What's life like in Beijing now

I don't think any Beijingers ever expected the exciting Beijing 2008 Olympic Games would make their daily lives so inconvenient. Like me, all of my friends in Beijing were so thrilled to be part of this once-in-a-lifetime experience. But the excitment ended last April. Now when I talked to my friends there, it seems they just can't wait until the Games are over.

I mentioned the frustrating traffic control issues during the Games in my last post. But some those restrictions actually started in late June. Only a limited number of trucks are allowed in Beijing. Starting July 20th, the cars with odd-numbered plates can be on the road only on dates with odd numbers, and vice-versa for even numbers. What does this mean? Residents have limited choices for their daily basic needs. I was told they either can't buy the vegetables they once bought or the produce became too expensive. Areas surrounding the national stadium are blocked and only authorized cars are allowed there, including the area of my father's apartment about a half-mile from the stadium. I'm curious to see what things look like when I return in two weeks.

What do all these restrictions mean for businesses? One supplier told me business is so bad she's never experienced such a slow summer before, as very few tourists are in China now due to strict visa application processes. Some publishers tell me they'll close their offices in about two weeks until the Games end, which means we might not be able to get many books we need for our customers. Our forwarder has increased prices more than four times for picking up goods and delivering them to the port in Tianjin. Shall I ship the goods we need anyway? Shall I increase prices, too? Now I must calculate really carefully to see what we need most urgently. I thought it would end August 25, when the closing ceremony is over. But no, all these restrictions will remain until September 30 when the Paralympics are over! I don't think we can afford to wait that long.

Now you know why Beijingers can't wait until the Games are over. I don't know if residents in London (2012 Olympic Games) and Chicago applying for 2016 Olympic Games) will have the same experiences as residents in Beijing. I hope not. But if so, I doubt they'll find this aspect of the Olympics very exciting.

The Other Side of the Story

It has been a few weeks since I came back from China where I witnessed the national mourning of the Sichuan earthquake victims. It feels difficult to discuss that topic or comment on my blog about it because what I have read, heard and watched in China is so different from what I read and hear in New York. I am puzzled and wonder which side I shall take and believe and why there are so many differences between the Chinese and US reports.

As you can see in my previous postings, I have only written a few stories from what I had witnessed about the earthquake tragedy while I was in China. These were only some examples out of thousands of moving stories, but I didn’t see any of those reported in the US. In the US news reports, most of the coverage deals with what went wrong during the earthquake rescue. These articles focused on the numbers of deaths that were only estimated by the local governments, and not by actual counts, the school collapses, with it the failure of the local governments and all the angry parents that protested against the local governments (which I totally understand and support them too). There was also focus on how Chinese scientists did not adequately warn the government that an accident like this could happen and the faultiness of building structures in potential earthquake zones.

I realize that the US media is just reporting the reality of the news, but I wonder why only the tragic and angry stories are being published. This is not new to anyone, China itself and every other country in the world publishes a “one sided” news report. However, this is awful to me, because it means that people in either country can only hear a one-sided view. This allows me to understand how so many Americans whom I have met who have been to China tell me how much they love China and how surprised they are to see that China is so different from what they read, watched, or heard in the US. If people in either country only see one-sided stories, they will only have a one-sided view of the other country’s people and its life. But luckily, over 200 million Chinese now have internet access and many of them can read English, so they can read more Western news. Even though some websites are blocked, CNN, NY Times, Time, and more are not, so you can imagine what Chinese can read about the Western media. Now how about Westerners? How many of them can read Chinese websites such as Sina, Sohu, or a fashion magazine like Bazaar China? Can you imagine what special coverage about the Sichuan earthquake that Bazaar China has covered? Bazaar China has run a poignant series about the earthquake tragedy ranging in topics from shelters for the elderly, how families rebuild after the incident , the sadness of the parents for their children and the general pulling together of the human spirit. There are touching pictures that show children’s backpacks without their owners and military personnel aiding the wounded and carrying them out of the rubble on stretchers, not to mention the solidarity of the Chinese people during the moment of silence in Tiananmen Square or the celebrities like Jackie Chan and Zhang Ziyi gathering to aid the survivors. This is not propaganda, but another side of the human spirit of China that few Westerners see reflected in their media. Can you imagine Bazaar or any other fashion magazine publish such series in the west? I know many people here say China’s media is government’s propaganda, which I agree, but how about Western media? Here is one article I would like to share with you.

Having puzzled on this topic for a few weeks, I finally got excited to see that a few reports about China are subjective and really can help Westerners understand China from different perspectives. First, I saw “Youth and Restless in China,” a documentary film about 9 young Chinese people who come from different background and have different dilemmas, dreams, and hopes.

And NPR’s On the Media Goes to China has a great series about the media in China, which I will discuss further in upcoming blogs. In this series, you can really have a better understanding on how media works in China and if all things you read, heard, watched in the West really represent about China. (You can either read it or download it to listen to it, four stories and a blog).

So here is to hoping that people in both China and the West will have more opportunities to read, listen to, or watch such subjective media reports so we all can have a better understanding of each other!

National College Entry Exam

I still remember when I took the National College Entry Exam in 1981. It was in the hot summer of July 7-9, when the dates had been set for all Chinese high school graduates across the country. All exams from 1979 to 2002 were taken during these three days. They were such important days for all Chinese high school graduates and their families that I don’t think we could ever forget it. So if you ask me when I took that exam, I can tell you without a second thought!

For anyone who has been to China, you know how hot it becomes in early July. Regardless of how hot it was, millions of graduates had to take the exams in sweltering class rooms that did not have fans, much less air conditioning! I cannot use a hand-fan either, because we had to focus on taking the exam. Of course, water was not allowed into the examination room either, so we couldn’t drink anything until the exam was over, one exam lasting 2-3 hours in the morning and another one in the afternoon, totaling 6 exams in 3 days! When it was over, what a relief it was for graduates and their families! Yet, the anxiety would continue because we didn’t know if and which university we could get into! I still remember that there were only 9% of graduates who could go to universities during my time, but now that number of Beijing graduates who attend university has risen to 73% in 2007.

Anyhow, every year people would complain how hot each July was and that such important exams really should not have been taken in such intolerable heat. Finally, in 2003, the government changed the examination date to June 6-9 which is so much cooler than in July. How lucky all these graduates are now, they are allowed to take the exams during cooler months and some classrooms even have electronic fans or air conditioners!

I just received an email from a Chinese teacher who shared these “creative answers” from this year's entry exam for the Chinese language. When I first looked at the questions, I thought they were too difficult for anyone who should fill out blanks. But then I realized that we all have learned these ancient poems and should have known the answers if we had prepared for the exam for so long! When you read some students’ answers you can see the difference from the past to now in how young Chinese students have become so creative and materialistic. They don’t seem to care about whatever answers they could have. Now I have to share this in Chinese because it will be hard to translate these “creative” and "fun" answers!

高考創意答案 看一组语文试卷中的填空题吧—


1，＿＿＿＿＿，为伊消得人憔悴 同学答：宽衣解带终不悔 （正解为“衣带渐宽终不悔”）

2，问渠哪得清如许，＿＿＿＿＿ 同学答：心中自有清泉在 （正解为“唯有源头活水来”，咱还是和水粘了点边）

3，何当共剪西窗烛，＿＿＿＿＿ 同学答：夫妻对坐到天明 （正解为“却话巴山夜雨时”） 4，蚍蜉撼大树，＿＿＿＿＿ 同学答：一动也不动 （正解为“可笑不自量”，一动也不动，赫赫，很符合事实阿）

5，君子成人之美，＿＿＿＿＿ 同学答：小人夺人所爱

6，穷则独善其身，＿＿＿＿＿ 同学答：富则妻妾成群 　（正解：达则兼济天下）

7，＿＿＿＿＿，天下谁人不识君 同学答：只要貌似萨达姆

8，后宫佳丽三千人，＿＿＿＿＿ 同学答：铁棒也会磨成针￣￣￣￣￣￣ （正解为“三千宠爱在一身”）

9，身有彩凤双飞翼，＿＿＿＿＿ 同学答：拔毛凤凰不如鸡 还有个同学答：夫妻双双把家还 （正解为“心有灵犀一点通”）

10，东边日出西边雨，＿＿＿＿＿ 同学答：床头打架床尾合 还有个同学答：上错花轿嫁对郎 11，＿＿＿＿＿，糟糠之妻不下堂 同学答：结发之夫不上床

12，但愿人长久，＿＿＿＿＿ 同学答：一颗永流传 （正解为“千里共婵娟”）

13，西塞山前白鹭飞，＿＿＿＿＿ 同学答：东村河边爬乌龟

14，我劝天公重抖擞，＿＿＿＿＿ 同学答：天公对我吼三吼 （正解为“不拘一格降人才”，龚自珍）

15，天生我才必有用，＿＿＿＿＿ 同学答：关键时刻显神通 又有同学答：老鼠儿子会打洞 16，天若有情天亦老，＿＿＿＿＿ 同学答：人不风流枉少年！ （正解为“月若无恨月长圆”李贺《金铜仙人辞汉歌》）

17，洛阳亲友如相问，＿＿＿＿＿ 同学答：请你不要告诉他 （正解为“一片冰心在玉壶”） 18，期末考试出对联，上联是：英雄宝刀未老 初三同学对下联为：老娘丰韵尤存

19，良药苦口利于病，＿＿＿＿＿ 同学答：不吃才是大傻瓜 人生自古谁无死，＿＿＿＿＿ 同学答：只是死的有先后

20，床前明月光，＿＿＿＿＿ 同学答：李白睡得香

21，管中窥豹，＿＿＿＿＿ 同学答：吓我一跳 （正解为“可见一斑”）

22，＿＿＿＿＿，飞入寻常百姓家 同学答：康佳彩霸电视机

23，葡萄美酒夜光杯，＿＿＿＿＿ 同学答：金钱美人一大堆

24，＿＿＿＿＿，路上行人欲断魂 初一学生的杰作：半夜三更鬼敲门

25，老吾老以及人之老，＿＿＿＿＿ 同学答：妻吾妻以及人之妻 （那个同学特别具有奉献精神）

26，想当年，金戈铁马，＿＿＿＿＿

Beijing in Olympic Time

Only this April when I went back to Beijing did I begin to wonder if it’s really a good idea to be there during the Olympics. I used to be so proud that the Olympics would be held in Beijing and encouraged everyone to visit and experience the exciting atmosphere, even if they weren't going to the Games. I tried to get tickets from both the US and China official ticket agents, but didn't have any luck with that. I didn’t win any lotteries either (yes, it is a lottery process) after I requested the maximum numbers of tickets allowed. But never mind, I still wanted to be in Beijing to witness this life experience!

Then in April, I stood in a two-hour line to apply for a visa in the Chinese Consulate in New York. I was shocked to see the visa office more packed than I’ve seen it in a decade. Very few applicants in front of me got a visa. I heard the clerk tell them that they were missing this or that document. I had never heard such requests before and wondered why China changed its visa policy. In the past, you could obtain a visa without any specific documents, only just by filling out a form. Now, as a tourist, visa applicants must submit the CONFIRMED roundtrip air ticket and paid hotel reservations (a simple reservation is not acceptable). If I visit my family there, I must have them write an official invitation. For business visas, applicants must submit an official original invitation from a Chinese company with the original seal. No fax or email invitation is allowed!

In Beijing, my suppliers told me to make sure all goods were purchased by the end of June. Otherwise, I’d have to wait until September (too late for our Christmas season), because no trucks will be allowed in the city from mid-July to the end of August except those with special licenses for this period. Publishers in Beijing are rushing to print books that are usually done in July and August by the end of June instead, so they can distribute them nationwide in time for the semester starting in September!

For ordinary citizens, if your car's license plates have an odd number, you can drive only on dates with odd numbers, and vice-versa for the even numbers. It might be good for air quality, but it creates enormous inconveniences for people who depend on driving for their day to day activities! The government has also starting knocking on everyone's doors to check IDs. Every resident must have a Beijing ID, and migrant workers must have official permits to work in Beijing. If you can’t show these documents, you have to leave Beijing, no exceptions, and this includes all westerners. Some westerners who have lived in Beijing for a long time must leave because of visa issues. Read this New York Times article to learn more about what’s happening to these westerners.

And of course for visitors, hotel rooms will be the most difficult to get. Either hotels are already overbooked or those that are left are too expensive. Read this New York Times article about this topic. Here is another article about the empty Beijing hotels because Westerners aren't getting visas. I know that many Beijing citizens are renting out their apartments for the Olympic spectaculars and they are charging 1000RMB ($142.00) per night for a one-room apartment! See some sample apartments here.

So now you may understand why I’m not sure if it’s a good time to be in Beijing during the Olympics. Nevertheless, I will be there and I will give you reliable updates on the Beijing scene during that exciting time. For those of you going to Beijing, I really am sure you’ll have lots of fun there. And don’t forget to grab Cityweekend and Timeout Beijing at your hotels or restaurants; they give you the best advice (sorry, much better than any guide books) on everything you need to live in or visit Beijing.

Beijing and Dust

I am disturbed by the New York Times article about Beijing’s dust problem. It is true that Beijing used to "blow sand" in the springtime, but this spring I was there in April and May and didn't witness any “sand” as mentioned in one of my other blog postings.

When I saw the photo with this article, my first reaction was who would dare to come to Beijing if they saw this photo? However, this photo didn’t mention the date it was taken, which makes me wonder if it was from previous years when the weather was worse. In the past, Beijing has had this kind of weather for just a few days a year--never more than 10--and it happens only in spring, never in summer! This weather doesn't appear in summertime, so the Olympics should be safe from sand storms!

The author also said dust “seeps and creeps and glides and slides across the floor, under the door and all around the walls” in his apartment and that “it’s like living in a beach house.” I wonder why he lives there if the dust problem is unbearable. Beijing does have dust, but not so much it merits the critique of a “beach house.” If Beijing is so dusty and unpleasant to live in, how can 15 million people live there, including more than 100,000 westerners? Some of my American friends have lived in Beijing for more than 20 years; how could they possibly survive if their living rooms are “sandy beaches?” When I left Beijing for the US this past April, I ran into an American high school principal at the airport who had just visited China with his family. He and his wife told me what a wonderful time they had and how much they love China and Beijing in particular. I've met many school administrators across the United States who, upon their return from Beijing, have told everyone they love Beijing and want to go back. If the air in Beijing is so bad, why would they want to do that?

To be fair, in Beijing, I do have to wipe my tables once a day and mop the floors every 2 or 3 days; otherwise, you see dust everywhere. Here are two pictures I took in Beijing, one during spring and the other during summer 2007. Are these like the ones you see with the New York Times article?

Is all this dust coming from factories around Beijing and the increasing number of cars on the street? Read this blog to understand where all this dust actually comes from. I really hope someone can offer better solutions than closing down factories, banning trucks from the city, or driving cars only on even or odd days in July and August in Beijing!

In short, I hope you don't pass up a fabulous time in Beijing because of what you saw in this New York Times article. It is dusty there, but it is not as described!

My Stylish Olympics

Can Olympic clothes be fashionable? Most people certainly don't associate fashion and the Olympics! I remember when I first told a friend that ChinaSprout was the official licensee for the Beijing Olympic products. She said, “That’s great! But I am not interested in any sporty fashions.” Wow, that wasn't what I had in mind when I worked so hard to get that license! I am a person who isn't typically interested in athletic wear, but the Beijing Olympic products this year are so unique they defy traditional sports wear.

The range of Beijing Olympics products is exceptional this year! I would say more than 80% of products in all categories aren't sports-related, but have more to do with Chinese culture. Check out these accessories, home décor, toys, and stationery.

Have you ever seen such Olympic products during any other Olympic games? This is truly a first. Beijing 2008 Olympic products focus on Chinese culture, a theme illustrated in every item. Look at this T-shirt, decorated with sports pictograms that look like Chinese calligraphy. And this shirt is printed with Chinese peonies.

Few people associate the Olympics with jewelry, but these accessories are unique and elegant with Chinese elements that coordinate easily with any outfit.

And these thermoses and mugs are designed with mascots that children and adults alike love.

The mascot for the Paralympics is so cute that some children sleep with it! I didn’t carry this mascot until one woman told me how much her daughter loved the Paralympic mascot, but not the Olympic mascots. She bought one in Beijjing for her daughter and now all her cousins want it, too.

For all these reasons, ChinaSprout is the only official licensee in the US that imports these products from China. Of course, to promote the Olympic spirit and Chinese culture, we became part of CCTV’s exciting program “My Stylish Olympics.” I was honored to be invited to Beijing in May to attend the opening ceremony. You can see the photos and watch the video below! Here is a short film broadcast on CCTV. Enjoy!

Watching Chinese Movies to Learn Chinese

Throughout the years, many Chinese teachers have told me that Chinese movies help students learn the language. Based on this advice, I decided to carry some Chinese movies, yet not many teachers ordered them. I really don’t know if I responded to requests that may not appeal to most teachers or students in general, or if I got the wrong films or if the prices are not right. Can you let me know?

Drawing from my personal experience, when I ask my son, who is bilingual in Chinese and English, to watch Disney films, Chinese TV or DVDs in Chinese both here in the US and when we are back in China, it turns out that he either tries to switch the DVD into English or is not interested in watching them. When asked why, he said he didn’t understand most of them and it was not "fun"! So I gave up pressing him to watch Chinese movies.

The exception came last August, when we were in China and watching a TV program called “Jia You Er Nu” (Home with Kids). My son was glued to the television set and did not want to do anything else. He watched this series non-stop and even I began watching with him too. I found myself hooked on the show too. When I asked him why he liked the series, he said it was really fun and he could relate to the topics that the children on the show were talking about.

The question that I kept tossing around in my head was why he didn’t relate to Disney films, but understood Jia You Er Nu? It puzzled me, but then I realized the stories and the daily life around this family are current day situations and somehow relate to my son’s life. The moral of this story is simple: find a story that a child can relate to and you have a loyal audience for your show.

I set out to look for other films, cartoons and movies that children might relate to.

Flashempire
Although it is a website for designers who specialize in flash animation, the animations posted on that site are really fun and easy to understand. Each animation is not that long, so it is great for students who know limited Chinese or don’t have much time to finish longer films.

TuDou.com (Chinese YouTube)
Another great site like YouTube where people can post all different kinds of videos that they make themselves. Short and fun, students learn Chinese but also get a great glimpse of what life in China is like.

Can you recommend any websites or movies that you think will help students learn Chinese?

Days of Mourning

Now that I've been in Beijing for two full days, all the dramatic stories I've heard, read, and seen about earthquake victims and rescue efforts make me realize how great the Chinese are together and how small I am as an individual. Here are just a few stories I want to share:

Yesterday I heard many Beijing residents talk about adopting newly orphaned children from the earthquake region. They mentioned they really want to support and love these children because they know how much they need families. Orphans from the Tangshan earthquake 32 years ago also shared their memories of learning they'd lost their parents. On one hand, they were sad and lonely, but they also felt lucky to receive support from the government, schools, and relatives. One woman told about raising her four sisters and brothers (she was 17 at the time) and about all the difficulties they encountered as orphans. When the siblings heard about Sichuan earthquake, they immediately contacted each other. One sister wanted to rush to Sichuan to help the children—to feed them, tuck them into bed, and keep them warm and loved.

A father hadn't seen his son, a high school senior, for four years since leaving to work in another region. Upon hearing about the earthquake, he hurried back to the school and found soldiers searching for survivors under the collapsed building. He told them he desperately wanted to see his son, alive or not. Finally the soldiers found his son under a huge column, but it was too late to save him. Still, they spent five hours removing the column so the father could see his son! The man was so moved by the soldiers' efforts, he thanked them again and again.

One young woman, engaged to be married in June, was trapped in a collapsed building. Her fiance heard her voice and urged her to hold on while soldiers rescued her. He asked her if she wanted a Chinese-style or Western-style wedding, and what kind of clothes she'd wear at the ceremony. He told her she shouldn't give up and would make it out alive. After one day's effort, she did!

In a particularly poignant story, a 9-year-old boy was pulled from a collapsed building after people heard him crying. As a rescue worker carried the boy to another location, a man in the crowd suddenly shouted the child's name. "Dad!" the boy cried in response. Everyone was so moved; they asked the father why he was helping to rescue other people instead of only looking for his son. The man said he wanted to save everyone he could and if he did that for others, surely someone would save his boy in return. As they walked back home, they met the man's wife on the street. So this family of three was united even as they helped others around them!

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of touching stories, but all I can share now is this common attitude among the Chinese: If we have a 1% chance to save lives or even find victims, we will make a 100% effort and more. Every one of us is standing with the quake victims and making every effort to support, help, and be with them.

The three days of mourning are almost over. I am listening to the radio now, to sad and beautiful poems and songs dedicated to the victims. This is the first music I've heard on the radio during these days, and it is beautiful and profoundly moving. The familiar songs of my childhood have become the most suitable requiem and powerful voice for the victims. These songs will always be with them and with us, too.

Earthquake update from China

I just arrived in Beijing a few hours ago. Today is the first day of National Mourning for quake victims. The minute I got in the taxi, all I heard on the car radio was about the mourning across the country and how so many people want to donate and volunteer. A live program reported on Beijing residents donating medicine, food, and toiletry products to the Sichuan earthquake area. The program host spoke with the Red Cross director in Sichuan and asked what Sichuan needed most. Listeners were asked to donate those products, and people crowded one bus station where all the donated goods were gathered for delivery to Sichuan. Hundreds of volunteers there helped drivers load delivery trucks. Some parents even took their children to the site to help and experience this aid firsthand

I called my friends as soon as I got home. All we talk about is the quake and the mourning. One girlfriend told me she has been crying every day, but also volunteering every day. Another asked me how the Western media reports on this tragedy and what Westerners think of China's rescue efforts. I was totally moved by all these conversations. I'd have never imagined people in the whole country, even though they don't have friends or relatives in Sichuan, consider this their personal tragedy. I later heard on the radio that at 2:28 this afternoon (the earthquake happened on May 12, 2:28 p.m.), the whole country stopped doing everything for mourning for three minutes, even all the cars, trains and boats! The radio stations interview people across the country, and everyone tells their own emotional stories about how they mourn, how they consider this a personal loss and how they're helping, donating, volunteering, and supporting victims. All the poetry and talks dedicated to victims and survivors leave us all in tears. One live radio show even reported on the mourning in the Chinese consulate in New York. The Chinese in China and overseas are all united in mourning while continuing to pour support and donations to the quake region. This tragedy has really evoked amazing strength and unity in China, unlike anything I've ever seen! I'll keep you posted in the coming week.

To learn more about the mourning, please click here.

My Own Earthquake Memories

When I first heard about the earthquake Monday morning from the radio, I immediately asked myself, “Is this the year of the dragon?” I can never forget the year of the dragon in 1976. So many things happened that year in China, and we all thought it was because the dragon shook the earth!

On a hot July night in 1976, we’d fallen into deep sleep when suddenly I awoke to the noise of rattling windows. I felt the apartment building shaking, too. I immediately thought it was an earthquake. By then, my whole family was up and we quickly ran outside. Luckily, none of buildings in our Beijing neighborhood collapsed. We were all safe but couldn’t go back inside. Many of our neighbors didn’t have much clothing on, but we were too scared to go back because of the aftershocks. We stayed outside all night.

The next morning we learned that the earthquake’s epicenter was in Tangshan, not far from Beijing. Many people were buried under collapsed buildings and all of Tangshan was almost gone! At that time, we didn’t have all these rescue teams and donations as we’ve seen this week. We felt so helpless. People in Beijing didn’t go to work that week. Since it was summer break, we didn’t go to school, either. We were told we shouldn’t sleep in the buildings. So we all moved out and set up temporary tents to sleep outside, just like you see in the pictures from Sichuan now. It also rained heavily the next night and following days, just like what happened in Sichuan!

After a few nights of sleeping in the tents with heavy rain, I got a very bad mosquito bite (we used to think it was from a poison mosquito) and my whole arm became swollen. I went to the hospital and received emergency treatment from the doctors. A few weeks passed, and we still slept outside under those tents. Having worried so much about an earthquake happening again, every family started building their own earthquake-resistant houses, of course, with support from local government. These one-room houses were simple: brick walls, a rubber roof and one door. We all built such houses and were prepared to live there if aftershocks came again. After that, many earthquake-resistant houses could be seen throughout Beijing, but in the 1980s all of them were ordered to be removed.

Now the 7.9 earthquake happened in Sichuan, bringing to mind the official announcement of 7.6 in Tangshan in 1976 (actually it was 8.3). I watch as scenes unfold similar to those I experienced in 1976, like setting up temporary tents, heavy rain, people afraid to go back in the buildings … but I also see many unfamiliar scenes that didn’t exist in 1976. Now you can learn about everything happening in the region from Chinese TV, newspapers and the Internet. People are donating money and volunteering to travel to the region to help. When I called my girlfriend in Beijing, she said she was going to donate blood. Yesterday’s New York Times also commented on how the Chinese government reacted so differently than other natural disasters.

Here’s a heartbreaking article in today’s New York Times. I have trouble even reading these stories and looking at images of those children. Messages from my friend describing scenes in Wenchun are almost unbearable. But I know there are lessons to be learned. My first reaction is to wonder why the buildings are so vulnerable even though the government issued building codes to prevent earthquake damage? Were these codes applied only in the Beijing area because what happened there in 1976? Why there was no forecast about the earthquake even though we learned from Tangshan how important it is? Maybe we’ve all forgotten what happened three decades ago or thought it would never happen to us again. I still remember hearing that lots of children became orphans and many parents lots their children in Tangshan. I thought that the area could never recover. But here is what you see now.

In response to this tragedy, I’m donating a portion of all ChinaSprout’s sales from now through May 31st to China Red Cross. Your purchases will help people in Sichuan recover from this disaster. If you’d like to make donations to be used for earthquake disaster relief, here is a list of organizations that will accept donations:

Red Cross Society of China
CITIC Bank Beijing, China
Account # 7112111482600000209
Hotline: (8610) 65139999
Online donations: Red Cross Society of China website: http://www.redcross.org.cn/

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English and Chinese Grammar

Recently I've noticed my son makes lots of grammatical mistakes in his homework. While I corrected some of them, I remember his teacher told us that parents shouldn't correct students' homework. So, I left some mistakes for the teachers to correct.

But when I get the homework back, there are only check marks and no corrections. I'm puzzled. Should I correct the mistakes or should the teachers correct them? If nobody corrects these mistakes, how can students learn to write correctly? Is this the American way of teaching, free and creative? (Sorry, every time I see things like this, I compare American and Chinese education.) Or is it just that my son didn't learn grammar well and his teachers don't correct mistakes?

When I first came to the US and asked people about grammar, many of them said they hadn't learned grammar or didn't know much about it. But when I learned English in China, all we learned was grammar. We had so many grammar drills, just like Chinese character drills. We knew the ins and outs of English grammar; that's how it helps us speak, understand, read, and write English. I cannot imagine how I could communicate in English if I didn't learn grammar.

Why do we have to learn English grammar? Because the Chinese language doesn't have much grammar. (I am sure some Chinese professors disagree with me!) It's not the kind of complex grammar used in English and other Roman languages. For example, we don't have past tense, past perfect tense, and future tense. Everything is present tense. For example, we say word by word in Chinese "we go school," "we yesterday go school," "we tomorrow go school." Also, verbs stay the same with different pronouns, such as "I go school," "he go school," "she go school," "we go school." You notice we don't use "to" to connect verbs and nouns or two verbs. We just say "I want go school!" See how simple Chinese grammar is? If you know those basic words, you can easily make sentences.

So in dealing with my son's grammatical errors, I really don't know how much schools here teach grammar and how kids learn it. I also realize some people born and educated in the US really don't know how to write English well. I wonder if it's because of the overall education or simply because they didn't learn grammar. Do you think schools should teach grammar more thoroughly? How can I imrove my son's grammar?

Shop with me in Beijing (Continued)

Continuing with my last posting about my shopping trip in Beijing, here is one great moment captured at the antique market that I would like to share with you.

In the antique market, you see lots of young children with their parents, playing, eating, and sleeping at the market (actually the market opens only on Saturdays and Sundays from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.). Here a little boy from Yuannan province plays alongside his mother, who is selling embroidered blankets, tablecloths, and bags! Which do you like best?

You'll also find puppets at the antique market. Can you find ones we sell?

I found this dragon puppet and do hope you like it too. But I'm not sure if I should get all the colors. Here are the ones we sell, let me know if we should carry the other two colors, too.

These are all porcelain, and I'm hesitant to carry those vases because I worry they are too fragile and too big to ship. What do you think?

Do you see anything we sell here?

Here are more brushes. So far we carry only non-professional brushes. Do you need professional ones?

Look at these jade bracelets. Chinese love jade, but I'm not sure if Westerners do. That's why we don't carry very many jade products. Do you wish our jade selection was bigger?

I don't think we'll all learn to play these instruments, but they'd make great home decor pieces. Unfortunately, they're too fragile to ship around, so let's just enjoy this photo!

That's all the photos and highlights I have to share from my latest shopping adventure. Next time, I promise to bring back more. I've enjoyed sharing my experiences with you, and would love to hear your feedback!

Shop with me in Beijing!

My first surprise when I arrived in Beijing for a weeklong shopping trip in April was the massive new Beijing Airport Terminal 3. I’ve traveled around the world and seen many big airports, but I really have not seen any single terminal as big as this one. I was also impressed with the combination of Western contemporary architecture (glass and columns) with traditional Chinese elements (a red roof and golden colors). This New York Times article explains just how I felt about this architectural wonder.

I usually don’t like to go to Beijing in April because it is a very windy season (we don’t call it “wind,” we call it “blowing sand”) and it is cold at home (all heat is automatically turned off March 15th every year in the whole city, except for hotels). But surprisingly this year, it didn’t “blow sand” and was very warm. I could go out every day, come home clean, and stay warm!

My shopping trips in Beijing are always hectic and productive, but my assistants there find them stressful and unbearable because I shop from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day. After that, I either go to the book stores to look for new books until 9 p.m. or meet my family members and friends until 11 p.m. Then I start working with my ChinaSprout colleagues in New York until 1 or 2 a.m. So for sure, these shopping trips can be stressful for me too.

Since I was a little too productive while shopping, I didn’t get a chance to take photos in all the markets I visited, but at least I did remember in some places. Here are some I want to share with you:

Tea Market
All the tea we sell at ChinaSprout is from this vendor in Beijing’s enormous tea market. The first time I went there, I couldn’t decide which one to buy from because there are hundreds, if not thousands, of vendors selling tea. Each of them asked me to try their tea. Finally I sat down in this little tea house and started chatting with this lady and her husband. Not only did they have good tea, they are very nice people. I felt I could trust them! So since then, I only buy tea from them. Hope you enjoy their tea too.

In the tea market, I also saw this little girl on the trolley drawing and writing Chinese characters. I asked her which grade she is in. She said she is not in school yet, but she just loves to practice writing! I wish my son did the same!

Fabric Market
Have you noticed most of our children’s clothes are designed by ChinaSprout? How? Let me show you! First, I visit the market to select the fabrics.

Then I meet with our tailor, and together we design the dresses or jackets. We’ve made many samples but select only a few to offer our customers. See the fabric I selected this time?

Here are the dresses . How do you like them?

Antique Market
It is called Antique Market, but most products there are not antiques. I buy many craft items there. You see our ink and brush vendor and painting vendors? Find anything that we sell?

I saw these cute clay figures, but I’m not sure if we will carry them. What do you think?

Anyway, I shopped all these markets in about two-thirds of a day. I’ll show you more shopping spree photos in my next posting. Now that you’ve seen these photos and learned that I shop ‘til I drop, would you want to shop with me in Beijing?

New York Rally to support the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

Nearly 10,000 Chinese students, scholars and Chinese Americans held a peaceful rally May 4 in New York to support the Beijing Olympics and denounce attempts to sabotage the sporting event. You can listen to the speech from the City Councilman John Liu.

Take a look at pictures and watch the video clip about the rally in New York City. Here’s a variety of media coverage about this rally!

• Thousands to Rally in New York to Support Beijing Olympics
  
• Chinese rally in New York to support Olympics
  
• Huge rally held in New York in support of Beijing Olympics
• The Propaganda on Propaganda – Blog

Why is it called ChinaSprout?

I often get compliments about ChinaSprout's name. A lot of people say it's a cute name, while a few have asked if we sell vegetables! Of course, many want to know who thought of the name and why.

I studied marketing in an MBA program and know how important it is for a company to have a good name. When I was thinking to start the business, I considered lots of names. First I thought we should have a name like Friendship Store or Arts and Crafts Store in Beijing. (They were the main department stores where Westerners shopped in Beijing at the time.) Then I decided they weren't good choices because they don't have "China" in the name, and they don't sound right for a place selling educational products. Since I wanted to help adoptive parents and their children learn about China, I often thought of those children as "sprouts." These "sprouts" from China are growing up in the US. When I asked my friends about the name ChinaSprout, they all liked it (no one thought it meant selling vegetables) and ChinaSprout was born!

Interestingly, a few years later my son started preschool at a place called Beansprouts. When we decided to send him there, we didn't think much about the name. But then we realized it is another "Sprout." And then we also realized my son's Chinese name is Shimeng – sprout of the world. What a coincidence!

Now ChinaSprout has grown up, but we keep the name because lots of things continue to sprout from China, like the Chinese language and Chinese culture. I hope we will always stay fresh, young, and growing!

Chinese Characters – Simplified or Traditional

Chinese is already a difficult foreign language to learn, as Level IV compares with Level I Spanish and French. We make it even more complicated by talking about simplified or traditional characters.

Traditional characters are the original Chinese characters standardized since the 5th century in China, and they’re currently used in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Simplified characters were introduced in the 1950s in mainland China and are used in China, Singapore and by the United Nations. People who come from or have lived or visited in either region seem to have strong feelings for which characters to use. They have endless good reasons why students should learn one version or the other. Traditional characters advocates say traditional characters represent Chinese culture, Chinese calligraphy can only look good with traditional characters, and if you learn the traditional version first, it will be easier to learn the simplified version later. Advocates of simplified characters say you should learn the version that most Chinese use. If you go to China, you see only simplified characters, and they’re much easier to learn. So who is right and whom we shall listen to? In my opinion, they both are right, but you still have to decide which version to learn. It really doesn’t matter which comes first or whether you learn only one. That’s because if you have a good foundation of either, you can learn both – even if you don’t master both. Why?

Do you know there are only “350 singly simplified characters, whose simplifications cannot be generalized to other characters” and only “132 simplified characters and 14 simplified radicals, which can all be generalized to other characters?” To learn more about this, please click here This means fewer than 500 Chinese characters actually have different forms among 5,000 characters that we use on a daily basis. And if you read Chinese daily and see both versions here and there, you can automatically read either of them. I am from mainland China and have learned only simplified characters, but I can read traditional characters without any problem, even though I cannot write them. Likewise, my suppliers in Taiwan and Hong Kong learned only traditional characters, but they have no problem reading my hand-written simplified characters. You may have heard some Chinese say that they cannot read simplified or traditional characters. I have to say, it is not that they can’t, it is that they don’t want to. If they want, they can!

I have also heard some teachers saying that we don’t need to teach Chinese characters, that Pinyin is enough for students to understand and speak Chinese. They say if students really need to know the characters, they can type Pinyin on the computer and pick the right ones. I am not sure I agree. Writing can help you memorize the characters, and if you only type Pinyin a few times and choose characters from the screen, how will you remember them? If you cannot recognize Chinese characters, you can’t even read street signs in China or in Chinatown. So choose whichever version you think best for your Chinese learning/teaching endeavor. In the end, you’ll know both characters and can read endless street signs in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Singapore!

To learn more about Chinese characters, visit Wikipedia’s Chinese character site, a great page with everything you want to know about the Chinese characters.

Top 5 Things To Know About the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

1.) Auspicious Starting Date
In the Chinese culture, certain numbers are believed to be fortuitious because they sound like the qualities that bring good luck. The number eight “ba” sounds similar to the word that means “prosper” or “wealth”. Because of the auspiciousness associated with this number, people often go to great length to choose them for street addresses, phone numbers and bank account numbers. For this reason, the Beijing Games will start at 8:08:08 pm on the eighth day of the eighth month in 2008, the best way to try and ensure its luck and success.

2.) “Dancing Beijing” Emblem
Every Olympics city emblem has always had a symbolic meaning to it. The “Dancing Beijing” emblem is a Chinese seal that stands for peace, friendship and progress of mankind. The dancing man in the center of the emblem is inspired from Chinese calligraphy, with the latter character of the city’s name “Jing” that is the form of the dancing man. His open arms in the emblem say that China is opening its arms to welcome the rest of the world to join the Olympics in a celebration of “peace, friendship and progress of mankind”. Red is the color of this seal, which is the traditional Chinese color of happiness and good luck.

3.) The Five Friendlies
Not just cute fuzzy friends, the Official Mascots of the Beijing Olympics are called “Fuwa”, whose name signifies friendship, peace and good wishes to children worldwide. Not only do they draw their color from the Olympic rings, the Fuwa also embody the natural characteristics of four of China’s most popular animals – the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow – and the Olympic Flame. Each of Fuwa has a rhyming two-syllable name – a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China. Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow. When you put their names together – Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni, which means “Welcome to Beijing” in Chinese.

4.) A Slogan That Unites All
The slogan of “One World, One Dream” illustrates the essence of the Olympic spirit, which is unity, friendship, progress, harmony, participation and dreams. A pursuit of harmony between Man and Nature and building a harmonious society have always been the fundamentals of Chinese philosophy. “One World, One Dream” conveys the idea of the Beijing Olympics as a way for China to share with the world their dream of peaceful development in a harmonious, happy society.

5.) The Interlocking Rings
Baron de Coubertin, the founder of the Olympics, believed that the rings had great significance as the symbol of the union between men. The five rings, blue, yellow, black, green and red, represent the five parts of the world that compete against each other in the Olympics. Their colors are those that appear in all the different national flags at the founding of the Olympic Games in 1894.

Endless Things to Say About Education

Just like any parent, I have endless things to say on the topic of education, specifically Chinese education. I am not an expert in either field but would like to share my experiences, thoughts, and knowledge with you. I also have many questions about these issues and hope to get answers from our readers.

First, everyone is aware of the importance that the Chinese place on their children’s education. I would like to share this article with you about a 5 year old girl’s education in Beijing. As you see in this article, unlike kids in the US who go to boarding schools beginning from middle school, it is a common practice for Chinese parents to send their children to such schools at a much younger age. Of course, not all the best schools are boarding schools, but this is a perfect example of the stress that Chinese parents place on their children regarding education. Nowadays, Chinese children not only spend about seven hours every day in school, but also about two hours finishing their homework. In addition, many children go to different classes to learn piano, swimming, karate (yes, not Kungfu) Olympics math, Oxford English, you name it, everything that can keep children learning, learning and learning! These kids are lucky if they can finish everything by 9 p.m. This routine is common to almost all children in cities across China. There is very little recreational time left for them.

When I was young, we also had to study very hard, with long school hours and lots of homework that consisted of endless math drills and Chinese character practice. But at least there were no piano, swimming, karate, Olympic math, and Oxford English classes, and of course, there was no TV either, so I had quite a lot of time to play games such as jump rope, Ping-Pong, badminton, hopscotch and more. Unfortunately, these days, I don’t see children in China playing such things anymore. They either study endless hours, or they play GameBoys and watch TV in their little spare time.

Having witnessed my son growing up in the American educational system, I often wonder which one is better and if we can combine the better parts of two educations. American education encourages children to learn not only from textbooks, classes and homework, but applies these methods in such a way that they can also be fun, engaging, creative and open-minded – all the things we have not yet learned in China. Yet, sometimes, I also wonder if all these fun activities can really build solid foundations in which children can grow up to be successful in the workplace and compete in a competitive global environment. Then I look at every advanced technology and innovations worldwide and notice that the majority of them are American-invented. So I really don’t know if I should push my son toward Chinese or American education. How will my son compete when he grows up if he doesn’t learn basic math skills at school? Or when he feels that a half-hour’s homework is too much, and if he thinks that writing a Chinese character 10 times to memorize it is considered suffering. If only he went through what I did with writing whole pages of them in grid-books. Oh, I have not mentioned, he attends one of the best public schools in the city, he does get some fours (not all fours as I wished) in his report cards, and he always gets 90+ for his Chinese tests. (Of course, I would be even happier if he gets 100. I know I am very Chinese in this perspective, even though I do believe learning Chinese should be fun!) I have been discussing these issues with my Chinese and American friends and still have not found all the answers. I guess I will know it when