Saturday, July 19, 2014

Chongqing!

We made it to Chongqing! After four days in Xi'an we have arrived in the furnace. Chongqing means double celebrations in Chinese. The city was built in the 11th century BC. Chongqing is the biggest city in terms of area and population. Chongqing is unbearably hot during the summer. The surrounding mountains seem to trap the heat. Also known as fog city, Chongqing is covered with a thick layer of fog for an average of 68 days a year. Chongqing also lies on the Yangtze River, one of the most important rivers in all of Asia. 

Today was a very busy day. We had three   presentations, one museum visit, a welcome banquet then we went on a river cruise. 

Our first speech was on the Gaokao. The Gaokao is the test students take at the end of high school to determine whether or not they are college material and if so what school they are eligible for. This is the most important examination in China and as we heard it determines there whole life. The information I am relaying is from professor Wang Yong who was very entertaining and informative. Students spend there last year in high school preparing for the Gaokao. A typical day involves a student getting up before 6. Reading the morning then breakfast. The students then attend five periods. Then they have lunch and then attend another four periods. Finally there is supper another three periods and some students stay up studying. I will certainly be relaying this to my students when they complain about school or homework : )

Over 3 days students take the Gaokao exam. Gaokao is important for a person, for Chinese society and the whole family. China has a long tradition of selecting talent or officials through nation wide examinations. The civil service examinations lasted for 1300 years, until 1905. The Gaokao was created in 1949 after the Communists took over. From 1966-77 the Gaokao ceased during the cultural revolution. Students were selected based on political and family backgrounds rather than academic achievements. In 1977 the Gaokao resumed. Only 4.8% of students taking the exam were accepted into college. Today that number has ballooned to 25%. Chinese students have greatly enlarged there enrollment to meet demand. 

Reforms on the content and form of the exam have never stopped. The ministry of education designs the exam with the assistance of teachers and professors. Some individual provinces are permitted to customize there own exams, mostly on the east coast of course. There are also specific tests depending on what your interest is. 

There is concerns and problems with the Gaokao. There is leaking of exam content, cheating through bribery and other abuses are still being exposed periodically. There has also been cases of a student paying for another student to take the exam for him or her. 

There is also problems with regional discrimination. A large portion of students in colleges come from Beijing or Shanghai. Beijing and Shanghai students are admitted to good universities with scores far below those from other provinces. 

Students from underdeveloped regions are given subsidies or assistance to attend college. However we learned at a previous meeting that it is minimal, free lunch. Special concessions are given to members of ethnic minorities, foreign nationals, persons with family origin in Taiwan and children of military casualties. Ethnic minorities are also given a ten point bonus on the Gaokao. However this still has not solved the inequity challenges faced amongst minority students, rural students or students from the western provinces. As far as I can tell anyway. 

A major problem with the Gaokao is the enormous pressure felt amongst Chinese students. "Most pressure packed examination in the world". There is tremendous competition amongst Chinese students. One of the buzz words we keep hearing is innovation. China needs to be more innovative and students need to be more innovative. Well the problem is that Chinese students are unwilling to help there fellow students and share ideas with them because they are competing with them for the best Gapkao score. Very informative presentation on the Gaokao and I feel more aware of the positives and negatives of this type of system. 

The second presentation we heard was by the same professor which I was happy about. The professor spoke good English, had short PowerPoint slides and injected humor. The second presentation detailed the local history of Chongqing. 
Chongqing reminds me of Pittsburgh for it is very hilly and there is a confluence of rivers. There are also many bridges in this city. Pittsburgh is of course nowhere near the size of this city I am just referring to the geography. 

Chongqing was an important port city. Products from the west were and are brought to Chongqing where they then make there way to Shanghai. There was a settlement nearby during the old Stone Age. In 1890 the British Consulate General opened in Chongqing. This became the first inland port open to foreigners. Eventually the French, Germans, US and Japanese opened up consulates as well. Chongqings importance and economic power were further improved. 

During World War II the Chinese capital moved to Chongqing. 50 embassies moved to the city. Many factories and universities were relocated from eastern China to Chongqing. This transformed the city from an inland port to an industrial city. The allies had there headquarters in Chongqing and directed the allied army of China, Burma and India. This army was under the direction of Chiang Kai Shek and General Joseph Stilwell. The bombing of Chongqing was horrific during World War II. Chongqing was easy to defend and hard to attack so the Japanese bombed it indiscriminately. There was more than 5,000 bombing runs by the Japanese and 11,500 bombs were dropped. The Japanese targeted residential areas, business areas, schools and hospitals. Thousands of civilians were killed. 

The city is growing in importance today. It is estimated that the city is the fastest growing city in the world. It is the central city in western China. In 2007 Chongqing became one of the two experimental zones to find ways to narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas. The income gap is getting larger and larger between the east and west of China. Chongqing is a microcosm of China. The mountainous areas are still very poor today. Chongqing is growing in importance and foreign investment in the city continues to increase. In 2008 the GDP in Chongqing was growing at nearly twice China's national average. 

It should be noted that the Three Gorges Dam is nearby and many of the displaced people that were removed from the land were resettled here in Chongqing. This has not been addressed or brought up in any of our briefings. 

Our 3rd speech was titled The image of China's wartime capital. Much of the information had already been covered in the previous lecture. Here are some highlights. People felt the fog in Chongqing would save them so they migrated to the area during the war. There was a NAZI embassy here and the Nazis had a big emblem on the ground to  alert the Japanese bombers to steer clear. The residents hid in underground caves. In one instance 1,000 people were trampled or suffocated to death trying to enter the cave or while in the cave during a bombing raid. The rich would pay money to enter special caves for protection. There became tension not surprisingly between the upriver local elites and the downriver newigrants. 

After our presentation we went to General Stilwells headquarters in Chonqing. He had the best view in the whole city of course. He was General Chiang Kai Sheks chief of staff. Although he held deep contempt for Chiang. He even tried to get Chiang removed and take over the Chinese army. Chiang scoffed at this of course and General Stilwell was removed from his command. 

After the museum we had an amazing welcome banquet hosted by our guests. Our hosts have been incredibly friendly and accommodating. I will always remember how friendly the Chinese people are. 

After dinner we went on a river cruise and were able to see the city at night along with the new development. By far the largest city I have ever seen. I can't imagine what Shanghai will look like. It has been one adventure after another. I also have learned so much while here that is hard to take it all in and digest!



















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