The vast majority of Chinese favor and support the "opening up and reform" period started in 1978. But many are also very nostalgic for the Mao era, a time when equality was guaranteed, a time when socialism in China was far more than just a hypothetical. One simple example is translated below. This article has been spread around numerous Chinese forums, actual origin not … [Read more...] about Prices in the Mao era – a peasant's view
Archives for June 2008
Political unification and China’s Grand Union ideal
On this site, we've come back to the question of secession several times. The news a week ago that Ireland, with less than 1% of the EU's population, single-handedly derailed the second EU attempt at political centralization (Lisbon Treaty) strikes me as the perfect opportunity to talk about the flip side of the coin: the ideology of unification. Because let's face it, … [Read more...] about Political unification and China’s Grand Union ideal
Don't indulge our "race complex"
Many are now aware there are 56 different nationalities in China. There is another lesser known community, however, that sometimes refer to themselves as the 57th nationality. (Some in the community actually hate that term... but we'll get to that later.) These are the Minkaohan (民考汉), ethnic minorities raised in Han-language schools alongside Han classmates. The term … [Read more...] about Don't indulge our "race complex"
Yellow River in Beijing
Let's have a quick flashback to a happier time, when all of us thought 2008 would be a simple year full of celebration. Below is the Chinese piano prodigy Lang Lang, performing the Yellow River Piano Concerto on Tiananmen Square. The date is 08/08/07, one full year before the start of the Beijing Olympics. … [Read more...] about Yellow River in Beijing
Dalai Lama tries speaking to the Chinese
If there's one thing we've consistently criticized here, it's that the Dalai Lama (and "clique") has largely failed to reach out to the Chinese people directly. For every interview he provides to the Chinese-language press, it seems he's done fifty for foreign language press. And even when he makes an attempt to speak to the Chinese (as with an open letter released earlier this … [Read more...] about Dalai Lama tries speaking to the Chinese