at home… in China

Global Times, Nov. 1, 2009

Update: Later, this article even made it into the Chinese edition (translated, of course – and not by me)… kinda funky.

Chinese and foreign commentators, often at odds with each other, are of one mind when it comes to China’s younger generation.
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“Cultures are often more alike than they seem, ” Global Times, Sep. 24, 2009

Recently, the opinion pages of the Global Times have seen a lot of debate over such thorny issues as the relationships between older Western men and young Chinese women, and the tricky subject of living together before marriage.

Relationships, especially families, form the basis of society, and so it’s no wonder that they draw a lot of attention, especially in a rapidly changing society like China’s.
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Challenge of preserving Chinese food culture, Global Times, July 21, 2009

“Have you got used to the food?” After “Where are you from?,” this is the most common question for foreigners in China.

Food is an essential element of Chinese culture, and people know that strangers may like it, but also find it hard to manage. This is mirrored by friends and relatives outside of China asking if one finds enough decent things to eat. Attitudes toward Chinese food go along the lines that it is very strange and hard to get used to, but it is also an expression of China’s long history and diversity.
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China’s education system: good for communication and creativity?, Global Times, July 2, 2009

Much is being said about China’s education system. Whether gaokao is the best – or at least fairest – system possible or a way to test nothing but nerves and rote memory; how education supposedly destroyed rather than promoted creativity; or simply how the students were too passive and lax.
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Global Times, June 29, 2009

The flu is never a joking matter, yet it is easy enough to make fun of seemingly exaggerated measures when one is just sitting at home. Seen through the PC screen, this pandemic pales in comparison to what disaster movies make us think a pandemic should be like. Getting on an airplane in times like this brings the issue much closer, and makes some things appear in a different light.
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