Word: getting
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...their civilization simply because it is old. It is almost impossible to teach them anything. You have to do what I have done. You show by example, and they pick it up as if they were the ones who had the idea all along. You can't even get them thinking about why, if China was so far ahead of the rest of the world 2,000 years ago, it is so far behind today...
...What we have today is a lot of talk about ending corruption and nepotism," Wu continues. "Just like we've heard before. But unless we finally get serious about such things, we will never build our New China. We will watch Chinese on the outside rise in even white societies because of their industry and intellect. We will never catch...
...impossible to describe the complete pleasure her smile conveyed. Perhaps she gets a bonus for being a particularly petty bureaucrat. Perhaps she resents foreigners and their privileges. A Chinese train's best accommodations, the "soft sleeper" compartment, in which two bunk beds actually sport linen, are reserved for foreigners and high party and government officials. I could understand her hating such preferential treatment, but then again, she and her colleagues do pretty well because of it. For notwithstanding my status as a foreigner, the "soft sleeper" car was "sold out" until a kind official laid a carton of cigarettes...
...place of employment for most Chinese, called a work unit, or danwei, is usually responsible for providing housing and other essentials. "We used to get medical care for free too," says Bi, "but my danwei can't afford it now that the economic reforms have let doctors' fees rise...
...seniority entitles him to a salary of about $38 a month -- less than a factory worker, taxi driver, guide and just about every other employed Chinese receives. Even so, for the next four years Bi must get by on $12 less each month. Five dollars is deducted automatically because the cash-starved government insists that state employees buy bonds. The other $7 represents a fine for the second child he and his wife had three years ago -- one child over Beijing's limit...