Author: Cameron Bania

China is the largest developing country in the world. Their economy has continued to grow 10% each year over the past 20 years. Although China has achieved economic growth and development, the environment is deteriorating. The country struggles with outdoor and indoor air pollution, water shortages and pollution. These environment issues have become more pronounced recently and are putting Chinese residents at significant health risks. 

The greatest challenge among cities in China is outdoor air pollution. The source of air pollution has slowly shifted from conventional coal combustion to a mixture of coal combustion and motor vehicle emissions. China’s current air pollution is compared to developed countries in the 1960s. Studies have documented that the health effects of China’s outdoor air pollution could lead to increased respiratory symptoms, hospitalization, and premature death. The World Health Organization estimated that outdoor air pollution was associated with approximately 300,000 premature deaths per year. 

Many people in rural areas of China still use coal and biomass fuels in their stoves that produce substantial indoor air pollution. Lung cancer, acute respiratory infection, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are all potential health effects caused by solid fuels. The World Health Organization estimated that solid fuels used in Chinese households cause approximately 420,000 premature deaths each year.

Another serious health concern in China is water pollution, specifically in rural areas. The water in 2008 received the worst grade in the Chinese National Standard for Water Quality. The water couldn’t even be used for agricultural irrigation. Data from the 2003 National Health Services Survey indicates that two-thirds of people in rural China do not have access to piped water. Leaving contaminated drinking water, which has been associated with increasing rates of digestive cancers and infectious diseases. 

In addition, climate change in China is an important health problem. China compared to other countries is very susceptible to the adverse effects of climate change. The Chinese government has paid attention to climate change, but have not paid attention to its health impact. China also deals with about 70% of the world’s electronic waste, which is a substantial risk to human health and the environment. 

Resource: 

Kan, Haidong. “Environment and Health in China: Challenges and Opportunities.” Environmental Health Perspectives, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Dec. 2009, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2799473/.

There are many actions China is taking to put over half a billion people in partial or total lockdown as the coronavirus continues to spread. China has relied on a variety of low and high tech measures to help enforce quarantine in vast areas of the country. They also added the incentive that citizens are financially rewarded for reporting others that don’t follow quarantine rules. “These methods reflect a decades-long history of social control now being mobilized on an unprecedented scale”(Feng). There are additional ways the local and national authorities are keeping their citizens in check about quarantine rules.

One of the actions that’s been taken is full-blow lockdown. Hubei province has had the most intense lockdown measures since it was the center point of the coronavirus outbreak with nearly three-fourths of the confirmed cases in China. Since the week of January 23, when the capital city of Hubei prohibited people from leaving, government officials across the province have gradually intensified efforts to keep people inside. In a household only one person can be sent out every three days to buy groceries, apartment compounds only allow people to use one gate, and everyone’s temperature is checked before entering. Nevertheless coronavirus cases still continue to increase, so the Hubei government began enforcing “the strictest, around-the-clock, closed management” for all residential complexes, banning the use of private cars, and not allowing people to leave their apartments without permission. In addition they require anyone buying cold medicine to reveal their temperature as well as the address and id number at the pharmacy. Many community officials are now buying and delivering the medication and groceries to cut down on people needing to leave the house.

Most of China that does not struggle with nearly as many coronavirus cases does not have as extreme controls as Hubei. Many cities across China have been using a monitoring scheme that breaks down areas into small grid-like units that are monitored and enforce regulations. These enforcements are made by community officials, which are a mix of paid employees and volunteers. If people refuse to cooperate with anything involving quarantine orders, the grid workers can call for backup from the local police. Each person is supposed to get their temperature taken when entering a complex and note if they recently left the city, but travel records rely on individuals self-reporting, which can result in lax control measures.

The number of grid workers patrolling the streets has increased to attempt to offset weak enforcement of the quarantine rules in some neighborhoods. For example the Zhejiang province has one of the highest rates of cases besides Hubei now has 33,000 grid workers supervising neighborhoods.

Resource:
Feng, Emily, and Amy Cheng. “Restrictions And Rewards: How China Is Locking Down Half A Billion Citizens.” NPR, NPR, 21 Feb. 2020, www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/02/21/806958341/restrictions-and-rewards-how-china-is-locking-down-half-a-billion-citizens.

Traditionally people are supposed to eat dumplings for every meal, every day, but most people don’t do that. Some eat dumplings during the New Year’s Eve dinner, while others eat them for the first breakfast. Though dumplings aren’t popular everywhere in China, contrary to popular belief. In the South many people would rather eat spring rolls and balls of glutinous rice in soup called tangyuan. Dumplings are more popular in the north. Here are images and descriptions of these Chinese New Year dishes and more. 

For desert, many Chinese New Year’s desserts have symbolic meaning in the name. An example is the desert tangyuan, meaning “soup balls” but sounding like tuanyuan, which means reunion. Another example is Nian gao, which is a type of rice cake that symbolizes success. Fa gao, is a third dessert that is a sponge cake muffin hybrid. It’s often dyed festival colors! The fa in the name fa gao, is the same as in fa cai, which means “to get right”. Here are some pictures and more information! All three of these deserts have a special meaning and connection to the holiday season. 

There are also special wines for the Spring Festival. Many Chinese people love drinking, and have wine for every ceremony, festival, or important dinner. With China having such a rich wine culture, it’s no surprise that there’s a bunch of drinking games played during the Spring Festival. But there are also strict toasting etiquette rules to know and follow when dining with someone older like at New Year’s dinner. There are lots of details to know about the order of the toasts, seating, how to hold the wine glass, and others. 

Decorations for Chinese New Year are all red! Families will cover their homes in the color red. In the story about Nian, the color red also scared the monster away as well as the firecrackers. Red is an invaluable weapon and used in almost all Chinese New Year decorations. The Chinese will hang up red lanterns, strings up chili peppers, and paste red paper on their doors and windows. People often buy new red clothes to add to their Spring Festival wardrobe to bring good luck and start over fresh. 

Chinese New Year ends on the first full moon of the lunar year. This night is the Yuanxiao Festival or Lantern Festival. Family is still important, but this night of the holiday is for partying and freedom. In ancient times girls were not allowed to walk around outside by themselves, except on this night. Girls would walk around to moon-gaze and look at the beautiful lanterns and because of this, it’s also known as Valentine’s Day in China. 

Xin nian kuai le, is the Chinese New Year greeting, meaning literally Happy New Year! But in Hong Kong and other Cantonese-speaking regions it’s more common to say, gong hei fat choy, or in Mandarin Chinese it’s, gong xi fa cai, which means congratulations on the fortune. 

Resource: https://chinesenewyear.net/21-things-you-didnt-know-about-chinese-new-year/

The Spring Festival is the longest Chinese holiday being technically 15 days long, but celebration begins on New Year’s Eve so it’s really celebrated for 16 days. Traditionally people over the holiday spend time with family and can only go out after the 5th day. Since it’s a national holiday most stores are closed, so people stock up for the Chinese new year holiday the month prior by buying cooking supplies, snacks, gifts, new clothes, as well as other things.

Family is the most important part of Chinese New year. On New Year’s Eve family’s have a reunion dinner that brings everyone together. In modern China, the Spring Festival causes the largest human migration in the world. Since many elderly parents live in rural villages and their children work in the cities they must travel home to vacation. In 2015, statistics showed the train stations sold 1,000 tickets per second during chuyun or Spring Migration. An important part of Chinese culture is having children and passing down the family legacy. Some desperate singles hire a fake boyfriend or girlfriend to take home to meet the family during Spring migration.

On New year’s day there is no showering because people don’t want to wash away the good luck! People also are expected to not sweep, throw garbage out, get a haircut, use sharp things, argue, swear, say unlucky words, or break things during Chinese New Year. But there is a whole day dedicated to cleaning before the Spring Festival to sweep the bad luck away and make room for the good. 

Gifts are exchanged during the Spring Festival, like other cultures, but Chinese children also receive lucky money in red envelopes. They are also called red packets or pockets that include money to help transfer fortune from the elders to the kids. Red envelopes can also be given to someone’s boss, employ, co-worker, or friend. In current times with technology, people like to send digital red pockets.

https://chinesenewyear.net/21-things-you-didnt-know-about-chinese-new-year/

More than 20% of the world celebrates Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival. It’s the most important holiday in China and to Chinese people all over. Chinese New Year is also called the Spring Festival because it marks the end of the coldest day, so people can welcome spring. It can also be called the Lunar New Year since it’s celebrated in countries like North and South Korea and Vietnam as well. Chinese New Year goes according to the lunar calendar so there is not one set date. The holiday ranges from January 21 to February 20. In 2019 the holiday occurred on February 5th, this year it took place on January 25. Although China follows the Gregorian calendar like the rest of the world, the lunar calendar is still important and what all traditional holidays are celebrated according to, like the Winter Solstice. 

Originally, the Spring Festival was a day to pray to gods for the spring, which includes the planting and harvest season. The harvest was very important to the agrarian society. People also prayed to their ancestors during the holiday. Legend says that a monster named Nian would come about every New Year’s Eve. While most people would hide safe in their homes, a brave boy fought him off with firecrackers. The following day, people set off even more firecrackers to celebrate their survival. This practice of setting off firecrackers became a crucial part of Chinese New Year. Setting off firecrackers is supposed to scare off monsters and bad luck like in the legend about Nian. So people often stay up on Chinese New Year’s Eve and set off firecrackers at midnight, and again in the morning to welcome the new year and good luck. Due to concerns for air pollution and safety, many Chinese cities have banned fireworks or have restrictions. But people often set them off anyways. Thanks to an angry public, Beijing lifted the ban on fireworks in 2006 after 13 years. Some families also burn fake paper money and printed gold bars to honor their deceased loved ones, because they believe the offerings will bring fortune and good luck to their ancestors in the afterlife.  This tradition is similar to the Korean Chuseok holiday or the Mexican Day of the Dead. 

https://chinesenewyear.net/21-things-you-didnt-know-about-chinese-new-year/

China’s continuous progression in economics and business development requires an educational system that provides opportunities for children to thrive in the future. But there is a wide range of school quality among urban and rural areas. Often major metropolises offer great quality education, while schools in rural areas are far less developed. Rural schools typically struggle with being understaffed, and the student’s educational opportunities and environment are much different than in the city.

The Chinese education system requires kids to complete five years of primary school and the first three years of middle school. There are three optional years of kindergarten before primary school. The required first three years of middle school is considered junior middle school and the final three years are called senior middle school. Following middle school students often take several years of higher education. Primary school and junior middle school are mostly funded by the government since they are mandatory, but schools may still charge for each semester or add charges for food or extra curricular activities.

Children in China attend school five days a week. The school day typically begins at 7:30 or 8:00 in the morning and ends at 17:00 or is 5:00pm in the evening, but hours may differ depending on the grade and location of the school. The beginning of the school year is in September and ends in late June or July. Chinese school systems not only have longer school days but also go for more months than most schools in the United States. One key difference between public and private schools in China is that private schools tend to use bilingual teachings.

Kindergarten or daycare is considered pre-primary education in China, so they provide various educational classes that are designed for young children to get a head start in preparing for their academic careers. Childcare is considered an essential part of a child’s overall education even though it is not mandatory. All nurseries, kindergartens, and pre-schools require tuition. This cost can vary greatly depending on the school, but many parents in China plan to invest lots of money in their child’s education. Even in kindergarten, the Chinese approach to education is strict and values discipline highly.

Education in primary school allocates 60% of it’s time on “The Big Two”, math and Chinese. The other 40% of the time is filled with classes on music, art, morals and society, and nature. Some schools begin teaching foreign languages towards the end of primary school. Students also have extracurriculars on top of school. The competitiveness of China’s educational system starts early causing parents to often sign kids up for a large variety of extracurricular activities with hopes they will have better prospects in the future. After primary school the students must take exams that test their knowledge of Chinese and math.

Following primary school students go to middle school. Junior middle school is required, so after completing these three years students can choose to attend a regular senior middle school, a vocational school, or a professional school. Many students struggle to afford higher education. Although the cost of junior middle school is typically minimal the cost for later education increases significantly. Financing their next level of education is not all the students have to worry about. Students must take Zhongkao, the senior high school entrance examination. The score they receive determines their options for what institutions to apply to.

Senior middle schools or high schools aim to prepare their students for higher education. These students are under lots of pressure to not only excel in their regular workload but to prepare for the Gaokao, the National Higher Education Entrance Examination. The Gaokao exam is the basis for recruiting students for college and the quality of the high school is often measured by the number of students they send to college, putting even more pressure on the students. The Gaokao exam is 9 hours long and taken over 3 days. The exam tests the students’ knowledge in Chinese, math, a foreign language, and a few other optional subjects. Only 40% of students pass the challenging exam on the first try.


Resource: https://www.internations.org/go/moving-to-china/education

China has one of the world’s oldest medical systems. Traditional Chinese medicine aims to prevent or heal disease by maintaining or restoring yin yang balance. The earliest known written record of Chinese medicine is the Huangdi neijing (The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic) from the 3rd century BCE. The composition provides the theoretical concepts for traditional Chinese medicine that remain the basis of its practice today. Traditional Chinese healers seek to restore a dynamic balance between two complementary forces, yin (passive) and yang (active) which pervade the human body. According to traditional Chinese medicine a person is healthy when harmony exists between two forces; illness on the other hand results from a breakdown in the equilibrium of yin and yang. 

Chinese medicine has evolved over the thousands of years it’s been in existence. Practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine use practices like acupuncture, tai chi, and herbal products to confront health issues using the mind and body. 

Many tests have been performed to see if acupuncture helps ease different types of pain. Studies suggest that acupuncture stimulates the release of the body’s natural painkillers, but some trials suggest that real and sham acupuncture are equally effective, signifying a placebo effect. However, results from many studies advocate real acupuncture may help ease types of pain, specifically chronic pain in the low-back, neck, knees, arm, and hand. It may also help reduce the occurrence of tension and migraine headaches. 

Tai Chi combines specific postures, gentle movements, mental focus, breathing, and relaxation. Research supports that practicing tai chi may improve balance and stability for older people. Research also supports tai chi may help people with parkinson’s disease, reduce pain from knee osteoarthritis, cope with fibromyalgia and back pain, and promote quality of life and mood in people with heart failure and cancer. 

Chinese herbal products have been studied for medical problems like stroke, heart disease, mental disorders, and respiratory diseases.  A national survey showed that about one in five Americans use Chinese herbal products. There are not enough quality studies to allow firm conclusions about the effectiveness of Chinese herbal products. For information about specific herbs visit NCCIH’s Herbs at a Glance Web page.

Resources:

https://www.britannica.com/science/traditional-Chinese-medicine

https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/traditional-chinese-medicine-what-you-need-to-know

This semester for my ICR I collaborated with the Indiana Association of Chinese Americans, which goes by the acronym IACA. During my time on campus I learned about the association through two members and Chinese Americans, Kwan and Benny. They also shared about their own lives and experiences living in Indianapolis. Since we are unable to continue our ICR and complete the required amount of hours on campus, we were assigned three projects. The first project was to make a flyer for the IACA to share with the Butler Community. Below is my flyer including main ideas from the organization’s mission and activities they run that students can be apart of! The IACA is a great part of the Indiana Community and I loved creating this poster to share that!

[embeddoc url=”http://blogs.butler.edu/ghs208spring2020/files/2020/04/Indiana-Association-of-Chinese-Americans-2.pdf” download=”all”]

Although Olympic officials insist that the coronavirus will not disrupt this summer’s Olympics in Tokyo, the virus is already threatening to keep some Chinese athletes out of competition. The gymnastics World Cup is in Melbourne this week and China is not sending anyone, which may jeopardize two athletes’ spots in Tokyo. In addition, the women’s handball team withdrew from next month’s Olympic Qualification Tournament. Also the men’s water polo team waits on a decision to see if they will be able to compete in next month’s Olympic qualifying tournament. The Asian championships were originally scheduled for last week in Kazakhstan but were canceled due to the virus. 

Quarantine in parts of China has caused some Chinese athletes, who were hoping to attend the Olympics, have their training disrupted. Even athletes that did not have their training disrupted are having challenges getting to competitions since many counties, including the United States, have temporarily barred entry to non-citizens who have been in China. There are several Chinese teams and athletes that have already qualified and secured their places to compete in the Tokyo Olympics. But other athlete’s hopes for attending the Olympics this summer are determined by qualifying competitions yet to take place. The qualifying events have been scheduled for months, but with the Olympics only five months away and experts unable to predict how long the coronavirus outbreak will last, the international sports federation and Tokyo organizers are put in a tough spot. They have promised that the Summer Olympics will go on as planned, but for some Chinese athletes that may not be able to get to the competitions to qualify, that will be little consolation. 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2020/02/19/coronavirus-puts-tokyo-olympics-jeopardy-some-chinese-athletes/4809513002/

In class we discussed the social status of women in Chinese history and culture. A documentary we watched referred to baby girls as “small happiness” whereas baby boys were “big happiness”.  A daughter was not considered a part of the family because she was raised to be put in an arranged marriage, at a young age, and leave her family to move in with her husband and his family. Women were expected to stay in the house, raise children, clean, and cook. Giving birth and producing an offspring to inherit their wealth was essential to families, so it was important for the women to birth a son. Women were oppressed throughout Chinese history. An example of this is foot binding. Women were considered ugly if they had big feet, so they would bind their feet by wrapping all their toes, except the big one, under their feet and walk on them to make their feet smaller. This painful experience was normal and expected of women. It wasn’t until 1912 that foot binding was banned. This is just one example of how Chinese women have historically been oppressed. 

Today Chinese women have gained autonomy due to the developments in education and laws protecting their rights and interest. Although there have been improvements, Chinese women’s relationships with men remain unequal. The situation has been evolving over the last three decades. The advances in women’s access to education is beneficial but they struggle in the field of employment. Reduction in jobs available for women and inequalities between men and women’s salaries create challenges and insecurities in the work field. Today the relationships between husband and wife still have the focus of marriage and reproduction. It’s common that women are dependent on men on an economic level and in regards to decision-making. Although there is progress seen by social modernisation, living standards, and economic reforms, that has not resulted in all individuals being perceived as equally valuable. On the whole, the status of Chinese women often remains inferior to the status of men, specifically in public life, and roles within the family. 

https://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/6013?file=1