Feb 12, 2012

Back to China

Sunday, February 12, 2012
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I've been back in China for about a week now after spending 6 weeks in the United States, mostly at my father's house in Poughkeepsie, New York. My father passed away about 2 months ago so the visit wasn't for a happy occasion, but it was nice to see some old family friends.

View of Hudson River near Poughkeepsie, New York
Anyway, the trip back to China went without any major problems - took a train from Poughkeepsie to New York City, then bus from Grand Central Station to John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport, then a plane from NY to Shanghai, then another plane from Shanghai to Xiamen. One thing I observed is that as international airports go, the U.S. might be starting to fall behind. JFK Airport seems old and inefficient compared to most of the airports in Asia that I've spent time in. Shanghai's airport, for example, is much more modern and better organized. The woman at the check-in counter at JFK seemed to go out of her way to be unhelpful (ignoring my request for a window seat and putting me close to the last row on both flights even though the Shanghai to Xiamen flight had quite a few free seats). Plus, you can't check luggage in at the check-in counter - you just get it weighed and tagged and then have to lug it to a separate scanning area (though not far away).

My international and domestic (within China) flights were both on China Eastern Airlines, China's second biggest airline and (like many major Chinese companies) majority owned by the Chinese government. The reason I chose China Eastern is simply that it was the cheapest flight I could find. Actually, I've flown China Eastern a few times now for the same reason (cheapest). While it doesn't compare with some other usually more expensive airlines such as Singapore or Korean Air, overall its not too bad. So far, I haven't experienced any significant flight delays and the on-flight service is decent although nothing spectacular. One gripe I do have is that the leg room on international flights seems to be a bit less than some other airlines (and at 5'10", I'm not excessively tall). 

I experienced serious jet lag after arriving in China which is unusual for me, but all I wanted to do was sleep for several days. After getting over the jet lag, I promptly caught a bad cold. Although not as cold as New York, it has been chilly here, especially in the evenings and my apartment has no heating and absolutely no insulation. My university did provide me with a space heater, but it only works for a very limited space - if I have it a couple feet away from me, only one side of me is still cold. I might have to go buy another. Anyway, the cold weather isn't supposed to last too long here since I'm in southern China. In the meantime, I'll have to keep sleeping with a T-shirt and two sweatshirts on.



  • Author: David Moser

Feb 9, 2012

Asian Students in America Increasing

Thursday, February 09, 2012
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The East-West Center in Hawaii (where I had the pleasure of attending several conferences in past years while teaching at Belmont University) just posted an interesting article, International U.S. Colleges Admit Surge of Asian Students, which discusses the growth in the percentage of Asian students studying at American universities. According to the article, 65% of international students at American universities were from Asia in the 2010-2011 academic year. 


Many American universities are actively recruiting students from Asian countries, mostly for their own financial benefit as foreign students usually pay higher tuition than American students. The article states that: "Among the leading places of origin, six of the top ten are Asian countries, with China, India, and South Korea ranking 1st, 2nd, and 3rd overall. The total number of students from these six countries account for over half, 55%, of all foreign students in the United States."


China tops the list with 157,558 students or 21.8% of foreign university students in America and I'm sure this number and percentage are very likely to continue growing. Teaching at two universities in China over the past two years and talking to many Chinese university students has, among many other things, made me aware that there's an increasing demand for quality higher education in China. China has been trying to fill that demand by opening new universities and expanding enrollment in existing ones, but I think the demand is still significantly greater than supply. 

As as a consequence of such rapid expansion, quality is sometimes sacrificed, especially in many of the for-profit colleges that now abound in China. Chinese students that want a top quality education (not to mention their demanding parents) are increasingly looking abroad if they can't get into the limited top-tier universities in China. China's incredible economic growth over the past several decades has also contributed by creating a growing upper middle class that can afford to send their children abroad and pay the typically much higher tuition charged by American (and European) universities.

In a previous post, I mentioned what I believe are some of the problems associated with the increasing number of Chinese students at American universities. In my opinion, the main problem is that some American universities will focus almost solely on the financial considerations (higher tuition from foreign students). While higher education is a business, in many ways like any other type of business and has to be concerned with income and funding, financial greed is likely to blindside some administrators into overlooking or simply ignoring other important factors such as language and cultural differences that may cause problems for Chinese students as well as American students and professors.

In addition to language and various cultural differences, Chinese higher education is much different in certain respects than American higher education. Chinese students studying at American universities will have to be adaptable and face serious challenges. While some will be able to do so successfully, others will not, especially as American universities begin accepting greater numbers of Chinese students, some of which will not. To date, the vast majority of Chinese students at American universities are the best and brightest (in terms of education background and standardized test scores). As American universities accept more Chinese students, the standards may fall (lower English proficiency, etc.). I don't intend to suggest that American universities shouldn't accept more Chinese students, but I do suggest that they should carefully consider the challenges that doing so may create.

Jan 31, 2012

Mid-Hudson Bridge

Tuesday, January 31, 2012
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On a recent visit to my hometown of Poughkeepsie, New York, I took some photos of the Mid-Hudson Bridge.
The Mid-Hudson bridge was originally constructed beginning in 1925 and the bridge opened in 1930, with then New York Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt (who became president in 1933) attending the opening ceremony.
Although it gets a good bit of traffic at rush hour times, in off-peak hours the bridge and surrounding riverside is largely populated by pigeons.
Caught this bird in flight heading toward the Mid-Hudson bridge from the old Poughkeepsie Bridge which used to be a railroad bridge, but has been converted into a walking bridge, The Walkway Over the Hudson. It was a bit too cold to go walking on when I was there in mid-January though.
Here's a slideshow with more photos of bridge and birds.


Jan 30, 2012

100 Non-Blooming Flowers

Monday, January 30, 2012
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An article written by Yu Xiaodong in the January 12 edition of News China magazine, A Hundred Flowers More, notes that cultural development in China, although touted by the government on one hand, is severely limited by the other hand. The article notes that Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡锦涛) has "stressed the importance of promoting cultural development," but that the government's political control has the effect of limiting cultural development. This inconsistency has been criticized by Chinese academics as well as some famous Chinese creators such as writer/blogger Han Han ( 韩寒) and film director Feng Xiaogang (冯小刚). 


Even officials from China's Ministry of Culture (MOC; 文化部) have expressed doubts about the prospects of cultural development in an environment subject to fairly strict ideological and political control. This is a bit ironic since the MOC is a part of the government that is at times responsible for limiting culture. For example, by publishing a list of banned popular music including Lady Gaga's Hair, Beyonce's Run the World and even the Backstreet Boys' I Want it That Way. The MOC directed that these and other songs containing lyrical content the MOC found objectionable be removed from Chinese websites. The only practical result of this, assuming legal music websites comply, is that the banned songs will now only be illegally downloaded in China since they are readily available through many sites in China offering music without the permission of the creators and copyright owners. 

While the Chinese government wants to censor content it finds offensive, the very fact of doing so likely retards China's cultural development. While the government may have its reasons for wanting to limit the availability of some cultural content, if it is really serious about promoting cultural development, it will have to be very careful and try to limit as little as possible in order to let its 'cultural flowers' bloom. As stated by professor Yi Zhongtian of Xiamen University, "Culture is a way of life for a nation and the people. Nurturing cultural development is like nurturing a forest - you have to let it grow naturally."

Jan 29, 2012

Richard Gere and "Chinese Hypocrisy"

Sunday, January 29, 2012
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As China's economy has grown to be the second largest in the world, the media in the United States has paid greater attention to China and Americans are slowly becoming slightly more aware of China. However, after living in China for a while, on top of several visits prior to that and reading dozens of books about China, I realize that a lot of what Americans (and other Westerners) think we know about China isn't completely accurate (and is sometimes completely inaccurate). One thing that I find amusing are all the so-called (and usually self-proclaimed) China experts that keep cropping up in the media. The latest I've come across is actor Richard Gere. In an article entitled "Richard Gere Labels China the Largest Hypocrisy in the World," Gere labeled China "the largest hypocrisy in the world right now." Exactly how he came to that determination or what evidence he has to support it is unclear. I've lived most of my life in America, but the past few years in China and to be honest, I see hypocrisy in both places in somewhat differing ways, but maybe not to a dramatically differing extent. 

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Jan 28, 2012

Chinese Micro Movies

Saturday, January 28, 2012
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A Chinese friend recently showed me a movie online that she thought might interest me. I don't know the name of the film and that really isn't important. One thing that did cross my mind though when watching it was that, unlike most movies viewed online in China, it was probably legal to watch this one because it wasn't a traditional feature film. Instead, its what's known as a micro-movie - a short, low-budget, film shot on digital video and usually intended primarily for online viewing.


Several days after watching this film, I came across this article about micro-movies in China. There are several interesting things about Chinese micro movies. First, as I mentioned above, they are generally made legally available online. You can find most movies online in China including American and other foreign films by using Baidu (百度; China's most popular search engine) or various video websites such as Youku (优酷; China's most popular video sharing site, similar to YouTube). However, these sites generally lead you to illegal viewing sources which basically means the copyright owner of the film has not given permission for the film to be viewed through the particular website. These websites don't pay anything to the copyright owners, even though most of them make money through online advertising. In contrast, most Chinese micro movies are made to be exhibited freely online in return for some type of advertising revenue. Many also use product placement as an income source and some are really more like slightly disguised commercials. 

Another unique feature of micro movies in China is that they are (at least so far) free from government censorship. Traditional feature films to be shown in movie theaters in China are subject to approval by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT; 国家广播电影电视总局; pinyin: Guójiā Guǎngbō Diànyǐng Diànshì Zǒngjú) as well as China Film Group Corporation (中国电影集团公司; Zhōng​guó​ diàn​yǐng​ jí​tuán ​gōng​sī​). Censorship not only tends to limit creativity in film-making, but can also add substantially to a film's production cost since the script has to be approved before productions begins and post-production editing must sometimes be done to get approval for theater release. Since micro movies are becoming so popular, I think its only a matter of time before the Chinese government imposes some type of regulation over them, but in the meantime, Chinese directors have a lot more creative freedom in this film-making vein.

Micro movies have become so popular in China that even the biggest Chinese movie stars are appearing in them, often for much less money than they traditionally make for film roles. For example, Fan Bingbing (范冰冰), arguably China's most currently popular actress, starred in the micro movie Unfollow, a 2-minute micro movie supposedly with a theme of independence and being yourself. I find the theme a bit ironic since, in the video Fan Bingbing dresses like a man, while she's known in China as the ideal female beauty (allegedly accomplished or at least enhanced by cosmetic surgery). 


Anyway, movies don't have to be realistic and neither does advertising. Yes, as you might guess from the movie poster above, Unfollow is actually an advertisement for Nokia (诺基亚; Nuòjīyà), specifically for Nokia's new N9 smartphone. Here's the short film/ad with English subtitles.

On Chinese video site Youku, Unfollow received almost 1 million views in its first two days online although some Chinese viewers were apparently a bit angry at what they perceived as being mislead into watching a commercial. I guess like anything Internet-related, there's a good chance micro movies could be a fad that quickly becomes over hyped, but for now at least, it seems to be a way Chinese directors can experiment and innovate much easier and much more cheaply than with feature films.

Jan 25, 2012

State of Disunion 2012

Wednesday, January 25, 2012
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After watching President Obama's State of the Union speech last night, I couldn't help asking myself the question, made famous by the great American philosopher Rodney King: "Can't we all just get along?" I think it really shows the extent of political gridlock in America when the opposing party get more digs in a State of the Union address than the scapegoat foreign enemy (China) - which is somehow stealing American jobs, even though its largely American companies taking advantage of the cheaper labor market in China. Wouldn't it be nice to have an America where people of different race, religion, ethnicity, and even political party could all just get along. Anyway, here's a funny animated video which gives me hope for a better world.



By the way, the question posed above is purely rhetorical. I know the answer is no, but I can't help continuing to dream of a more united America where, instead of partisan party bashing, the government might actually be able to get something useful accomplished.

Jan 23, 2012

Chinese New Year Fireworks

Monday, January 23, 2012
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The Chinese invented fireworks in the 7th century, purportedly in the ancient city of Luòyáng (洛阳) during the Han Dynasty (汉朝; Hàn Cháo) by cramming saltpeter, sulphur and charcoal into bamboo tubes. Fireworks were used to pray for happiness and prosperity as well as to scare away evil spirits. Two thousand odd years later, the novelty hasn't by any means worn off. Fireworks are a very common part of Chinese life, often used at weddings and other celebrations. In fact, I hear them almost weekly from my apartment in Xiamen (I think originating at a nearby restaurant which hosts wedding parties).


Nothing, however, compares to the proliferation of pyrotechnics during the Chinese New Year. In addition to fireworks displays, it seems almost every Chinese person feels compelled to shoot off firecrackers which end up littering and sometimes literally covering the streets. I actually think there must be a Chinese law that requires each member of China's 1.3 + billion population to at least shoot off a few, cheap firecrackers. According to the Guardian, New Year celebration fireworks have caused a dangerous rise in Beijing pollution (which is bad enough under normal circumstances).


While the constant month-long ruckus of firecrackers going off all around you can be annoying, some of the fireworks displays can be spectacular. For those of us that aren't in China, here's a video of a fireworks display in Hong Kong's scenic Victoria Harbor.


Jan 22, 2012

Happy Chinese New Year

Sunday, January 22, 2012
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The Chinese New Year has just begun and I have to admit that I'm kind of glad not to be there to witness it. Its not that I have anything against the Chinese New Year. Actually, I really enjoy some of the New Year celebration customs such as watching lion dance performances and I love eating jiaozi (dumplings).  

Chinese Lion Dance
But what I don't like is traveling anywhere in China during the New Year period (which lasts for about a month or so) because travel conditions are atrocious. For this most important of Chinese holidays, every Chinese person wants to go home and when all (or most of them) try to go home at the same time, the inevitable result is huge lines, delays and overcrowding on a scale unimaginable to most Westerners.

I'm writing this blog post after reading an article, 3 Billion Train Trips Reunite Chinese Families, which describes some of the chaos involved in New Year travel in China. Crowding is the norm in China year-round with buses often packed tighter with people than sardine cans with sardines. As a result, public transportation can be very uncomfortable at times and you have to just adapt and get used to it. But Chinese New Year makes a common problem exponentially worse. The 3 Billion Train Trips article makes it clear why many foreigners living in China such as myself try to celebrate Chinese New Year somewhere other than China.

So from a distance, I wish all my friends in China a very Happy New Year. Travel safely and best of luck in the Year of the Dragon.

新年快樂 and 恭禧發財!

Jan 19, 2012

Backyard Deer

Thursday, January 19, 2012
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I've recently been back in the USA to deal with some family matters and have been staying in my Dad's house in Poughkeepsie, New York. Yesterday, I happened to notice some deer enjoying the grass in the backyard and took some photos. 

After shooting through a window and screen, I decided to risk going outside on the deck to see if I could get some better shots. Usually the slightest sound has these creatures bolting for the woods, but I managed to be quiet enough that they hung around a bit longer. 
Here's a slideshow featuring my new, temporary neighbors.

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