China Reflection

At the start of this semester, I was very uneducated on pretty much all matters concerning China. I had done research about Tibet and the Chinese takeover of the area for a paper for Global Studies, but other than that, I really didn’t know anything about the country. I approached informing myself about China with some trepidation, in part because it is a culture and country over 5000 years old, and is governed by a strict communist government that the U.S. owes trillions of dollars to. These elements and others made China somewhat intimidating to me, but I decided to surpass these factors and dive in to Chinese culture by enrolling in the China Mojo class, which was scheduled to take a 9 day trip to China over spring break. This, along with the second China class I took, China’s Wild, Wild West, greatly enhanced my understanding of this fascinating nation.

I really didn’t know much about what I would be learning in “China’s Wild, Wild West,” and on the first day of class, we began a discussion of the subject matter: China’s 55 minority groups. I was blow away to learn that China had minority groups. I know that it was very naive of me to assume that a nation that large and with that much history did not have minority groups, and opening my eyes to this information was very influential in my education of Chinese life and culture.

It was also very interesting to take this class in conjunction with the China Mojo class, because on my trip, I was able to search for signs of minority groups in the areas we visited. I didn’t see much in the way of minority indicators on the first leg of our trip in Wuhan, but on our boat cruise on the Yangtze River, we had the privilege of meeting members of the Tujia minority group. We were taken in groups of about 20, down an offshoot of the Yangtze River, and the small boats we were on were powered by 4 Tujia men rowing, and guided by a young woman of the Tujia minority. She sang us ancient Tujia folk songs that were translated into Mandarin so that the tourists were able to understand what the traditional love songs were about. It was fascinating to see how these people had used tourism to develop a means of getting income other than farming.

Additionally, in Beijing, I saw examples of the minority presented as the “exoitic other,” a theme prevalent in “China’s Wild, Wild West.” For example, on the huge television screens in Tiananmen Square, photos of beautiful women scrolled across the screens, and each one was decked out in the clothing and hairstyles of one of the 55 minority groups of China. In addition, while exploring the Forbidden City, I saw a tour group of about 30 people from a minority group (which I was unable to identify) who were all dressed in navy outfits, which were slightly different for men and women.

Another thing that I learned a lot about was Chinese family life and education. In the first couple weeks of the China Mojo class, we read an article about Chinese parenting, specifically Chinese mothers in America. I thought that some of the things that the author presented were incredibly strict, almost unimaginable. This was only until I met Polaris, the daughter of our host family when we stayed in Wuhan. One of the first things she said to my roommate, Blythe and I was, “my parents are very China.” We didn’t know exactly what she meant by this, but we soon found out that her mother was a professor of law at a local university and her father worked for the government. Further explaining this statement was the way that they presented their lives and home to us. For example, much of the conversation we had was about school and the classes that we were taking in comparison with the ones Polaris, who was the equivalent to a sophomore in high school, was taking. The importance of school was apparent in many ways, but especially when, on the second night of our home stay, she did her homework while we socialized with her mother and grandmother. Additionally, as soon as we arrived to their home (after eating a fabulous home-cooked meal, of course) her father took about 45 minutes showing us his collection of books, valuable Chinese artifacts, and the degrees and awards that he had received. One of the most “China” things that I noticed about her family was revealed when I questioned Polaris about whether she had any siblings. She had been referring to one of her cousins as her sister, and, knowing about the One Child Policy in China, I asked offhand, “So how many siblings so you have?” She looked at me, with shock on her face and said, “Oh no, no siblings!” This, I guess is what it means to have parents and to be a part of a family that is very “China.”

Finally, one thing that truly took me aback about Chinese culture was the fascination, even obsession that many people had with the Western world, mostly America. On many urban streets, we saw McDonalds’s, KFCs, and Starbucks, and we even went with our host family to see an American movie, I am Number Four in theaters. Additionally, everywhere we went, we were photographed. Some of the less daring people pretended to take photos of something else, and at the last minute redirected their cameras to shoot a photo of our group, but some asked to take photos with us, and took 3 or 4, just to make sure that they got a good one.

The information that I have learned both from my trip to China and in the classes has opened my eyes in many ways. I had never really traveled outside of the country or immersed myself in the culture of another country before this semester. It was incredible for me to see what the Chinese are doing to grow as a nation, and the things that they see as important, like learning English. In the areas we visited, there was usually at least one person that spoke enough English to communicate in a basic way with us, something that you would not find in America. I think that as Americans, we view the world in a very self centered way. We don’t learn other languages or much about other cultures; we a kind of protected in our own bubble. These classes and the trip have broken me out of that bubble, and I now have a strong desire to learn about other cultures, and try to learn other languages, starting with Mandarin.

Additionally, these classes have made me realize that America is an incredibly young nation. We have none of the antiquity that is present in almost every other nation worldwide, and we have a lot to learn about sustaining a quality of life over time. We need to not see ourselves as the strongest nation, because really, we’re just the rookie in a sense, and assuming that because we had a great first couple rounds does not make us the best, strongest, or most durable player in the game.

blog post 4: party in the city, play in the town

City life in Wuhan and Beijing, and rural life by the Great Wall, driving through the countryside, and along the Yangtze River.

One thing about China that absolutely astounded me was the stark contrast between urban and rural life. On our trip, we hardly traveled outside the cities, but we did drive through the countryside on our way to the boat cruise and our Great Wall tour, and saw some country style living along the Yangtze River.

Construction of a bridge along the Yangtze.

The cities that we visited, Wuhan and Beijing, were hopping with life and construction, with a healthy dose of lights and nightlife. In Wuhan, it was readily apparent that economic growth and production was happening on every street and around every corner. Scaffolding, caution signs, and construction workers (and their temporary barracks) were everywhere. In Beijing, there was a little less construction, evidence of an area populated for longer, but the shops and markets showed a booming economy.

Additionally, in the cities, there was an almost overwhelming western influence. Whether in the style of the brand new high-rises in contrast with the hundred-plus year old buildings, the McDonald’s, Starbucks’, and KFCs’ around every corner, or the 5 American movies playing in the Wuhan cinema, Western influence was everywhere.

Paintings of views from our Yangtze River cruise.

Barely 30 minutes outside the cities, however, were farmhouses and rural Chinese villages. It was clear that the pace of life here was dramatically slower than life in the cities, especially in the areas around the Yangtze River and where we toured the Great Wall.

Wild Will at his farmhouse before our hike up to the Great Wall.

We were lucky enough to get a day long tour of the Great Wall courtesy of Wild Will, the second foreigner to ever hike it in its entirety. The 6.5 mile trek up to the Ox Bow, the highest point on the Wall, was one of the most incredible parts of the hike, during which we got to visit Will’s rural farmhouse and see some locals and their farm animals partaking in everyday activities of rural Chinese life.

Painting of the Great Wall.

blog post 3: very "China"

Blythe, Polaris and her mother on our night out on the town in Wuhan.

I learned a lot about Chinese family life and education in urban areas. When I met Polaris, the daughter of our host family in Wuhan, one of the first things she said to my roommate and I was, “My parents are very China.” We didn’t know exactly what she meant by this, but we soon found out that her mother was a professor of law at a local university and her father worked for the government.

We learned even more about what this meant by the way that they presented their lives and home to us. For example, much of the conversation we had was about school and the classes that we were taking in comparison with the ones Polaris, who was the equivalent to a sophomore in high school, was enrolled in.

Photos from the high school that Polaris attends in Wuhan, and their flag raising ceremony.

The importance of school was apparent in many ways, but especially when, on the second night of our home stay, she did her homework while we socialized with her mother and grandmother.

One of the most “China” things that I noticed about her family was revealed when I asked Polaris about whether she had any siblings. She had been referring to one of her cousins as her sister, and, knowing about the One Child Policy in China, I asked offhand, “So how many siblings so you have?” She looked at me, with shock on her face and said, “Oh no, no siblings!” This, I guess is what it means to have parents and to be a part of a family that is very “China.”

First floor of the library... which like the second floor, is off limits to students.

We also learned a lot about education in China. For example, the library at the high school that we visited was off limits to students. The first floor had no books, and the second floor had a small collection of books that would be useless to the students even if they were allowed to use them because they were so out of date. Additionally, the Chinese do not recognize learning disorders. They believe that every student has the ability to excel, and if they cannot keep up, there is plenty of work in the fields for them.

Painting of graffiti on a student's desk.

Another interesting thing about our visit to the school was the fact that a Communist party member who was employed by the school came to observe our tour. After she joined us, Steve, our guide, clearly shifted conversation from a critique of the school and its practices to a very complementary and light discussion. When she was not with us, however, he was able to tell us the story of the number one student from the graduating class the year before who, due to the many pressures from his family and the school, committed suicide at the end of the year by jumping off a building on campus. The school’s official story was that he fell.

This being said, it was very clear to use that these students were receiving an phenomenal education, and that education in China is everything.

blog post 2: a different religious tone

Temple of 500 Golden Buddhas in Wuhan.

I grew up in a Roman Catholic household, in which I had to go to mass every week until I was 19 years old. This, in conjunction with my developing sense of self and rebellion in my teenage years caused me to strongly resent organized religion. Although I appreciate the values that my parents instilled in me with the aid of religion, I often wonder how my life would be different if I hadn’t grown up a Catholic. It is for this reason, and for the fact that if I were to subscribe to a religion it would be Buddhism, that I found the Chinese way of religion so interesting.

Temple of 500 Golden Buddhas in Wuhan.

On the first full day of our trip, we visited The Temple of 500 Golden Buddhas in Wuhan. The first thing that struck me about this temple was how crowded it was. The courtyards and each building in the monastery were packed with people of all ages. There were a couple tour groups, many older people, and parents with young children, but the most astonishing thing to me was the number of people my age. There were a very large percentage of teens and twenty-somethings, both by themselves and in small groups of friends. This was so surprising to me because I feel like you would never see that in America, especially in Christian churches in and around New England. Not everyone was there to pray, in fact, the temple is a fairly large tourist attraction because of the hall of Buddhas, but the diversity and number of people in the temple that morning was very interesting.

Painting I did of my coin sticking to the statue in the Temple of 500 Golden Buddhas.

Additionally, Buddhism is not a religion of threats and consequence, as Christianity is, but is based in luck and good acts towards others and a cyclical, balanced mindset.

Temple on the Yangtze River with a small pond to release turtles for good fortune.

In the past six or seven years, I have started thinking and acting primarily in this way, but it was fascinating to see the effects of that thought on an entire culture. There were no elements of life that were highly and obviously impacted by the different way of thinking that Buddhism, but the general energy of the people, items in stores, and the design of buildings, art and even general product packaging lent itself to a more Buddhist way of thinking. I think that this was one of the things that made Chinese culture so attractive to me.

Temple in the White Emperor's City.

blog post 1: art on the other side of the world

Wall sculpture in a riverside park in Wuhan.

I don’t think that anything could have prepared me for China. In so many ways, China is an incredibly exotic place to me as an American college student, but in others, it is strikingly familiar. There were many aspects of the culture that truly wowed me, but the element with the strongest pull was Chinese design.

Different "fonts" of Chinese characters in Wuhan and Beijing.

One thing that surprised me (although it probably shouldn’t have), was the fact that there are many “fonts” of Chinese characters. As a graphic design student currently taking an advanced typography class, I couldn’t help but compare and analyze the fonts I saw on every store sign, water bottle, street sign, etc. I don’t know why character typefaces seemed like a crazy idea to me… probably because I see them as an art form in themselves. To me, Chinese characters seem more like perfected elements of design than like letters or words. However, I was delighted to see the wide variety of different fonts in the signage, packaging, etc. everywhere I went.

Art by Chinese high school students in Wuhan.

Hand in hand with my appreciation of design in China was my love of the art that we saw there. For example, when visiting the high school, we got to peek into an art room and see a quick teacher demonstration of a watercolor painting. Since I’m and artist and art student, I loved seeing the teacher’s demonstration and the work of the students.

Art in temples and buildings in Wuhan.

Another aspect of the art the fascinated me was the attention to detail in every area. For example, many of the business entryways that we say had intricate designs on them, and multiple buildings that we toured had astonishingly detailed patterns on the ceilings. Additionally, the styles of both the architectural art and the watercolor art, although different from each other, were very consistent and showed a perfection and development of style very different from the west, but uniformity as styles of Chinese art.

paint this.

1. Which media environments and technologies/applications/platforms will I use in documenting and telling the story of my China trip?

I plan to document my trip using both photography and captioned watercolor “sketches.”This will include a quick watercolor interpretation of certain things that I encounter with notes partially incorporated into the piece, sort of like this painting by Jocelyn Curry.



2. What equipment/gear will I need to bring to capture my stories?

In order to do this, I will need to bring a watercolor notebook, paintbrushes, a watercolor kit, a pen, and my Canon Rebel digital camera.

3. How will I capture and "bottle" my stories while traveling in China?

I plan to capture a number of photos every day, because it is unrealistic to think that I will be able to capture everything I want to by just painting. However, I want to try to do a painting every day if I can, time permitting of course.

4. Please provide a "sample example" of your multimedia approach here.

A rough guess of the types of painting I will do is featured above, in the example by Jocelyn Curry, which I will then upload to my blog and Facebook account.

China Paper #1: No Knows Goes

View from the Washington coast.

Image taken by me.

It is amazing to me how little I have experienced of the world in my 20 years here. Sure, I’ve traveled up and down the East Coast going to concerts, visited family in Washington state and Arizona, and been on short trips to Puerto Rico, Canada, and the British Virgin Islands, but all in all, I have not experienced much of the world that is different from the town in Connecticut where I grew up and Burlington, where I have lived for the last two and a half years.

I have also not especially tried to learn about other places and cultures vicariously, whether through reading or watching documentaries. This being said, I absolutely do not have a lack of curiosity, but maybe a lack of necessity for that information. This is an excuse that is quickly becoming insufficient as the weeks dwindle down until our class’ trip to eastern China.

Tibetan monks at a monastery.
Image courtesy of the BBC

I do not know much about China, although I did briefly learn about recent Chinese history in my study of Tibet last semester. In this exploration, I learned a lot about Tibetan Buddhism and the ways of the Tibetans both before and after the Chinese invasion there in 1951. Upon doing this research, I was horrified to learn of the religious oppression and mass destruction that took place there, especially when I learned that China is now working to exploit the wealth of untapped resources that Tibet holds.




This is not all that China is, however, and since the beginning of my China classes this semester, I have begun to realize the incredible culture and history that this huge country possesses.

Photo of the Great Wall in China.

Image courtesy of Daily Mail.

So, in regard to what I know about China and what I want to learn about China, the answers are not enough and as much as possible, respectively. Specifically, however, I look forward to being thrown into their culture and having the opportunity to speak with Chinese citizens about their lives and opinions about China and about the U.S. I also wish that it were possible to open speak about controversial events and issues with Chinese citizens, like Tiananmen Square, Tibet, and human rights and freedoms in China. However, I will happily settle with a chance to visit and explore China for the 8 days that we are there.

Hello-a-go-go!

Hey! I'm Emily Snyder from Newtown, CT. I am a junior studying Graphic Design at Champlain College Over this past winter break, a fun media experience I had was going to see the band moe. in Boston on Dec. 30th.


I like that media is so accessible, and I dislike that we are so dependent on it.

This is a custom pendant that I made for one of my friends this winter.
Photo taken by me.

In the future, I would like to do graphic design in the music industry, for example, promotional posters, ticket design, etc in addition to jewelry making.

China Question: Just how censored is the media in China?