Before the Cultural Revolution, long hours during the day were not uncommon for villagers. Part of the long workdays was the long walk to the farming plot. Since some villages were based next to maintain sides, they would use hill plots to do the majority of their farming, it would take up to 2-3 hour just to the farming plots. Another reason for their hard work was due to the thin topsoil that would lie on these hill plots. Because of the thin topsoil, the arable lands become fewer and fewer, which leads to problems with their food. Since the land that could be farmed on was few, it became tough for some villages to support all of the citizens. This caused those villages to boil the rice in watery gruel to make it last longer for every meal. Another aspect of the villagers’ lives that was impacted was their diet. Due to the fact that meat was mostly eaten on special occasions, dried fish, pickles, and beans made up the starch side of their diet. Finally, vegetables were a rare food to be eaten in certain villages, because of the belief that vegetables needed to be cooked in oil, and few peanuts were grown. (Anita Chan, Chen Village, pgs 14-15)
Before the Cultural Revolution, some of these Chinese villages might have seemed picturesque form a distance. With few villages remotely near by, even the market area being miles away, villages seemed quaint, especially the ones that were pressed up against the mountainside, with a stream that might run near by. Although, at a closer range, it might not be as picturesque as one may think. With “roads”, if they can even be called roads, are made completely of dirt, so when it rains the roads are slippery and flooded. Then there are the houses. Only using brick for small sections of their foundation, the people in the villages, ranging around one thousand citizens for some villages, built the houses mostly of plastered mud. Because of the little brick for foundation, and being made mostly out of the plastered mud, the houses turned out to be very steep-peaked and narrow. This resulted in the houses breaking down, as well as reeking of rotting plants and meats that were kept in the houses with the families. (Anita Chan, Chen Village, pg 13)
After the catastrophic Cultural Revolution eventually ended in 1976, China began to regain its vitality under the lead of the new government. Chinese economy has been growing at tremendous pace each year ever since the reforming and opening up policies were established in 1978. It is obvious that this development in economy has resulted in the mass urbanization in rural areas. The villages have been so much better off due to changing the type of economy in order to fit in the new lifestyle in more urbanized areas.
The ancient village of Fenghuang is one of the villages that benefited the most from urbanization. The urbanization took place in 2001, where the local authority decided to make good use of its splendid views to turn it into a tourism-specified city. This process was extremely successful, where the annual number of tourists increased from 576,000 to 4,859,500 in 2009, and annual income from tourism increased from 74,000,000 yuan (about 12,333,333 dollars) to 2,609,000,000 yuan (about 434,833,333 dollars). (Zhou, 2011) These dramatic data definitely reveals the great benefits of urbanization; however, urbanization is also causing potential problems to the urbanized area.
Behind the gigantic economic growth in Fenghuang, newly emerged problems draws a shade over the bright future of this city. Traditional landscape was the worst drawbacks of urbanization. As the number of tourists increased by a great amount, more and more souvenir shops were set up, which took over numerous ancient folk houses. Meanwhile, more and more contacts between Fenghuang and more developed cities caused some traditional customs and productions to disappear due to the new and more urbanized lifestyle. (Zhou, 2011)
In Fenghuang, urbanization seems to have more drawbacks in the long term than the benefits in the short term because of its harm to the culture itself. So should urbanization be strictly controlled in order to maintain the social welfare? In contrast, the transition in Xizhou, Yunnan is much milder and more sustainable. Xizhou is a village which was ruled by the Bai ethnic minority group, which was known for its handcraftsmanship and tourism. Unlike urbanization that took place in Fenghuang, the transition to a more industrialized society in Xizhou successfully transformed from an agricultural oriented village to a business oriented city. At the same time, its unique culture was enforced, which credited the Bai people’s accurately realizing the tourists’ need and quickly adapt the new style of production within their traditional production (Yang, 2012). This makes Xizhou a good example of a village undergoing urbanization in China.
If urbanization makes progress under its capability, instead of blindly pursuing economic achievement, it will bring the maximized benefit to the nation and will strengthen the culture and unique tradition of the villages it is affecting.
Many societies undergo events that have profound effects on their culture. In China, this event is regarded as the Cultural Revolution. Between 1965 and 1976, Mao attempted to reassert his authority over China through implementation of his beliefs because he feared that China was moving in an inegalitarian direction. Mao was heavily influenced by similar events in the Soviet Union and made the decision to move toward a more ideologically pure society, as the Soviets did. (Cultural).
The objective of the Cultural Revolution was to get rid of old ideas and customs in order to make education, art, and literature more in line with Communist ideology. Anything that displayed feudal or bourgeois ideals was destroyed. Mao was essentially attempting to create a society in which there was no gap between urban and rural, rich and poor, and laborers and intellectuals. (Cultural Revolution)
In an effort to close this gap, many young Chinese were sent from cities to work in the countryside. In fact, the Chinese government ordered that one teenager from every urban household move to the countryside to work on the farms. (CNN: Tracy You) This deprived many young people from receiving educations in the city. Interestingly enough, this period of time in China showed an extreme urban-to-rural migration, or reverse migration, for the Chinese youth. However, soon after the Cultural Revolution, urban populations began to increase again due to an increase in employment opportunities in cities. (Britannica: Consequences of the Cultural Revolution)
This photo was taken in 1967 and shows two Chinese citizens being branded as “Capitalist Roader” and subjected to physical abuse in front of the public. Source
Photo taken by 蒋少武 (translation: Shaowu Jiang)
It is estimated that 1.5 million people were killed during the Cultural Revolution and millions of others suffered from imprisonment, torture, and humiliation. (Cultural) The long-term effects of the Revolution are still prevalent in China today, particularly in Chinese villages. The traditional village social structure was severely affected. Peasants were encouraged to seize landlords’ fields and other property, which was an effort by the government to strengthen support from the poor. Land was distributed equally among all social classes, and in the process, all traditions of the villages’ social structure were lost. The Cultural Revolution paved the way for urbanization, which ultimately transformed village culture. People were forced to move to cities because they could no longer sustain themselves in the villages. They left behind their history, their tradition, and their legacy because the country made such a dramatic shift toward a more urbanized society.
Remnants of a banner from the Cultural Revolution in Anhui Province. Photo taken by: Chang Liu
Some people hold a stereotype that China is a dirty and polluted country. I decided to investigate this and find out about Chinese air pollution. The first thing you have to understand about air pollution is how it is measured. Pollution levels are measured using the air quality index or AQI. This takes into consideration particulate size as well as concentration in the air. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s the reading outside of Beijing Embassy was seven hundred and fifty five. To put this into perspective a reading about three hundred and one is considered an extremely hazardous emergency situation. This means the particles in the air are large enough to “travel down into the lungs and bloodstream and potentially cause severe damage in the organs” (World Affairs Journal). This air pollution also has a cultural impact. According to online chinese retailer (taobao.com) the word “mask” was searched 5,300% more than usual. There was also an increase in the air purifiers business. This indicates not only that the Chinese people were aware of the problem, but also interested in fixing the issue. But the real question is what action is the Chinese government taking to bring awareness to and correct the problem? “in 2012, in response to growing public pressure, Beijing started to regularly monitor and publish its own AQI readings for air around the country. Now there are more than eighty monitoring systems in place in China’s major cities and this year, for the first time, officials issued emergency warnings and allowed pollution to be covered on state-run television.” (World Affairs Journal). As you can see, the air pollution in China is at a dangerous levels, but with the growing environmental movement people are becoming aware and working for a change.
Works Cited:
Riviera, Gloria S. “Pollution in China: The Business of Bad Air.” World Affairs Journal, May-June 2013. Web. 09 Apr. 2014.
“Olympic Facilities,” By Tyler Knauss, licensed with CC 2.0
Inside the city of Beijing, the Olympic facilities sit relatively unused since the end of the Games in 2008. Placed strategically in the center of the city, they are now only a place for tourists. For how grand these facilities are, as well as the fact that they are not used and have been largely dormant, it could be argued that these facilities were and are a wasted use of labor and capital for the people of China. Much can be said about whether or not it was the correct move of the world to have allowed the Olympics to be hosted in China. “The Olympics marked the beginning, it can be said, of the ascendance of the stability preservation regime in China. Looking back now, it might be that the Olympics were something [China] did that [it] ought not to have done.”
The Chinese government has used the success of the Olympics, and its ability to gather large pools of capital and resources, to assert itself over its people. Because of the spending power the government has, they are able to exert themselves greatly over the citizens of China and rule over them in a tightly controlled environment. “And he who has wealth speaks loudest,” muses Sun Liping, professor of Sociology at Tsinghua University.
With the Chinese government having so much power, coupled with the fact that it is still a one-party system, there is no room for compromise within the system. It can be said that the Olympics in 2008 were just another factor in strengthening the authority and overall ability of the government to increase their power in China. Because of the success of the 2008 Olympics, the government gained a lot of prestige for China as a whole. This prestige and success of the Olympics allowed the government to receive huge praise for the planning and execution of the games. However, the games brought on great duress to the poorer residents of Beijing. Many people there live in squalor and the funding that went towards the games could have been used to help these residents on a slightly smaller scale, but just as successfully as the Olympics. For the billions spent, the political environment brought on by the Olympics gave no cause to the government to put that money in the hands of the poor, but instead used it to support their own interests in bringing about an impressive display for the whole world to watch.
When the selection of the city of Beijing as the host city for the 2008 Olympics was announced on July 13, 2001, it sparked a wave of excitement across China and marked a new period of change for the city. This period of change before the 2008 Olympics transformed the city in many ways, but perhaps the biggest changes for the city came in the form of a transformed skyline and new infrastructure.
Prior to the selection of Beijing as an Olympic host city, the physical landscape of Beijing was similar to many other cities across China. Buildings were either old holdovers from dynasties past or distinctly utilitarian high-rises built in the communist era when waste and extravagance was severely frowned upon. These communist-era buildings were often bland and made of brick or stone or other cheap materials.
For the Beijing Olympics, government officials strove to present Beijing as a truly international city. In order to fulfill this goal, Chinese government officials embarked on a huge campaign to change the landscape of Beijing in several ways. First, they set about improving the overall infrastructure of the city: hundreds of miles of subway lines were added, the airport was expanded and updated, and new facilities for the Olympics were built, including the Water Cube and the famous Bird’s Nest Stadium.
The “Water Cube” and the “Bird’s Nest” before completion, in 2007. (“Beijing National Aquatics Centre and Beijing National Stadium,” by Angus/Flickr/licensed with CCBY 2.0)
Next, the Chinese government decided to preserve—at least artificially—some distinctly Chinese structures from the pre-communist era as a tribute the China’s past. This move was vastly different from the previous actions of the government in the communist era, who tended to emphasize progress over cultural history—see the Cultural Revolution.
Finally, new development and architectural innovation was strongly encouraged as China attempted to turn Beijing into a truly international city akin to New York, London, or Paris. Buildings were made to impress and show “face” for China: the new National Theatre, the Bird’s Nest Stadium, the Water Cube, and the CCTV building are all examples of this new age of Chinese architecture that came about because of the preparations for the 2008 Olympics.
The Beijing National Stadium, a.k.a. “the Bird’s Nest” during the Olympic Ceremonies, 2008. (“国家体育场,” by 老黄瓜/nPhoto.net/licensed with CCBY 2.0)
Overall, Beijing was radically transformed physically for the Olympics. These changes have had a lasting impact on Beijing, particularly because of the new infrastructure and new skyline filled with modern, architecturally distinct buildings. However, some argue that the changes made for the Olympics have not done much for the city. In an article for The New York Times, Michael Wines details how the flagship stadiums built for the Olympics stand mostly empty four years later: “By most accounts, the vendors hawking trinkets outside the stadium outnumber the foreigners who go there to gawk.”
On the other hand, most residents of Beijing had positive feelings for the changes brought about because of the Olympics: even Grandma Gao, a woman who had previously lived in a hutong village within Beijing and was forcibly relocated to make room for the new National Stadium, reported that her life had “changed for the better”.
The changes brought about by the Olympics have drastically transformed Beijing, even years after the Olympics. While the urgency for such change has slowed, today Beijing continues to change its landscape in its continuing quest to present the best “face” to the world.
A look at the different periods of architecture in China, mixed together: in the foreground, Communist high-rises are visible, with the Imperial Forbidden City in the middle, and the new, architecturally distinct skyscrapers in the background. (“View of Beijing, China,” by ahenobarbus/Flickr/licensed with CC BY 2.0)
Beijing: Changed by the Olympics, Film. Directed by Duffy Wang (Oakland, CA: D3 Productions, 2008).
Curtis Ashton, “Beijing’s Museums in the Context of the 2008 Olympics,” in Cultural Heritage: Politics in China, eds. Tami Blumenfield and Helaine Silverman, 187-203. (New York: Springer, 2013).
Thousands of Beijing residents celebrate the Opening Ceremonies in a park in front of TV screens broadcasting the show. “2008 Beijing Opening Ceremonies @ Ditan Park,” by Kris Krug, Flickr, licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0.
The 2008 Beijing games were welcomed by 94% of the Chinese population. This is no surprise, because the Olympics are a great world tradition, and they provide a great opportunity to show off a country.
Many people believe that there is great economic opportunity in hosting the Olympics, and there is. The problem with hosting is that the country needs to be able to handle such a huge event. This requires an infrastructure that can handle an extraordinarily high volume of people, can handle all the Olympic events, and can house all the Olympians. This of course costs a very large amount of money. In China’s case the total cost of hosting the Olympics in 2008 was over 40 billion U.S dollars. Part of the process for raising this money were tax increases. Nothing drastic, but every increase was noticed for those citizens that struggled with money. The issue is that the host country needs to make it all back for the Olympics to positively affect the economy.
Also, after the Olympics have ended the facilities need to be put to use or they become bad investments. Some were bad investments from the start, like building a new airport terminal to handle all of the traffic. Beijing will not experience that very high volume of people regularly, but it was necessary for the few weeks that the games were taking place. According to Michael Wines in a New York Times article, these issues have greatly affected previous countries, like Greece, “where 21 of the 22 stadiums erected for the 2004 Olympics were reported last year to be unoccupied.” Also in Greece, “The $14.4 billion cost of that party is being cited by some as a source of Greece’s potentially destabilizing fiscal troubles.” After the 1976 games Montreal also experienced economic difficulty due to the Olympics.
The difference with China, however, is that most of its real estate is already vacant. The increase in jobs from building these structures is moreimportant for China than keeping them occupied. Due to China’s extreme growth, the building will eventually be filled. Even if they stand empty for awhile, the building process creates jobs, and raises GDP, which theoretically raises living quality. The lasting effect that the 2008 games had on China is yet to be seen, but so far the empty structures have not slowed the economic juggernaut down. The Olympics brought new development to China, which cannot be ignored.
The expensive ceremonies certainly had a huge “wow” factor. But what was the economic cost for China? “Beijing Impresses,” by Kris Krug, Flickr, licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0
Soo-Bum Lee, Choong-Ki Lee, Jae-shik Kang, Eun-Yong Lee, Yu Jung Jennifer Jeon, “Residents’ Perception of the 2008 Beijing Olympics: Comparison of Pre- and Post-Impacts” International Journal of Tourism Research
Volume 15, Issue 3, (2012): 209–225.
Child abandonment and adoption have been major issues in China for a long time in part due to the One Child Policy. The One Child Policy was introduced in 1979 in order to deal with the economic and social problems that overpopulation was bringing China. While the policy has become more relaxed it has still created some imbalances in child abandonment and adoption. The One Child Policy provides a huge incentive for a family to only have one child. The families that do not abide by the policy face heavy monetary fines. These fines can be as high as three times a yearly salary. However, there are many exceptions to this policy. Such as if a family’s first child is a girl or has a mental or physical illness, they can apply for another child. If one of the parents is an only child, then that family can also have two children. Ethnic minorities are also not subjected to this law. The policy is becoming increasingly more relaxed and the exception for families in which one of the parents is an only child just recently was passed. The more relaxed this policy becomes the more that people believe it will one day cease to exist (Kalman).
However, despite the policy’s increasing slack, it has still had a great effect on the public. It has slowed down the population growth. However, to what extent is a big question. Many people believe that China’s population growth would have slowed significantly even without the One Child Policy. Other similarly developing countries, such as Taiwan, have also seen their population growth slow during this time period. The One Child policy is responsible for some of the population growth slow-down, just not all of it. While the policy has helped China with many problems but unfortunately it has also caused problems. It has caused a greater imbalance among genders. In 2000, there were almost 19 million more boys under the age of 16 as girls in that same age group. Because of the One Child Policy families have been desperate for a male child due to the greater societal value of males. Males carry the family’s name and inheritance laws pass on property to them. The demand for boys combined with the restrictions on the number of children a family can have has led to the abandonment and abortion of many female children.
The One Child Policy has been under quite a bit of scrutiny as not only its effectiveness has been in question but also the other glaring problems that it creates. This policy, while one that is becoming much more lax, is a definite problem for China and is contributing to its gender imbalance as well as leading to many young girls living in extremely harsh conditions.
“Jiaoshike Village Boarding School In Gangcha County.” Britannica Image Quest.
N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. <http://www.gettyimages.com/>.
“Students from Migrant Worker Families Have Trouble Attending School.” Britannica Image Quest. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. <http://www.gettyimages.com/>.
It is crucial when studying Early Chinese Education, that one investigates the origin of its current state. It is interesting to note that many sociologists, educational researchers, and economists have delved into this question of why Chinese Education is the way it is. With the major economic reforms in China during the 1970’s, living standards, class structure, and social mobility changed drastically, reforming the education system in the process. The structure of the education system shifted along with the development of the economy, putting more importance in the labor market on the need for education. This shift is achieved through the introduction of private schooling, for example, in which private individuals or enterprises run the school. Though it causes a divide between social classes, private schools meet the demand for education that oftentimes public schools cannot in China. The availability of resources is a aspect of early Chinese education which has the capacity to change the future of a young Chinese learner.
For children, educational and job opportunities increase with the shift in economy. According to Education and Reform in China, access to education for children was enforced in 1986 with the Law on Compulsory Education, which states that all children must have six years of primary education and three years of secondary education (Ministry of Education 1986). The value of schooling quickly increased when the focus on economy shift from agricultural to non-agricultural. Migration to the city from farms meant more jobs and subsequently, a higher demand for education. Ultimately, an education in China results in a high status job and further progress in society (Hannum and Park).
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