Getting Around in China

Thought I’d write a little about getting around in China. We have found traffic to be a huge problem in all the cities we have been in. With this many people, I guess it is unavoidable. Our guide said that the government is trying to implement policies to discourage cars.  The registration fees are very high and they are trying to expand mass transit. It also does not seem that people follow traffic laws. It has been very harrowing to be a pedestrian in all three cities. They just do not stop for people crossing the street. Our guide suggested that we cross in a group with a number of Chinese people. Pretty weird to have walk lights and crosswalks that drivers ignore. I used to think of large numbers of Chinese people on bicycles on the streets. Still quite a few bikes, but scooters have replaced the bikes. Also was disturbing to see infants and little kids riding on the scooters with their parents but without helmets. I am posting some photos to give you an idea of the various forms of transportation I have seen. Some of these are taken through the bus window and not always as clear as I'd like, but hopefully they will give you an idea.

Tanxia Town Center School

I want to go back and share what was, for me,  one of the greatest highlights of this trip. In the afternoon on Wednesday, October 20 we visited the school at Tanxia Town Center. Tanxia Town is made up of 14 village communities and one neighborhood committee. The school was established in 1908. This school has 1081 students and 67 teaching faculty. The class size is around 50 and has pre-K through grade 6. When we arrived, the principal was at the entrance gate to meet us with a student marching band. They greeted us with a rousing marching band song.  They then marched into the school yard. All the students were out on the balconies or at the classroom doors (3 floors- courtyard style buildings) waving and cheering to us.  Many of us had tears, myself included.  They were so genuinely excited to have American visitors, their was an electricity in the air.  We climbed the three flights of outdoor stairs, each level stopping to wave at the students. Although I can’t capture this for you, it was truly a memorable experience for all of us.  The students had actually extended their day for a couple hours to accommodate our schedule. That means parents met their students later and were also very excited to greet the American delegation. We met with the teachers first and then saw either a science class or an English class. I went to the 4^th grade science class where they were investigating filtration systems to clean particles out of water. The students were pretty engaged given they have 48 kids in the class! They were seated in groups of 6. One student seemed to be the lab leader. Students did not collect data or write anything down. They simply observed and participated in the teacher led discussion.  I think many of us will want to keep in touch with this school.

Legend of Kung Fu

Last night we went to the Shanghai Acrobats Show.  As I said in a previous post it was very entertaining, the performers were amazing athletes and the show was visually stunning.  However, last Thursday night in Beijing, we had the option of attending the Legend of Kung Fu. This was not included as part of the tour activities, so only about 8 of us went. I am so glad that I chose to go. This was the ancient story of the little monk who arrives at the monastry as a small boy  and travels his journey through life until he becomes the master. It was more visually stunning than last night’s show. I was so impressed with the performers. It was like attending an operatic ballet. It was amazing and I will include a couple photos from that experience here. The Red Theater is where the show is performed.

Shanghai American School

Today was our final school visit of the trip. It was a completely different experience from any of the previous experiences. This was the Shanghai American School(SAS). It is a private, non-profit school serving approximately 2900 students on two campuses on opposite sides of the city. We visited the Puxi campus where we were lunch guests of the school. We ate lunch on a plaza outside the Performing Arts building overlooking the campus, which was quite beautiful. The school is governed by the parents who are mostly expatriates, including corporate people and diplomats. This is a very culturally diverse population, but all of a high socio-economic level.  All students are on college track. We visited middle school and high school classes. I have to say it was pretty traditional teaching in most of the classes I observed.  They do, however, have a lot of resources. They have a one to one student to laptop policy, so I did see that in some classes, everything was paperless. The teacher’s course was on moodle and the kids did all their written lab work on the computer. Then they submit their completed work to the teacher who scores it and returns it to the students electronically.  One teacher talked to us and described the students as Third culture kids: Their family culture, the culture from the country they live in and the SAS culture.  The school campus serves as a community for the students since they do not have a lot of opportunity for community beyond the school.  I have included photos of the school name at the gate, the outside of the middle school building and the entrance area to one of the buildings on campus.

Middle School Students working on science invesitigations 

Two middle school soccer players heading to practice

Move to Shanghai

We left Guilin this morning for Shanghai. This is a city of 20 million and is not the largest city in China! The largest city is Chongqing with a population of 30 million. Those numbers are just staggering to me! I discovered there are two airports here. We flew into the old airport, but will fly out of the new airport, Pudon International Airport on Saturday. It took us 30 minutes to get to our hotel which is amaxingly elegant, by the way.  Our local guide said that the same trip would have taken 4 hours 15 years ago when their were few bridges and no superhighways.  Actually I was sorry to leave Guilin. Needed more time to explore this area.  We flew South China airlines. One new experience for me was right before landing they switched the broadcast system to a set of Tai Chi exercises to re-energize our bodies after the flight experience. Very cool.  Tonight we sampled the Shanghai cuisine which is sweeter than what we have been accustomed to in our other locations. After dinner we attended a Chinese acrobat show which was pretty amazing. Then back to the Jinjiang Hotel which is rather European in décor. I guess many dignitaries have stayed here over the years. Presidents Carter, Nixon, and Reagan were among the famous people listed.

Chinese Education System

Thought I’d write a few things about the Chinese education system that we have learned to this point.  China has nine years of compulsory education, grades 1-9. Many parents send their kids to preschool and kindergarten if they can afford it. It seems that the Chinese people are very conscious of the need for education.  After they complete the ninth grade, they have two choices: High School or Vocational School. A few do not go on, but it sounds like the vast majority select one of these options, which parents do have to pay for. Our guide said that there is a problem with the compulsory education system in that there are many things that are not paid for some families find the expenses a real burden and can’t always send their children. Parents are very concerned about how their child ranks in the classes. If they are ranked lower on a continuous basis, they often take them out of school. They feel it is “losing face”. The special needs stduents go to separate schools and they do not have gifted programs. Those who are considered gifted go right on to the university. They seem to find it odd that we do this differently.  

In the urban areas, the elementary teachers teach only one subject in the elementary grades. They feel the teacher can better prepare with the single focus.  In rural areas, teachers maay teach multiple subjects. The required subjects in all Chinese schools are Chinese, English, and Mathematics.  They do not have as much time devoted to science as these subjects. From the teachers we have been able to ask it sounds like science is taught anywhere from 3-5 times per week depending on the school. They do have a strong emphasis on science starting in middle school. Middle school students have 1 years of physical science, one of chemistry and 2 of biology before high school. In high school all students have 3 years of physics, 2 of biology and 1 of chemistry before graduation. 

I have include a couple photos from our visit yesterday to a rural school  in Tanxia Town Center School. That visit was a highlight of my trip to date. There were 48 4^th grade students in this class!! I will write more about that in another post.

School Lunches

My grandson wondered what Chinese students had for school lunches, so here is what I found out. Students may bring lunch from home, purchase lunch in the dining hall or go home for lunch if they are within walking distance. If they bring their lunches from home, common items include pot stickers, rice noodles with vegetables such as eggplant, lotus stems, broccoli, and carrots. They would usually have fresh fruit such as watermelon, dragon fruit, bananas, papaya. Common school lunches would include fired rice, or rice and a meat such as pork or duck, rice noodles, and fruit.