Chinese Children: Orphans: One Child Policy: Chinese Tradition: Abandoned Babies.With something like a 70% Rural Population, many kids grow up in the countryside, in tiny little villages, or larger but still small towns. They run, play, fish and swim in the nearby fields and streams. Probably most don't have running water in their homes, and certainly not bathrooms. The outhouse is literally the outhouse, and the waste will run off into some fish pond or similar.
At various times over the past four years as I have published stories from China, I have received negative or down right abusive letters from Politically Correct Morons who, while never shy to complain that China is a totalitarian country, nonetheless demand that everyone in the world 'bow the knee, conform to and obey' their own Political Correctness dictates, irrespective of any reality or truth.
Sometimes their subconscious arrogance, ("subconscious" because I think that they have some 19th Century image of Chinese people) makes me wonder exactly what is it that they imagine Chinese people to be like. So today I bring you this photographic exhibition of Children in China, with commentary to perhaps enlighten those who do not know what life in China is really like for kids.
For Starters, in China June 1st is Children's day, and one can usually find a host of celebrations to honor children.
June 1st Children's day in Hong Hu.
With something like a 70% Rural Population, many kids grow up in the countryside, in tiny little villages, or larger but still small towns. They run, play, fish and swim in the nearby fields and streams. Probably most don't have running water in their homes, and certainly not bathrooms. The outhouse is literally the outhouse, and the waste will run off into some fish pond or similar.
Most will have their own or use the neighbours television, and a variety of relatives and friends will at various times throughout the day wander in and out through the open doors of the house.
While mother, father, uncles and aunts work in the field or go off to some other place to work, the little ones will be in the care of their grandparents.
In a tiny one street village whose name I have forgotten - near Hong Hu.
It's not until you compare those at the top end of the economic scale with those at the bottom, that one can begin to see the difference in the extreme lifestyles of children in China.
Opposite ends of the financial spectrum in China.
It would be fair to say (I imagine) that the larger percentage of Rural kids grow up in city centres. Of course, what you might envisage of a Western City Center is not necessarily what a Chinese one might look like, especially from the backside.
Daishi, a small town in Hong Hu.
Of course life can be very scenic when you live a little way out from the town center. Transport isn't necessarily what it is in the West. There are always little rivers and creeks to cross to get to the main road where one might want to catch a bus.
Scenic views and tranquil transport.
Catching a bus between big towns and cities is not all that it could be yet. One often sees people on the roadside wildly signaling for passing buses to stop. Intercity buses have designated pick up points, and with a crackdown by police ensuring obedience to transport laws and regulations, it is a waste of time hailing these types of buses.
Of course there are the smaller buses that pick up and drop of just about anywhere, which can make for an interesting journey. One cannot usually predict with accuracy the time it will take to travel between two locations.
Within the larger towns of course there are the local buses with set routes and stops that will get you to school or work as the case may be. But of course there are other transport alternatives in towns no more than 6 or 7 streets wide and long.
Don't worry! It doesn't Matter! Families that stick together!
The most popular mode of transport in China is naturally the Bicycle which serves a multitude of purposes. It gets you to school or work, or when adapted, serves as water, gas or lumber carrier. In Chengdu I was amazed to see young food delivery drivers navigating vehicular and pedestrian traffic using one hand, whilst holding aloft on another, a tray carrying an assortment of 'takeaways'.
But for young kids of course, bicycles provide a means to meet up with friends and escape to explore the universe.
In the really big cities there are other more useless forms of transport.
Even within towns like Xindi (Administrative center of Hong Hu City), there are plenty of open spots for kids to go exploring and one could not be blamed at times (if upon seeing a photo of a school sports ground), for thinking that the photo was taken somewhere out in the sticks.
Farmland off the main road and sports ground in school.
Kids of all ages everywhere in every country like to get together and play games, fool around, or otherwise congregate. It's no different in China. More I think than their Western Counterparts, kids in China spend a lot of times out of doors.
Left: Xian Tao uni students dancing in the square Right: Hong Yi Zhong Students playing Pingpong
Left: Out side Long Keduo Supermarket Right: Lotus Square fun night for kids.
But just because they are Chinese, does not mean that kids in China know nothing of the outside world. Should you be thinking that they are all very prim and proper, conforming to some imagined stereotype of what someone in a Communist Country is like, Chinese kids dress in a variety of styles, dance hip hop, rap and rock 'n roll and do weird and wonderful things to their hair.
In the groove in more ways than one.
Kids in China definitely love performing. Karaoke spots are quite popular in China, and no school party is complete without them. And, in case you didn't know, kids love Christmas. I've asked many of the university students why they like Christmas, and they tell me it is because it gives them an excuse to party, have fun and go shopping.
Partying and Performing in China
Another favourite pastime of Chinese kids who get the opportunity, is to spend time with foreigners. They will come knocking on your door at all hours of the day and night just to visit you. I had one little tyke in Hong Hu who was 8 years old, who came to my home every night at 8pm, and for 10 minutes would wander around my home taking photos of anything and everything using my digital camera, and then say, 'Bye Bye' and leave.
Spot the foreigner? Mmm? Which one is She?
A word of warning! Once you begin inviting Chinese kids into your home, you begin to put yourself in a position of having to follow Chinese Social customs. One Chinese custom is that when people make themselves at home, they really make themselves at home.
Left: 'I want to have my birthday party here!' Right: 'We want to watch TV!'
While being a foreigner has it's drawbacks in China, a foreigner could never complain of going 'unnoticed'. From people who point you out in crowds; to those who shout at the top of their voices that there is a foreigner approaching; to little kids who burst into tears; to beggars grabbing your clothes and hanging on for dear life; to parents shoving their kids into your face so that they can see what a foreigner looks like; to those who merely want to talk to you, a foreigner never need feel lonely, bored or unnoticed.
Oh My God! F-o-r-e-i-g-n-e-r!!!
Because of the one child policy, many kids are growing up feeling that they are the center of the world. They can be pampered and spoiled, or ill fed and harshly treated, or end up somewhere in between. It just depends on their family circumstances. And this quite separate to the issue of abandoned female babies.
Supermarkets to Shacks.
Nevertheless, children do learn some forms of discipline whether they like it or not, whilst others with a more spiritual inclination, choose their own forms of discipline. I've met young people who have decided to follow the Buddhist or Christian path, and then of course there are the Muslim kids. For many Chinese, spirituality of one kind or another is either a family tradition or a self chosen path.
Same age - different discipline. Those are my students on the right - I was giving them the drill!
And of course Chinese kids like all kids, love to eat. Some kids are lucky enough to be able to go from home to school everyday, and so can eat Grandma's home cooking. Others board at school and eat everyday in the canteen. And all of course love Coke / Pepsi, snacks and fast food.
Food glorious food!
When you strip away the question of family finances, kids in China are pretty much like kids everywhere else. Although I must say, the tactile closeness of Chinese kids, whilst disconcerting at first, is truly an amazing thing to behold. They express their love and closeness very openly, and will as per custom do anything to help their friends when they are in need.
Whilst in the West Parents tend to express love for their kids in a very open way, this is not so obvious in China. Nevertheless, the kids are not lacking in love.
The rich in every country are rich and privileged, whilst the poor in every country are underprivileged. Those in the middle get to taste the best of both worlds.
I hope this article has enriched your knowledge of and appreciation for life in China.
Left: Look at the foreigner on that broken down bus! Right: Look at that foreigner taking a photo of our bare bums in YiChang (3 Gorges) (This was the youngest group of bare bums. The eldest were in the 20's. On the River beside the scenic walkway)
It was decided that unshod horses would not be allowed to be used in commercial ventures. People couldn't ride horses for a living; salesman couldn't load goods onto their horses; and horses could no longer pull carts. While it all seemed quite logical and humane, the unforeseen consequence of the law was that the supply of goods into and out of the town began to dwindle, until in the end, business after business went bankrupt. As time went by the whole city went bust until the only ones left were those who could not afford to move, and one of these was our blacksmith. One day, considering that since the council itself was now gone, the blacksmith decided to restart his business.
Any teacher who is legitimately employed, and properly registered, is able to pack up and leave if the going gets tough, but any teacher whose 'bona fides' (as a foreigner living and working in Baotou) are not legitimately established, could find themselves being deported from China. I would hope that all the problematical behavior of management at EET has long since changed, and that they are currently fulfilling their legal obligations. I would hope that anyone who goes to work there would be well treated or at least not abused, cheated or lied to. But foreigners who to write to me to ask my advice are either 'plants' working for EET or just plain foolish.
Today, I am using a recent letter from Jerry, to tell a story – a sad story. It is a story rooted in Ancient and Modern Chinese Culture. It is a story of an impossible love. It is a story I have heard so many times before, of families who refuse to allow their children to love whom they will. It is a story about how in the 21st century, Chinese children must still obey their parents and marry the one of whom the parents approve.
One would think that based on those two great truths that the Commonwealth Bank would have the organizational and managerial flexibility to deal with any situation to arise, but apparently they do not - OR - they don't wish to! But you just have to wonder if at the end of the day, the whole issue is not just about "a shortage of competent staff" and a lack of good old fashioned customer service.
American Chinese cuisine is not quite the same as regular homestyle cooking back in Mainland China. I think that it might be wise to bring a Mainland Chinese cook back with you, unless you are ready to install a MacDonald's restaurant on site. But a major problem that I think Dr. Smith is likely to encounter, is that far too many Chinese students who have passed the International Language Tests in order to study overseas, arrive on campus without any ability at all to understand what is spoken, or to be able to speak English. Such is the state of those tests.
A common thread running throughout Yang Guangyou's work life is that employers expect and demand so much of him but have consistently discriminated against him because he has no college degree. He is a diligent worker, professional in his various supervisory positions and is quite at home conversing in English. As of December 2011, he is again unemployed. (January 6, 2012 - Received word that he is working in Tianjin.) Jerry's Story: When a boy is around the age of 20, his parents will find a person to introduce a girl to him as a wife. At this time the family of the male part will give 10000 to 20000 [rmb] to the family of the female part. Generally speaking , they will not change the relationship once it is built. After that, the family of the male part will collect money for the wedding, 20000 RMB maybe. But that is not enough because the female part usually ask for a new house which can be built around 100,000 RMB in that place.
With something like a 70% Rural Population, many kids grow up in the countryside, in tiny little villages, or larger but still small towns. They run, play, fish and swim in the nearby fields and streams. Probably most don't have running water in their homes, and certainly not bathrooms. The outhouse is literally the outhouse, and the waste will run off into some fish pond or similar.
In China, the rights of society take precedence over individual human rights. This, we Westerners call totalitarianism and from an ideological perspective, desire to destroy it right? But ask yourself this: "What does MY country promote?" In China, there are many social problems that similarly exist in your country, and these are slowly being dealt with. But it seems to me that while China's totalitarian regime is focused on making China a 'harmonious society', that in the west, everything is aimed at promoting sectarian interests which divide society.
, 2006My Student friend has already 'cheated' in 4 exams this school year. Well, he doesn't actually 'cheat', he just 'pretends' to be someone else, and does their exams for them. It's a simple process really. They merely substitute photographs in their identity cards. The first thing I had to tell him was that the reason I seem so happy, is that if I allowed myself to be controlled by all the 'negatives' that surround me, I would have to quit my job and go home. 'The Secret of Being Happy', I informed him, 'is that happiness comes from within you. It is not the result of happy experiences.'
You may find this hard to believe, but Chinese students can memorise a 20 minute monologue - perfectly. They memorise their lesson texts. They might understand nothing. They certainly cannot commence at paragraph two or three: they must start from the first word and go through to the end. However, they can memorise perfectly. So this is what these two girls did.
Chinese Students: Chinese Youth: Problems of Chinese Young People. This file was intended to be added to on a regular basis. Unfortunately it wasn't. The friendship with Mingxing has however continued, and as can be seen in the photographs in the Confucious Temple article listed above.
As I turned in at the gate, I was dismayed to see people leaving. My arrival naturally evoked the expected 'LaoWei! LaoWei!' As I entered the church, the few people that were left rushed to greet me and began to explain in Chinese, whatever it was that they were explaining. My heavy sigh was sufficient to impress upon them my disappointment, and resulted in one man grabbing my overcoat and pulling me outside, whilst the rest pointed off in the distance. Ahah! I was being taken somewhere. We walked for about 15 minutes down the road. Now up to this moment I thought that Chibi consisted only of that part of it that I had already seen, but it actually continues on to a busier and more residential section, which is quite separate from that part next to the Museum/Park
Chibi is 20+ kms east of where I lived in Hong Hu, and I could ride my bicycle, take a taxi or catch a bus to the Barge Crossing. Of course one must then wait for the barge, and that can take some time. On the other side of the river it is just a case of walking a short distance to the museum and lookouts.
You will arrive at Taipa House Museum Area with so much to see. If you want to go into the Museum you must pay. But there is also much to see outside. This is a museum beside the A-Ma Temple on Macao Island. This sits on the waterfront and you can see Zhuhai in China across the harbour.
Beijing
(Note: Chiara Braccagni's articles are in both English and Italian)
A una di queste chiamate, ci fermiamo a fianco a una coppia di giovani. Non solo i due incauti avevano diversi sacchetti, ma portavano con sé anche una torta. Dopo varie discussioni con la bigliettaia perché la torta nel pulmino proprio non ci stava, provano ad aprire il finestrino e a passarla alla ragazza seduta di fronte a Justine. Visto che non riuscivano a spostare il vetro, sporgendomi, faccio alla bigliettaia: "Lo faccia passare da qui" (okkei, va bene, ho detto solo "da qui", il resto della frase era sottinteso!). Io, anima ingenua, credevo che una volta saliti i due giovani avrebbero trovato il modo di riprendersi la torta. E invece no! Mi sono fatta una decina di chilometri di strada sterrata con una torta gelato sulle ginocchia! E giusto per renderla ancora più precaria, era una torta a due piani con complesse decorazioni, tra cui un drago giallo con occhi e baffi di cioccolata. Avevo il terrore di spetasciarla. A questo punto, però, ridevamo da non riuscire più a respirare.
Mt. Tai is located in the center of Shandong Province, lying across the cities of Tai'an, Jinan and Zibo. Its main peak, Jade Emperor Summit, which is within Tai'an City, is about 1532.7 meters (5,029 feet) high. The mountain was once called Mt. Daishan, Mt. Daizong or Mt. Taiyue and was renamed Mt. Taishan in the Spring and Autumn Period (770BC-476BC). It epitomizes splendid Chinese culture and was listed in the World Natural and Cultural Heritage List of UNESCO in 1987
Many people say that my cursive Chinese writing is just terrible scribble. Now I know that they are just jealous because I have mastered a unique form of calligraphy. Du Fu Selected Poems Translated by Rewi Alley Foreign Languages Press 2001
On the Matilda Trail by Captain Sandy Stewart. Today we are going to head north to Mt Isa, but before we go we have a few things to do. First of all we have to go to the FLYING DOCTOR HQ and thank them for the tip of when the plane was coming in. On our way back to town we went past the Vortex guns built by Steiger Vortex as a rain making exercise in 1902, it failed. We are now crossing over Lagoon Creek heading for Longreach. Cruising west 80 kms to Ilfracombe we stop to have a beer at the Wellshot Hotel and guess what! THE PUB'S GOT NO BEER.
Spanish Lighthouse at Corregidor Island had a signpost letting us know how far from home we were - The Centerpiece at the War Memorial for American Soldiers in Manilla - Corregidor Island Battery looking toward Batan - Military tanks at the Philippine Military Academy
When excavating workers discovered the original Royal road and archaeological viewing platforms have been set up from both above and beside the original road. No charge! You can go down the ramp and clearly see the road and the accompanying signs/ The Chaotian Gate - During the Zhizheng Reign of Yuan Dynasty it was renamed to Gongbei Tower. It was destroyed in the 10th year (1474) of Chenghua Reign Ming Dynasty and rebuilt in the next year. The building was destroyed again in early Qing Dynasty and rebuilt in the 25th year (1686) of the Kangxi Reign Qing Dynasty. It is known as Drum Tower.
We spent quite a bit of time in Leifeng Pagoda before leaving to take a cab back to our hotel. On the way out we read all the signs about the Pagoda's history and the Story of Lady White Snake. We also stopped so that Mingxing could duck into a little temple beside the Pagoda. I took the opportunity to sit on a fence and have a cigarette. While doing so I notice 2 young couples at the entrance and one of the boys looked at me, smiled, said something to his girlfriend who then produced a camera and then made a beeline for me so he could have his photo taken with a 'real live foreigner'. We foreigners probably have our photos taken more often than movie stars.
Definition: King's Calendar Chronological Research
The Premise: Between the 5th and 3rd centuries BCE (but continuing down to at least 104 BCE), Sectarian redactors transcribed the legitimate 'solar year' chronological records of Israel and Judah, into an artificial form, with listed years as each comprised of 12 months of 4 weeks of 7 days, or 336 days per year, thus creating a 13th artificial year where 12 solar years existed.
When the Synchronous Chronological Data provided in the Books of Kings and Chronicles for the Divided Kingdom Period are measured in years of 336 days, the synchronisms actually align. [Refer to Appendix 5. to see how it synchronises the Divided Kingdom Period]
About the KingsCalendar Publisher
R.P.BenDedek is the owner and Editor of KingsCalendar.com which was originally set up to publicize his research results into the Chronology of Ancient Israel. Those results were published under the title: 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran'.
Whilst there have been many attempts to solve the chronological riddle of the Bible's synchronisms of reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah and their synchronism with other Ancient Near Eastern Nations, no other research is based on a simple mathematical formula which could, if it is incorrect, be disproved easily. To date, no one has been able to dismiss the mathematical results of this research.
Free to air Academic articles set forth Apologetics for and results of his discovery of an "artificial chronological scheme" running through the Bible, Josephus, the Damascus Documents of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Seder Olam Rabbah.
During the current economic downturn, this book has been drastically reduced in price but will eventually rise as the economy improves.
Check the Chapter Precis Page to see details of each chapter and to gain access to the Four Free to Air Chapters
R.P. BenDedek writes social commentaries and photographic 'Stories from China' both at KingsCalendar, and as a contributing columnist at Magic City Morning Star News in Maine USA.
(He has been teaching Conversational English in China since 2003 and currently (2013) is teaching in Suzhou City Jiangsu Province.)
No matter what someone might like to assert or claim, there is absolutely no evidence currently in existence, nor likely to be forthcoming, that can demonstrate that the chronology offered by the 'King's Calendar' is impossible, untenable or contrary to the 'evidence'. It has equal merit with any currently suggested construction of Israelite History, with one excelling exception. It can demonstrate itself mathematically. There is only one possible justification for rejecting the 'King's Calendar' Chronology, and that would be to demonstrate that its computer generated mathematical foundation is erroneous in that its determination at some point of history can be proven to be incorrect
Newsletter No.5 Ancient Egypt. The Hyksos, 18th Dynasty, Rameses II By R.P. BenDedek
Few people appreciate the numerous difficulties involved in determining an 'accurate' history of Egypt, and that history is still under challenge with regard to the currently accepted placements of Egyptian Dynasties. For instance, Merenptah's 'Israel Stele', if it is to be believed, records a victory over the 'nation' of Israel, centuries before Israel was a 'nation'. Rohl and James et. al. have been working on providing a more reliable chronology, with James et.al. suggesting that Merenptah's dynasty ought to be shifted to the Eleventh century BCE
Newsletter No.4 Academic Disagreements : Opinions and Assumptions By R.P. BenDedek
The 'King's Calendar', which deals with CHRONOLOGY (not history) is the only proposition which synchronizes all the Biblical chronological references, and for this period of history, it did something which no one else has ever attempted. Instead of insisting that the chronological data was wrong, it maintained that the Name/Identification of certain Jewish kings was wrong. Of the four kings of Judah that reigned during this period, THREE were known to have reigned under names OTHER THAN their real names
