We have finally arrived in Beijing, the capital of The People's Republic of China. It's a big city with lots of traffic - not quite as modern as Shanghai, but pretty sophisticated. Xi'an was the old capital of China, and Beijing became the capital more recently. So there's lots of interesting historical sights to see here, especially from more recent history. Yesterday we went to the Summer Palace which was built in the Qing dynasty (I think). The mother of the emporer (she was the previous emporer's concubine) decided that she needed some elaborate gardens etc., to enjoy during the summer so she had this place built for her. One of the most well known things here is the marble boat she had carved, which sits in the lake, where she used to dine in the summer. Unfortunately for the Qing dynasty, she was supposed to spend this money on a real navy, and so in the 1800's the CHinese were easily defeated by the British in the Opium Wars (and also defeated by the French and Americans and lots of others who invaded later...). SO although the Summer Palace is beautiful, and you can see evidence of the rich Chinese culture there, it is also kind of sad because to me it marks the decline of a great civilization.

This decline seems to still haunt the CHinese people, and you hear these themes throughout Chinese history. Today, as they make a transition to a market economy, I get the sense that some people still feel that they need to restore the greatness of China's past... Unfortunately this transition has come with a lot of unintended consequences. One of the biggest problems is migrant workers, which I will tell you more about later - on Monday we will visit a school in Beijing that was established to educated the children of migrant workers (people who come from the countryside to the city to find work) - they are not allowed to attend the regular city schools.

One issue we've gained some insight on, and one that a lot of Americans seem very interested in is the One Child Policy. We learned that the Chinese population has doubled (or more?!) since 1949. (Note of disclaimner - translating numbers from Chinese to English is tricky so some of my notes are off by a thousand or so - and we also have gotten conflicting statistics, so don't be surprised if you see other numbers). After 1949 when Mao came to power and the Communist Revolution succeeded, the life expectancy rate almost doubled and Mao encouraged people to have lots of children ("Each mouth comes with two hands attached" and human labor is China's greatest resource). So by the 1970s, the central government realized they needed to have some kind of population control. They implemented the one-child policy which limited all urban families to one child, and some rural areas also had limits placed on them. The exceptions (according to my understanding) were that if your first child was a female, then you could have a second child a few years later and hope that it was a son. If it wasn't, that was too bad. If you had more than one child, depending on where you lived, there would be a punishment which usually meant a monetary fine. Also, ethnic minorities have different restrictions - some are limited to two children and some (like the Tibetans) are not restricted at all. (Our scholar escort met a Tibetan family with nine children). So, anyway, now there are lots of only children in China, and they are sometimes called "little emporers" because they are really spoiled. They all have two parents and four grandparents to dote on them AND many of them are benefitting from economic growth. Many people here are concerned about the children's character - they are very selfish and do not care for others (this violates both traditional beliefs and communist beliefs). The school systems are trying to develop moral education to counteract this problem (sound familiar??).

Here's another interesting tidbit about Chinese babies that is really baffling to our group. Most babies here do not wear diapers!! We can't figure out how this works, but most babies we have seen wear pants with a big hole cut out, so their little hineys are sticking out everywhere! (And if it's a boy, the chances are pretty good that his front is exposed to because the parents are very proud that the baby is a boy). We tried asking people how this is supposed to work, but we don't understand. We also have taken some pictures of these cute hineys as proof. We have even seen people put their little babies (like 6 months old), with a bare bottom, sitting on their shoulder and on their heads!! And the most curious thing of all is that the babies are not dirty! I know this really sounds like I think I'm on another planet but even the veteran mothers in our group can't figure this system out. We know that when the baby is old enough to walk, they learn to squat - and boy, do they squat whereever and whenever they need to. It's very, very interesting...

Going to A Chinese Movie Theater... We had a very interesting experience yesterday - We went to a Chinese movie! It is called "House of the Flying Daggers" and it stars China's most popular actress, Hong Kong's most famous actor, and South Korea's most famous actor. When we bought our tickets for the movie, we were told there would be english subtitles but of course there were not (and our chinese guide bought the tickets and asked, so it wasn't just our poor chinese skills!). But once the movie started we were still able to enjoy it - it is a historical action movie kind of like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon mixed with Last of the Mohicans and something else... There was a lot of martial arts and fighting scenes with the flying and things like that blended in. And the actors and actresses were so good looking! The cinematography was beautiful (and I was sitting next to a film professor who was also impressed) and the music and sound was great. We were able to follow the basic plot, and one of the most funny parts was visual comedy so we could laugh with the rest of the audience. Most of the other funny parts were dialogue comedy so we couldn't laugh with everyone else. One interesting thing about going to the movies here is that everyone's cell phones were ringing and no one cared! People even answered their phones and had conversations during the movie (and they weren't whispering!). That was strange to us, of course. So after the movie, when we went to dinner, we sat with our Chinese guide who explained the plot to us. Most of the stuff we were able to at least pick up on, but of course there were a lot of key facts that had to be explained to us so that we could understand. I want to try and rent the movie with english subtitles and watch it again, because we all really enjoyed it even without the words!

Economics in China One of the issues we've been studying here is the dramatic economic changes taking place here. In the last 10-15 years, China has been changing to a free-market economy in many sectors, and the evidence is everywhere. Brand names from Nike to Gucci can be seen in all the major cities and McDonald's and KFC are everywhere. However, as in other free market economies, not everyone is benefitting.... I went for a walk with a friend the other night and we went to a seven story department store where a person could buy just about any consumer good you would want - designer clothes, televisions, nike shoes, diamond rings, washing machines, etc. We were wondering how many people actually get to shop in these places, and how those who cannot afford it feel about it. Then we continued our stroll outside, and suddenly little children begging for money began to appear. My friend had some change in her pocket so she gave it to a little boy. The next thing I know, and little girl had latched on to me, wrapping her arms around my waist and speaking to me in chinese. I tried to pry her arms off me (which I could feel had not been washed in a very long time), but she would not let go! I was finally able to pull some money out of my purse (the equivalent of 12 cents in US money) and she let me go. Then another girl appeared and continued to block us from walking, waiting for money. We had to jump in a cab to get away! All this time we have been warned to watch out for pickpockets, but we did not expect the onslaught of child beggars. And since we're obviously foriegners, we're prime targets. I don't think we were in any actual danger, but it certainly makes walking around very uncomfortable.

Today we went to a lecture on China's economic changes and it sounds like the government is very aware of this problem and recognizes that they have to address the gap between the rich and the poor which gets wider every day. It is a great threat to China's stability (which is the central government's main concern all the time), but implementing policies is very difficult here. First of all, it is difficult because there are 1.3 billion people here. Second, it is difficult because of the amount of corruption happening at the local levels here. We learned today that government officials have been sentenced to death for corruption! That should tell you how serious of a problem it is.

Still in Xi'an, leaving for Beijing tomorrow morning... Can't wait to see the Great Wall!

The terracotta warriors are one of china's most popular tourist sights, right after the great wall and the forbidden city. You might have seen photos of them, but not a lot of people know much about them, so I'll try to explain. The terracotta warriors were discovered in 1974 by a farmer who was digging a well (I bought a book and he signed it!). The warriors are bigger than lifesize replicas of an entire chinese army that were buried along with the first emporer of the Qin dynasty (around 220 B.C.). The first emporer of the Qin dynasty was considered to be the first person to unite all of CHina - under his rule, the written language, weights and measures and other things were standardized. He was able to control a large portion of what we call china today under a central government. Long before he died, he started working on his tomb which was going to include an entire army to protect him in his afterlife. Over 700,000 people are believed to have worked on this project (they were likely conscripted, and many probably died in the process). So far archaeologists have uncovered 7,000 warriors and horses. Each one is made of out terracotta, originally molded individually and hand-painted. Each one has amazing detail - armor, strands of hair, and facial features. The people who have worked on reconstructing the pieces have done an amazing job. Very few were found intact - many were broken because the wooden structures that were built underground to protect them were either burned or they have decayed, so they were crushed by falling earth. But now many of them stand lined up in battle formation, facing east which was where the emporer's main enemies were.

There's a lot more to say about these guys, but I'll have to show you the book. Basically this is one of the most insane government porjects I've ever seen, and it is even more amazing that they are over 2,000 years old.

I can't wait to see the Great Wall, which isn't as old, but should be even more impressive!

At first I was too discouraged to try and learn any of the Chinese language, but it is getting easier and easier. For those of you who aren't familiar with Mandarin, you should know that Mandarin is a tonal language which means that the tone of your word is as important as the letters that make it up. The same syllable, such as "ma"means four different things in four different tones. Liz Downing can explain more if you need it :). But pretty much the way we make sentences into things like questions or angry statements are like tones. The first full sentence I learned and remembered is "Wo ai xiong mao" which means "I love Pandas". So one night my friend and I went to the Internet cafe.... Our guide taught us the word for Internet which is "wan ba", with a question tone. So we went and said "wan ba"a bunch of times... While we were waiting for our friends we thought we'd try out our Chinese, so we said, "wo ai xiong mao", and the clerk gave us a puzzled look. We repeated, he was still confused, and finally we showed him a picture of a panda and he said, Öh! Wo ai xiong mao!"Repeating it with the correct tone (which sounded the same to us). Then he started teaching us how to count and the whole Internet cafe was looking at us.

The next morning our guide said to us, "You know, after you left I got worried because I realized that 'wan ba'in the wrong tone means a very bad word!" We had a good laugh about that because we were probably yelling bad words at people all night.

Oh well, we'll keep trying, but I think most people don't even realize we're speaking Chinese to them at all...

That's all for now!

Greetings from Chengdu! After spending eight days in Shangai, and hearing several people say, "Shanghai is not China", I am now in Chengdu, in Sichuan province (southwest China). Chengdu is a big city, but we have also been able to see some villages on the otuskirts of the city. Shanghai is the "future" of China and evidence that their free market reforms are resulting in a lot of profits for some people. Chendgu is a somewhat modern city, but it is clear that there is not as much entrepreneurship happening here. People here still love to use pedicabs (taxis powered by a bicycle), and they drive in the traffic along with the cars and buses and regular bicycles! The air here is also not as polluted and not as humid, but still pretty hot.

The food in Chengdu is different from Shanghai - in Shanghai, many foods are sweet, and they use a lot of seafood. Here, most foods are spicy and teahouses are very popular. For dinner one night we had "Chengdu Snacks" which is kind of like a bunch of appetizers - dumplings, small bowls of various noodles, and other little yummy snacks. They also make a few sweet things and spread them throughout the meal, usually when you feel like you can't take any more heat! Tonight we had Sichuan Hot Pot, which is kind of like fondue. The table has a hole in the center where a container of some spcy liquid is placed over a flame, and you cook all off your food in the spciy soup. Meats, veggies, and noodles all come out hot and spicy. It is very tasty, but my mouth can only take so much of it! Even though the spices can be oerwhelming at times, I like Chengdu food the best so far!

Yesterday we heard a lecture on the minority gruops in Sichuan province. There are 56 ethnic groups in China - one majority group whcih is the Han Chinese, and 55 officially recognized minority ethnic groups. There are still some ethnic groups that live in relatively isolated areas and maintain their traditional culture (Liz Downing is spending time with some of them as I type), but some of them have moved to the cities or have integrated more aspects of the majority culture into their daily lives. Our lecture was presented by a professor at the Sichuan Minorities University which is dedicated to the education of and about these minority groups (Tibetan, Yi and Qiang being the largest groups).

Today we went to the Panda Research Center which was the one place I really wanted to visit! There are only about 1,000 Giant Pandas left in the world, and most of them live in Sichuan province, which is where I am right now. We saw some 10-month-old cubs who were so cute and playful! We could have stood there and watched them all day! We were also told that due to the Pandas' gentle nature, the various warring groups in this region would use a panda flag as a surrender or peace symbol to the other people.

We have also visited some people in the nearby villages. The villages used to be collective farming communes, but since the 1980s, land has been redistributed to individual families. The state still owns the land, but the people are allowed to use it for their own purposes now. We met some people who let others use their land while they operate a village enterprise (selling irrigation pipes). Another man pays many people for their land plots and he runs a huge nursery on about 300 mu (1/6 of an acre) and seems to be making quite a profit. So, we have seen many of the positive results of the economic reforms, but we have also seen some of the problems. There are many migrant workers in China rights now (people leaving the countryside and moving to the cities for jobs). There aren't enough jobs to go around, and there are not a lot of services available yet to help all of those who are in need.

That's all for now! I hope to write again soon.. In three days we'll be going to our next city, Xi'an.

Hello from Shanghai, China's most modern city! Since arriving two days ago, I have seen a lot of Shanghai, which is a very modern city with lots of very new and interesting architecture. Yesterday we went to the Shanghai urban planning exposition center where we saw the master plan for Shanghai, including current and planned buildings. The entire city is designed and planned, including a financial district, a world expo center, parks, you name it. Everything here is either new or under construction. If it's not a new construction site, or a brand new bulding, then it's an old building slated for demolition. It's an architecturally beautiful city, and they have managed to keep lots of park space for the daily ritual of practicing tai chi or ballroom dancing in the park. And if there's not enough space in the park, then the entry way to a department store works for daily exercise too! So far it has not at all felt like the China I expected. I sort of feel like I'm in a giant Chinatown.

We also visited the Shanghai museum with many artifacts that show the development of the ancient yet very technologically advanced arts of bronze casting, ceramics, calligraphy, and jade. It is fun to talk about these things with the native Chinese also, because they are so proud of their history (which they should be!). Perhaps the most interesting thing I learned in the museum was that there was an ancient craft of imprinting ceramics with a raised design that has been lost. The technique produced perfect designs, but the technique cannot be reproduced today, at all!

Today I spent the day with a student who will be coming to the US as an exchange student, and her parents. Her family is clear evidence of the economic opportunities now available to the Chinese (primarily those who are educated and live in an urban area).. They own two cars and just purchased a 3-story house which they will move into this winter. Anyway, we had a great day with them, grocery shopping (in a place that looked a lot like a super Walmart), made steamed dumplings, visited some older homes in Shanghai, and saw the man-made beach in Shanghai (even though they are on the coast, they don't have any sandy beaches, so they made one).

So, that's the news for today. I'm having a great time, and still waiting to feel like I'm really in China!