What I learned about China!

     I went to China with preconceived ideas. I think everyone probably does. I thought it would be much more primitive. I also thought that due to the cultural revolution, it would have lost much of its cultural identity and lost the things that made China special.

       This picture is of  Alice. She is one of John's graduate students. She is as tall as I am. She took us around to shops and interesting places on the day I arrived. She is wearing a short skirt and long boots with this top.
     The first thing that I found was that China is very modern. Everyone has a cell phone. Most young women wear very stylish clothing; leggings with short skirts and cute tops with short jackets. Lots of long boots. The older people dress in heavier clothes in dark colors. They usually wear pants and long sleeved shirts and jackets. Even when it is very warm outside. My sister, Ginny told me that they are hot, but wear these cloths, because that is what they have been conditioned to wear. They looked at me strangely when I wore capris. 
     Buildings are tall and skyscrapers are being built with huge cranes everywhere. The buildings do not seem to be maintained like our buildings are. Many that are just a few years old need paint and/or cleaning. I saw small repairs made in sidewalks. They would patch a spot with cement, but would not put any barriers around it, so people would walk through the cement and leave footprints. I found one place where they had put in a large cement pad about 20 ft. by 10 ft. It had a string of footprints across it. They then came back at a later date and added cement into the footprints!
     They still are a very superstitious people. Numbers have significance, such as the number 8 is a lucky number. One company paid a lot of money to have the phone number 88-8888888. They still use colors and many other things because it has to do with feng shui or other good luck.
     Their education system is interesting. My sister says that it is difficult for them to get into college. But once they are in, it is difficult to get them out! They learn by memorization. I witnessed numerous students outside a classroom building standing separately, repeating over and over, their presentation to the class. They have difficulty in translating the memorization into understanding. So whenever you hear about how China tests higher than we do, understand that they can memorize and repeat back info, but cannot easily transfer this info into usable ability. There teachers also teach to the tests as the goal is for the teacher to look good by having the most students pass the tests. I saw a road sign that gave directions to the Party School. I laughed, thinking of all of the colleges that have reputations as party schools. We understand this term to mean schools that have lots of drinking and partying. In China it means the schools where the members of the Communist Party can attend. Big difference!