Today we went to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. We then went to a school for migrant families and then lastly went to the Times Square of Beijing where I ate some strange foods.
The United States and China first began diplomatic relations in 1971 when Henry Kissinger visited China in secret. China really started participating in the international community at the end of 1978. The presenter mentioned that the US and China can do many things through joint efforts. Honestly I felt as though the presenter was giving us the answers to our questions according to what the Chinese government would want. Many questions were dodged or twisted in my opinion. He was honest however in stating the challenges the two countries face in diplomacy. 1. Competition for influence in Asia or the Pacific. 2. The narrowing gap between the US and Chinese militaries. 3. Competition in cyberspace.
My fellow participants and I asked many questions on a wide range of topics. Some of the comments he made to certain topics were as follows; China opposes regime change in North Korea by external forces. On Japan : Japan is not comfortable with China for Japan has been the leader in Asia for over a century. There is still real tension over World War II. On Syria: 2 goals are for Syria to get rid of all chemical weapons and peace and stability should be maintained in the region. That certainly has not been accomplished.
China's military expenditures are on the rise. Although he was quick to point out that it is nowhere near the US. The speaker also mentioned that environmental problems are a huge concern for the Chinese government. The issue of internet restriction was asked as well and the answer to the question was that certain sites are monitored or blocked for security concerns.
All in all the presentation was very interesting and enlightening. I'm just not so sure how true or honest some of the answers were. I know people in our country are not always honest and spin things a certain way so I'm not just saying that this is what you get in China.
After lunch we visited the Dandelion school. The school is a private school that educates students whose families have moved into Beijing to work. Often times these students would not receive any education at all. 85% of the students live at school. Sometimes this is because there is no room for them at home. The students in the school are between the ages of 13-15. The typical day looks like this. 7:00 a.m is breakfast. 8-12 the students have classes.
12-1:30 is lunch and free time.
1:30-5 the students have classes.
5-6 the students participate in a club they have chosen.
6-6:30 is dinner.
6:30-8:45 is study time.
There are 500 students in the school. The students actually graduated earlier that day and were getting ready to head home for the summer. Many were leaving to go back home to their provinces in order to go to high school. If you are not born in Beijing then you can't go to high school there. 25% of the students don't finish school at Dandelion. Some drop out completely. Some go back home to finish there while some go to a vocational school. The Dandelion school does have a partnership with 4 high schools however 2 of them require extremely high scores on the test that students take after middle school to get into high schools. Some white collar migrants and of course higher income families buy their way into good high schools.
The visit to Dandelion was amazing. We split up into four groups and talked to the students about what we taught. We also talked to the students about what they knew of the US and what they enjoyed doing for fun. Although there are certainly differences there is also many similarities between Chinese and American youngsters. Enjoyment of computer or video games, sports, music, dancing, watching television and reading. The students were so kind to us and presented us with a thank you card and picture of us at the school. Incredible experience.
At night we took the metro to the Times Square of Beijing where there is a huge market of exotic foods and souvenirs. It was amazing seeing all of the exotic foods such as lizard, spider, grasshopper, scorpion, silk worms and who knows what else. I saw an American who has been to the market four times. He mentioned that he has never seen anyone eat the scorpions before. I, of course, ate the scorpion and silk worm. Many Chinese were gathered around us taking pictures of me and a couple of my fellow participants eat strange food. As my motto says when you travel be prepared to try new things even if it means eating weird insects!
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