition to) giving red envelopes of money to family and friends, Weixin users could tap into digital payments and send monetary gifts of up to CNY100 (around $16.50) per go to others on the chat app.微信团队突发创想，将中国新年送红包的传统融入了数字时代。大体上，除向亲朋好友分发红包外，微信用户还可选择电子支付方式向微信圈内的好友派发红包，红包金额可高达100元（约16.5美元）。
State media Xinhua reports (hat/tip Tech in Asia) that the first two days of Chinese New Year saw more than five million people across China taking part in Weixin’s online red envelope activity, with more than 20 million red envelopes handed out, according to data from Tencent, the company that owns WeChat.官方媒体新华社报道，仅在新年的前两天，全国就有500多万人参与了微信线上抢红包活动，共分发了2000多万个红包。该数据来自微信的开发方腾讯公司。
At its peak, 585,000 people took part in gifting red envelopes over a mere five minutes on Weixin, with 121,000 red envelopes being claimed. The messaging service has an estimated 500 million plus registered users in China alone, while it has 270 million active users worldwide.在高峰期，仅5分钟内就有58.5万名微信用户参与了发红包活动，其中成功抢到的红包有12.1个。据估计，该短信平台在中国有5亿多名注册用户，全球约有2.7亿名活跃用户。
Another tradition has been entirely revamped by Weixin as well.微信同时还为另一个传统习俗注入了全新活力。
It is customary to send New Year well-wishes to your friends on the eve of Chinese New Year — and this year, a whopping 10 million messages were sent in one minute at peak on the eve of Chinese New Year via Weixin. The number of messages sent this year on the chat app was double that of last year, showing that more people are flocking to the app instead of sending cards or SMS-es.中国的传统习俗，除夕要向朋友发送新春祝福。但是今年除夕，在高峰期，1分钟内竟有多达1000万条的短信是通过微信发送出去的。今年通过微信平台发送出去的短信数量是去年的一倍，这说明较之贺卡或手机短信，越来越多的人倾向于微信平台了。
Chinese New Year is a time steeped in tradition, and the fact that Weixin has managed to make its presence so strongly welcomed by users speaks volumes about its ability to straddle the space between old and new.中国新年是庆贺传统的时刻，然而微信却成功获得了推广并受到了用户的热烈喜爱，这也大大证明了微信跨越新旧的能力。
As WeChat moves into verticals such as m-commerce, it wouldn’t be any surprise if the app soon disrupts other traditions next year. Who knows, we may just get to see Chinese New Year grocery shopping or delivery, or the booking of transportation back to people’s hometowns, done entirely via WeChat in the future.随着微信应用到诸如“移动商务”等相关领域，相信明年会有更多传统习俗被注入新的时尚。说不定，以后的年货采购派发或回家车票预订都能在微信上搞定呢！

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China’s college entrance exam begin to reform

The English test will be removed from China’s college entrance exam by 2020, according to details of exam and admission reform revealed by the Ministry of Education. The national college entrance exam, known as the "Gaokao" has been used to evaluate Chinese students for three decades. The Ministry of Education has worked out a plan for reforming exams and enrollment. The Ministry will solicit public opinions before its release.从中国教育部披露的关于高考考试及录取的细节来看，英语考试将在2020年前退出中国的大学入学考试。全国高等教育入学考试即“高考”，作为用于考量中国学生的工具，这一制度已实施了30年。中国教育部在近期披露了高考考试和招生计划的改革方案，在其正式发布之前，将会征求群众的意见。
Instead, tests will be held several times a year to allow students to choose when and how often they sit the exam so as to alleviate study pressure and change China’s once-in-a-lifetime exam system.取而代之的是“一年多考”——学生可以自己选择何时考、考几次，从而减轻学生的学习压力并改变中国“一考定终身”的考试制度。
The plan and suggestions for its implementation will be announced in the first half of next year. It will be piloted in selected provinces and cities and promoted nationwide from 2017. A new exam and admission system will be established by 2020, according to the eduction ministry.关于高考改革实施的计划与建议将在明年上半年公布。高考改革将在选定省市进行试点改革，并于2017年在全国范围推广。同时，中国教育部也称其将在2020年建立新的考试和招生制度。
The decision has aroused a heated discussion among Shanghai educators and parents who doubted the reform would reduce the burden of learning English or if the substitute test could reflect a student’s English skills and help students learn English better.教育部的这一决定在上海的教育工作者和家长中引起了热议。他们认为改革并不会减轻学习英语的负担；对于取代高考英语的考试是否能反映出学生的英语技能、帮助学生更好地学习英语，他们也表示怀疑。
“The reform shows China is learning from the West to give students more test-taking chances. But more chances might become more of a burden since Chinese students are likely to repeat the test until they get the highest score,” said Cai Jigang, a professor at Fudan University’s College of Foreign Languages and Literature and chairman of the Shanghai Advisory Committee for College English Teaching at Tertiary Level.“改革说明中国正在向西方学习，让学生有更多的应试机会。但更多的机会也可能会变成更重的负担，因为中国学生很可能会不断地刷分，直到能考到最高分为止， “复旦大学外国语言文学学院教授、上海高校大学英语教学指导委员会主任委员蔡基刚说。
Yu Lizhong, chancellor of New York University Shanghai, where classes are in English and students are required to have a high standard of English, said the most important aspect of the reform lay in what to test and how to test.上海纽约大学校长俞立中表示，改革最重要的方面在于考什么、怎么考。在上海纽约大学，所有课程均用英语授课，学生都需要具备较高的英语水平。
“As far as I see, the reform doesn’t mean English is no longer important for Chinese students after it will be excluded from the unified college entrance exam,” Yu said. “In a way, English is even more important than before since the test would only serve as reference, while every college and university, even every major, can have different requirements of a student’s English skills under a diverse evaluation system.”“依我看，对于中国学生来说，英语考试将从全国大学入学统考中退出，这项改革并不意味着英语已经不再重要，”俞校长说。 “在某种程度上，英语甚至比以前更为重要，因为考试只能作为参考依据。而每个大学和学院甚至每个专业，都可以根据不同的评价体系，对学生的英语能力作出不同的要求。 ”
Yu said some students will have their study pressure reduced if the major they choose doesn’t need excellent English while others still need to study hard if they want to be among the best students.俞校长称，如果一些学生所选的专业并不需要优秀的英语，那么这将减轻他们的学习压力；而对于其他一些学生来说，如果想名列前茅，他们仍需要努力学习英语。
The eduction ministry said the reform would not affect students attending the college entrance exam over the next three years.教育部表示，在未来三年里改革并不会影响学生参加高考。
 

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China’s doctors not part of society’s elite

Many of China’s less prestigious medical schools find it hard to recruit students to train as doctors and othersfind that students with lower scores on the national university entrance exam,or gaokao, will use the lower requirements of some medical schools togain entry to university, only to transfer later to faculties with higher earning potential.国内许多声望一般的医科大学发现，目前很难招到合适的生源来培养未来的医生。而其他医科大学则发现，在全国大学入学考试也就是高考中成绩偏低的学生就读医学类大学仅仅是因为这类大学对成绩要求偏低，他们利用这一有利条件进入大学，为的就是进校后换一个“有钱可图”的好专业。
"Compared to western countries, the social status and incomeof doctors in China is not the highest, so [some medical schools] definitelyare not able to attract the best students and the result is that the profession of doctors is not the most elite in Chinese society," says Huang Gang,vice-dean of Jiaotong University medical school in Shanghai.“和西方国家相比，中国医生的地位和收入并不是最高的。所以，许多医科类大学铁定招不到好生源。由此一来，职业医生就不会成为中国社会的精英群体。”上海交大医学院副院长黄刚如是说。
Top medical faculties such as Jiaotong usually havelittle problem filling their quota for students with good marks, he says, adding that he would prefer to lower his grade expectations if the student is truly committed to studying medicine. He says only about 5 per cent of Jiaotong medical students transfer to another faculty each year. But less elite medical schools, such as the one at Xiamen University where Dr Wang studied, struggle to fill available spaces. Xiamen medical school recently waived all fees for those training to be doctors, to attract better candidates.像上海交大一样赫赫有名的医科大学，几乎每年都可以招到优秀学生来完成招生指标。他补充道“如果有学生真心愿意来学习医学，我更愿意降低录取分数线来招生”。他说，上海交大医学院的学生中，每年只有5%的学生会换专业。但是对于名望一般的医科大学，比如王医生就读的厦门大学，每年都在为完成招生任务而头痛不已。厦门大学医学院近来表示免去医科专业的一切费用，旨在通过此举来吸引优秀生源。

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