Word: see
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...walk in Guangzhou, the professor notices an old woman with a broom made of twigs and straw methodically sweeping dirt from one side of the street to the other. "You see that?" he says. "That's what it is all about. Is the street really clean? Of course not. But she is making it look clean, right? That's the important thing in China. Everything here is appearance. Everything here is pretend...
...student lives at his school around the clock, a situation no one seems to think the least bit odd. For despite filial devotion and the supposed centrality of family life, long separation is common in China. It is not rare for spouses to work in different cities and see each other infrequently. Similarly, far from signaling neglect, paying to deposit a three-year-old in another's care for a week away from home is often taken as a sign of affluence. In fact, since the economic reforms have raised the living standards of so many Chinese, a complaint about...
...capital of Shaanxi province, deep in the heart of China. Buried in A Guide to U.S.A., The Visitor's Companion, is a section titled "Individualism." A sample observation: "People in the United States generally consider self- reliance and independence as ideal personal qualities. As a consequence, most people see themselves as separate individuals, not as representatives of a family, community, or other group . . . Visitors from other countries ((read China)) sometimes view this attitude as 'selfishness...
...forever when, in the 1932 film Shanghai Express, Marlene Dietrich drawled, "It too-oo-k more than one man to change my name to Shanghai Lily." Shanghai is no longer trendy, modern or even cosmopolitan, but its streets are still tops for infant watching. Sadly, though, the toddlers I see seldom cry or laugh or even suck their thumbs. Most seem sullen. And in the beautiful Jing an Park, which used to be a cemetery before the bodies were exhumed for cremation (the old story about the land's being too valuable for the dead), the kids ride around...
...from the Lun Feng factory, on the main road to Guangzhou, is an example of how economic freedom can energize a population. Shops full of sofas, chairs and beds stretch as far as the eye can see. "Furniture Mile" began several years ago when a few local farmers decided that after meeting their government-mandated crop quotas, they would rather augment their income by making furniture than by growing more vegetables. Soon, farmers throughout the area followed suit. Today anyone with wheels stops to load as much furniture as he can carry, then resells his wares later in whatever market...