After reading COUNTRY DRIVING, Part 3, share FIVE specific insights Hessler makes about driving and Chinese culture that you find important, and ONE specific question you have after finishing the reading.
Please use 2-3 sentences for each observation, and cite page numbers, so we can all follow your thinking.
Post your reading response below, as part of this blog thread.
Xie Xie,
Dr. W
1.Beijing was only a couple hours drive to the countryside yet so close to the city the country people lived in a completely different way. They grew most of their own food and their annual income was only $250. They sold most of the nuts that were grown high in the mountains like walnuts, chestnuts, and apricot seeds.
ReplyDelete2.Wei Ziqi talked about tourism and how the Sancha village needed to create a name for themselves. This is very smart of him. He said that although city drivers only stay in the city sometimes they like to get away and experience the tourist sections of the Great Wall. He started to record data such as temperature and altitude so he could get the name out about the village. True businessman.
3.If you stay in Sancha then you are able to have a maximum of two children. This is if you have a girl the first time then you are able to have another child because of the remotness of the location. Only ten miles away the story is different in Beijing. A couple can only have one baby no matter what the gender is.
4.In Sancha there was a lot of drama or lack of. Something that was so interesting to me was that some women married into the Sancha village lifestyle. They were from the city but moved there to be with their husband. They were also having an ongoing affair with a relative of their husband back in the city. Many women and men had affairs in the village.
5.The largest bill in China is only one hundred yuan, which is the equivalent of twenty dollars. To make a large purchase you have to carry around a huge wad of money. (this does not seem like a good idea?) He paid the hospital the money so Wei Ziqi could get his transfusion and as soon as he showed the nurse the receipt they were able to do it.
Question: How are the country people even living when most people are living in the city and do not necessarily need their nuts? It seems that the city people do not need products from the small amount of people in the countryside.
1. P.130: “Have you eaten yet?” is a traditional Chinese greeting similar to the American “How are you?” Both questions are formalities and are rarely sincere in form.
ReplyDelete2. P.144: In the Chinese countryside parents believe flattery can bring bad fortune upon an individual and therefore avoid spoiling their children with compliments. The only compliment Wei Jia’s mother used was “ laoshi” which roughly translates into honest and obedient.
3. P.144: In China there is a distinct patter among rural villages where the men from one area share a single family name and the women have a plethora of maiden names. This is because the land is passed down from father to son and the women are brought into a family from an outside area.
4. P.152: Depending on the geographic location and the customs of the local people the Chinese government enforces a variety of birth policies in regards to family size. In remote farming villages like Sancha families are permitted to have another child if the first born if a girl because of traditional views that depends on men for farm work.
- Han Chinese: one child
- Urban Mongolian: two children
- Rural Mongolian: three children
5. P.162: Chinese weddings are concerned with financial details whereas American weddings revolve around emotional ties. Cao Chunmei could list off the individual price of each wedding item, but she could not remember the guest list, restaurant, or the dishes that were served.
Observation: I think it’s interesting that the Chinese and the French have similar sayings when they are two very dissimilar cultures.
- “Mei banfa” – Nothing can be done.
- “C’est la vie” – That’s life.
Question: How do hospitals not have a check and balances system for procedures and simple yet as risky as blood transfusions?
1 Page 130) He talks about a ghost town. Not just one but a few. Here in the states I Cannot imagine that there are that many in the entire US.
ReplyDelete2 Page 140) He meets Ma Yufa and while traveling back to his hut he is walking through ruins. Seeing just abandoned foundations and no attempted to rebuild or expansion is very strange to someone living in America.
3 Page 147) The villagers preform rituals honoring ones ancestors. I think its weird because unless your somebody very important most nobody will come visit your grave after say 10-15 years. The occasional passerby may look over and see your name on a head stone and think. "Huh, he died a long time about I wonder what happened to him" and that's all. Yet, in China they hold a reverence for the dead. I wonder if they pass stories on as well.
4 Page 153) Wei Jia goes to school and having the same reaction that many other kids have all over the world in the same situation. The First Day of School.
5 Page 174) In china the largest yuan bill is 100 equal to about 12 dollars. Thats incredible, the ammount that you must have to carry around to do an important transaction is obnoxiously large.
Is Wei Jia's response typical for country children coming into school?
Hen Hao on these blog posts, THREE of you.
ReplyDeleteMissing:
Colin
Katrina
Ryan
Jennifer
Tyler
Rob
Get on the blog, and Xie Xie!
Dr. W
Pg 282: China built their first high speed highway in 1988, a late start for a country with a growing population. But by the year 2020 China will have more highway miles then the U.S. For those who are wondering the US has over four million highway miles.
ReplyDelete284: One part of Zhejiang is famous for having numerous dialects, but also for its one product towns. Hessler would drive down highway 330 and come across a different factory at almost every stop. One of these places were responsible for producing up to 40 present of the worlds neckties.
293. The people that Hessler rents his cars from seem like that are interesting people. They siphon gas from returned cars and sell it so you don’t need to return it full ( I bet they probably sell it back to the people renting cars). Even better is they don’t care if you dent or scratch a car, because the cars are most likely already dented or scratched. However, for 30 you can drive the car around for the whole day; seems like a deal to me.
304: Its funny to read some of the road signs that have been translated to English. “Please Not Try Tired Driving, Keep Off The Accident Traffic”.
316:I thought it was interesting how most jobs offers in china often listed height requirements. Haussler says that its an obsession in China, and that its even more important for women whose qualifications are sharply defined by their looks.
225) A new Chinese Secretary General was appointed and was more enthralled with the countryside rather than the cities. He wanted the country to be more tourist friendly enabling roads for more cars.
ReplyDelete254) It's amazing that some villages in China, to this day, so not have a single car around. It's almost absurd nowadays for a household in the US to have only one car.
264) Apparently people are constantly changing their names in China. It's more formidable among city people. A computer gives the recipient a name based on some correlation between them and the name.
274) Feeling ill? Traditional Chinese medicine is the way to go. With natural herbs and summoning spirits, healing seems more like a trip to other realms rather than the doctor's office.
Not a question but I want to get the experience of at least trying a traditional Chinese medical triumph.
1. On page 129 we hear how Buddhist temple was destroyed during the cultural revolution. I'm sure this is just one of many historical and important things destroyed during this time. I wonder how much of China's rich history has been lost through the cultural revolution.
ReplyDelete2. On page 133 Hessler and Mimi receive trouble from the police thanks to the "shitkicker" or the guy who is mad about them not renting his house. Either way it seems that the police can be aggressive and intrusive. When I go to China I will be trying to film anything and everything I can, I wonder if the police will cause interference for me.
3. On page 144 Hessler says that Wei Jia's school was 20 miles away. If schools are this scarce, I wonder how many children slip through the cracks and do not get to go to school at all. I'd have to imagine some children end up staying home to work or at least not attend school for very long.
4. On page 192 Wei Ziqi picked a good time to start his business because of the car boom, but currently cars are being restricted in Beijing. With new policy it will be very hard to get a drivers licensee as the government tries to cut down on the cars on the road. How will this effect restraunts and tourism in the country side that was once growing?
5.On page 171 I was astonished at how disrespectful the doctor was. Ususally I picture doctors as being professional and nice.
1.During 2001 in Beijing alone there were 300,000 licenses issued. a 50% increase from the previous year.
ReplyDelete2. Having twins he relates to winning the lottery. its the only way to legally have two sons in China. Often newlyweds with have a picture of twin boys on decoration
3. most 20-30 year olds have moved out of Sancha after living in rural poverty." as a child he was so poor he often ate Elm bark - villagers mixed it with corn and made noodles"
4."In the Chinese work world looks matter greatly especially for jobs with little education requirement." That is a lawsuit in the United States.
5.Traditional Chinese greeting: "have you eaten yet?" when people are staring st you and you make eye contact they won't look away. Unlike in the United States where you either A. get yelled at. B. you shy away with slight embarrassment of getting caught.Shameless curiosity.