What Do I Know About China???

When I think about it, I realize I really don’t know much about China at all. Most of my knowledge is things I’ve picked up here and there. My perceptions are based mainly on stereotypes. When I was younger I had a book called the Story about Ping.

(good books for young souls)

It was about a duck that lived on a houseboat. This book was the basis for my knowledge about China. I became aware of the fishing and river culture of living on houseboats on the Yangtze River. That was the first time I learned anything about China. I remember that the Great Wall was built to keep out the Mongols. According to Mulan, the Huns invaded China at some point as well.

I don’t know much about modern culture in China other than things I hear about in conversations and the media. I know that it’s overpopulated. I know the country is Communist, and that there’s a fair amount of censorship, like the Google incident that occurred last year.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner 2010: Liu Xiaobo
(http://nobelprize.org/)

The most recent Nobel peace prize winner is a Chinese activist for democracy who couldn’t go to the ceremony because he was in jail. I know that the Current president is Hu Jintao and that he was recently in the U.S. (http://en.beijing2008.cn/)

The 2008 Olympic summer games where in the capital Beijing. The main languages spoken are Mandarin and Cantonese. I also know that men are given preference over women there. I know that many American products are mass-produced in factories by poor workers for half the price. And I know that our government owes China a lot of money. That is about it for my knowledge of China However there are a lot of other things that come to mind that are not necessarily fact.

Here is a list of thing that comes to mind when I think China.

(news.eastvillagers.org)

Lots of people. Congestion. Panda bears. Bamboo forests. Pink vinyl back packs and pigtails. One syllable names like Li, Ling, Chow, Chang. Yin and Yang. Words spelled nothing like they how they sound in English. Sweatshops. Child labor. Large cities with lots of people.

(http://www.city-photo.org/)

Neon signs. Tiny oranges. Kung Fu. Monks. Made in China. The Story about Ping. Budda. Silk. Opium. Flowers that grow in water. Houseboats. Mulan. Ancestors. Fortune. Emperor/Dynasty. Communism. Ducks. Dumplings. Cheap toys. Factories. Soups made with weird seafood. The Great Wall. Roads and trade. Economic force. Chopsticks. The color red. Strict discipline. Musical prodigies. Fireworks. Gunpowder. Scrolls with red stamps.

(www.bbc.co.uk)

Dragons. Drums and parades. Hi pitched string instruments. Rivers. Male preference. Economic power. Censorship. Chinese Zodiac. Chinese New Year. Gongs. Jackie Chan. Water Chestnuts. Long, ancient history rooted in tradition. Jade. Values like honor, pride, balance, family. Hospitality. Writing right to left, top to bottom. Rural areas. Rice Paddies. Architecture. Long moustache. Pointy straw hats. Green Tea.

That is what I think of when I hear the word China.

HI!

My name is Emily, I'm from Burlington, Vermont.

(flicker.com)

A media experience I had during my holiday vacation was a family photo shoot on Christmas. One thing I like about 21st century media culture is that there is a video for everything on youtube, one thing I don't like is reality television. In the future I would like to be a graphic design, but I'm not sure what that means yet. My question about China is Whats going on with China and Taiwan?