Students in the Social Change in China Global Seminar Share their Experiences
This summer, CAS faculty director Rachel Rinaldo led a group of 12 蜜桃传媒破解版下载 undergraduate students in a Tang-funded global seminar on Social Change in China. Together, these students embarked on a three-week program immersing themselves in Chinese culture, politics, and history. We'll be showcasing a series of blog posts from these students to share their experiences.?
Hazie Arana - Transportation in China
As I got to explore China, I quickly realized that there are many means of transportation. Here in the United States, the most common form of transportation is traveling by car. While it is also an option to walk or ride a bike, many factors must be considered depending on the area you live in. These factors include things such as what kind of public transportation is available, how far you are trying to travel, the weather, etc. In China, however, there are multiple ways of getting around a big city. In Beijing, for example, I witnessed hundreds, maybe even thousands, of rentable bikes. These bikes are parked along the sidewalks and available to anyone with the scan of a QR code. Here in the United States, we have bike systems that are similar, but certainly not as vast and available to all the way it is in China.
Although China has had more access to public transportation, walking is also still a fairly common and popular option. After a long day of exploring the Wutongs, I decided to go on a walk of my own. I came across a beautiful path away from the noises of the cars and the city chaos. It made me think about how regardless of Beijing being a big city, nature seems to be fairly prioritized. As seen in the picture, one is still able to enjoy the beauty of the trees while being in one of the largest cities in China. As someone who lived in a big city, the biggest thing I missed was the beauty of the mountains and the greenery where I grew up. While the city still has specific places, such as public parks, it is certainly not as common as it is in Beijing. I learned that preservation of nature such as the one along this walking path is driven by the National Ecological Civilization Strategy. Cities are radically transforming from gray concrete jungles into lush, interconnected ecosystems that fundamentally treats urban nature as vital green infrastructure for improving air quality, mitigating the urban heat island effect, and improving public health.?
Another way we got around the large city of China was by using the bullet trains. On this specific day it was pretty hectic as out bullet train was nearly 40 minutes late. Thouasand of people scurried along to be able to get on before it was missed. After getting off our train and arriving in Kunming, we were quickly confronted with even more people attempting to do the same thing. It made me realize that at nearly every public transportation center, ID is always required along with facial recognition software. This picture was taken leaving the train station.. Thousands of people are required to scan their IDs not only to enter, but also to exit. It truly puts into perspective the amount of security and surveillance that is used in China in exchange for citizens safety.?
Victoria Flores - Scooter culture in China and its sociological origins
The scooters in China are compact. They’re meant to maneuver easily around traffic and down narrow alleyways. However, their sheer numbers and near-constant honking make their presence hard to miss. The moment I stepped out of my Didi in Beijing, my first thought was. “Why are there so many scooters?” The wonderful thing about being there to study sociology is that I actually had the opportunity to find the answer to that question. Unsurprisingly, the answer is actually many answers. A myriad of social factors all coming together to spawn the current scooter culture raging from Beijing to Shangri-La. There are environmental and economic factors, infrastructural and architectural factors, as well as the simple fact of convenience.
China is the world's largest oil importer, leaving it vulnerable to foreign geopolitical agendas. Not only does a shift towards renewable energy allow China greater independence from external political influence, but its investment in renewable energy technology has also made it a leader in electric vehicle and battery manufacturing. So not only is China less reliant on energy imports, but it has also become one of the largest exporters of electric vehicles globally, threatening the American auto industry in particular. In this way, scooters have become a powerful political and economic tool.
While it is true that wages remain low and cars remain out of reach for many, that is not to say that there are no cars on the streets of Beijing. China's cities suffer from traffic and congestion as much as any other city globally. Scooters are well-suited to navigate these traffic jams, as they can ‘scoot’ around with ease thanks to their compact size and can be parked on sidewalks since they are classified the same as bikes. Scooters slide into established infrastructure with relative ease, driving alongside cars on the road and parking next to bikes on the sidewalk. They serve as an excellent bridge between public transit and home. That said, to support the push for electric vehicles and to acknowledge the hazards of scooters on the roads, scooter-specific lanes and traffic signals are being incorporated into roads, and scooter-specific parking lots and charging stations are going up by the dozens.
Scooters are cute, convenient, cheap, accessible, and largely align with the Chinese government's economic agenda regarding oil and renewable energy. It is not, then, hard to believe that they outnumbered cars on the road in 2022. “In 2022, there were 350 million scooters in use in China, compared to approximately 230 million private cars. Some industry insiders believe that the true number of scooters may be much higher, as smaller cities rarely bother to register the vehicles even though they are one of the main forms of local transportation in the country’s vast interior,” said Yuanyuan. Scooters are not just a quirky part of China's culture. Scooter use in contemporary China has been shaped by the country's history and continues to be shaped by the country's vision for the future. It is a photo, a mirror, and a window. Showing the country as it was, as it is now, and what it might look like in the future.
Lucia Gordon - Caring for Animals in China
For my photo essay, the theme was how animals were cared for in China by location. We found this stray cat the first day in Beijing when we were looking around the shopping areas. We had gone into the back alley of the shops and found her sitting under a chair. Our group of 4 bent down and called her over, and she came willingly. She was very sweet and allowed us to get close to her. We noticed that she was well fed, meaning there were no signs of starvation, such as a poor coat or ribs/visible bones showing under the fur and skin. Then we noticed that she did not have a collar on. The care shown for her indicated that the shopkeepers took care of her, whether by giving her food or some kind of shelter. What I was curious about was what type of loyalty the cats showed. In the ancient world, cats were used as protectors and as pets. They were preserved mainly for royalty, with the occasional street cat. However, now there are more cats used as street animals than as pets. This connection illustrates the shift from imperialism to communism by making more upper-class goods accessible to the lower class.
Once we arrived in Shangri-La, I immediately noticed the difference in the animals. Instead of many street cats, there were large, fluffy dogs. This was a dog I met sitting outside of a costume store. Within Shangri-La, there is a large tourism community. The area we were in had a majority of shops and restaurants that catered to tourists. In front of the shops, dogs were sitting on the stoops, normally tied up; this dog represented that. All of these dogs were extremely friendly and welcoming. They would allow you to approach and pet them; however, once you did, the shopkeeper would come out of the store to talk to you and try to get you to come in. I flagged this for the drastic cultural shift in how these large dogs are used. There was a drastic shift from using dogs as herding animals and protectors to using them essentially as bait to draw in tourists. These big dogs were used as livestock dogs, guarding the herds; now, with the shift toward needing more tourists and moving away from agricultural life, having the large dogs as protectors is no longer needed, symbolizing the development of the culture.
Caroline Holt - Consumer Culture in China
Consumerist culture in China was truly fascinating to study over the course of this three week Global Seminar. Obviously, consumerism is a large part of American culture so I was curious to observe and understand how it fits into Chinese culture. In short, I discovered that regardless of when or where, there is always an opportunity for the consumerist to purchase a product here in China. It doesn’t matter if said product is clothing, destination merchandise, beverages, desserts, foods, skincare, makeup, or traditional cultural items. At every single site I visited throughout the course of this seminar, there was an opportunity for me to purchase something. Not only was it foreign tourists like myself partaking in this consumerism, it was also domestic tourists and locals.
I found this so interesting because we visited many remote and ancient locations with examples being Potatso National Park, Tiger Leaping George, Dukezong ancient town, and the Great Wall of China. The first two of these examples are very remote and natural areas, but regardless, there were still walls full of merchandise and food in a multitude of places around these natural outdoor sites. Consumerist culture didn’t just present itself at the entrance of these sites, but several kilometers into the hikes we completed where there was more product to be bought. At the latter two sites, each over 1,000 years old, there were American food establishments. At the Great Wall, I found Subway, and in the ancient town of Dukezong there was McDonald’s. The way in which consumerism was able to penetrate even some of the oldest destinations in China really stood out to me and interested me during this trip. Additionally, in Dukezong ancient town as well as Beijing and Xi’an, the locals were more than willing to commodify their culture for the consumer. They invited tourists to dress up in traditional clothing and do traditional makeup for photos which was so unexpected and fascinating.?
Izzy Lauer - The Old and the New
One if the most striking aspects of China that I noticed immediately upon my arrival was the interaction between the old and the new. The deep cultural history has interesting ways of peeking through in modernity, and I was determined to capture this.?
The first day in Beijing I took this photo, this is a 700-year-old neighborhood type called “Hutongs” meaning water well (these neighborhoods were designed around wells to sustain a community efficiently). Frankly it was jarring to see powerlines and security cameras dotted around these ancient buildings- a true contradiction. As an American, seeing history interact with the present like this was completely novel. The pastel blue bike in the corner emphasizes this too. The streets are small and so cars are not feasible, providing other forms of reliable transport is essential. These “historical constraints” allowed for a different form of transport to take footing here stronger than it would elsewhere, how cool is that!
This next photo was taken towards the end of our trip in Dali. China has spent most of its history as a major agricultural hub of the world. It’s amazing to think that only relatively recently the average person went from toiling away in the fields to now taking photos upon them. It’s an interesting thing to witness, my assumption is that taking photos like this (to post to social media) this symbolize status, with a hint of cultural/historical pride.?
This final photo does a wonderful job at illustrating the incredible feats of human engineering China has accomplished and that is why I leave it to the end. I took it standing in the top of the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi’an- a beautiful building constructed to house key Buddhist texts brought from India by the famous monk Xuanzang. In it you can see the 1,300-year-old temple grounds which are astounding in and of themselves, but arguably more impressive is the forest of high-rise apartments in the back. Only a few decades ago China was considerably poorer, in the 1980s it had an incredible economic boom under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping. Millions were raised up and out of poverty. How wonderful is it to see relics of a time of deep exclusivity (and cultural heritage) paired with the peak of modernity. It physically shows the shift in governmental priority over time from just the elite to the general population.
It is almost impossible to wrap your head around, and I was in awe the entire time.?
Ash Lopez - Traditional and Modern Architecture in China
My theme for my photos taken in China was China’s focus on blending the traditional architecture of the ancient world with the modern architecture being quickly developed on as China grows as a country. Something interesting that caught my attention as I explored China was how strongly the country valued its history. Now, not to be confused with clinging to it beyond reason, China instead embraces the significance of its past, and takes a middle ground stance on both embracing their traditions and culture, while moving forward with the progression of technology in the modern era. These pictures taken show how China has refused to cast away any semblance of unique identity to push only for progress, instead taking care to show their culture in every small thing a tourist may see – even if it’s a vending machine that is styled in the traditional architecture used in the Forbidden City.
It deeply impressed me how well China blended its respect for its history with many modern progressions. Far from turning the Xi’an Bell Tower into a national monument, isolated from all civilization so that any tour of it would be a journey, they’ve instead turned it into the focal point of a large city, so that living in the city and seeing it every day on your commute to work installs a national pride that a living relic is incorporated into the city so well. Considering that the vastness of the United States and China are extremely comparable, seeing ancient relics and UNESCO world heritage sites being right next to your local McDonald’s was a culture shock, as the United States sometimes requires hours long road trips to visit something that is significantly younger than China’s historical artifacts and sites. In the end, being able to keep culture, tradition, and heritage alive while not remaining stagnant in the past is an impressive feat that China has achieved.
Christina Lyons - Transportation: From Bicycles to Mopeds
Transportation in China has evolved rapidly within the past century. Pedal bicycles were first introduced to the country in the late 1800s, but remained luxury imported goods only available to the wealthy urban residents in treaty ports. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, bikes increased in popularity, but it wasn’t until the PRC was established in 1949 that Chinese factories began producing bicycles domestically. Throughout the 1950s and 1970s, owning a bicycle in China was considered a major personal achievement that signaled economic stability. By the 1970s and 1980s, China had earned the nickname, The Kingdom of the Bicycles. Bikes became an integral part of Chinese society of which the everyday citizen relied on. By the 1990s, the reforms established by Deng Xiaoping sparked immense economic growth, along with a tremendous increase in motorization. By the early 2000s, traditional bicycles went out of style and were replaced by mopeds. The ease and efficiency of these vehicles was made possible by improvements in rechargeable battery technology. Such electric vehicles were instrumental in reducing emissions to improve air quality. The greater impact of this change also means China is less dependent on foreign energy sources. As the middle ground between bicycles and cars, mopeds are an essential feature of transportation in China today.
Satchel McGuire - Writing Systems in Contemporary China
For thousands of years, China has had a unique character-based writing system. For its long history, this has separated Chinese from most other languages, which tend to use alphabets. Despite being unique, beautiful, and carrying immense history, Chinese characters pose unique challenges for readers who speak other languages. Characters are composed of “radicals”, or smaller components that combine to create new characters. Up to 75% of Chinese characters are phonosemantic, which means that one radical indicates meaning and another indicates sound. However, interpreting these clues requires a strong foundation in the basics of Chinese, which can’t be acquired without around a year or two of study, and is still guesswork. These difficulties are one reason the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) debated adopting the Latin Alphabet in the 60s and 70s, a system that has since been developed into “pinyin” (literal meaning = written sound), which is used in elementary schools and for those learning Chinese as a second language. Ultimately, the government decided to maintain characters, but pinyin and English have gradually grown in popularity in public spaces.
Throughout our time in China, a majority of the writing in public were characters, but we also saw evidence of English being increasingly more useful and frequent. I noticed English most commonly on posted signage related to safety, transit, or tourism, but this was not always the case. The first picture included is part of an entryway in Beijing’s Summer Palace
Built c. 1764 CE, this was long before characters in mainland China were simplified by the CCP, and knowing English was extremely uncommon. This part of the entryway reads:?彩云宝树琼田晓 (Traditional Chinese), translation: Jeweled trees amidst colorful clouds; jade-like fields at dawn.?
The second picture is of a donation box located in the Great Mosque of Xi’an, with “donation” written in Arabic, then Chinese, then English. This area has a lot of tourism, and has English and Arabic speaking visitors every single day. In order to accommodate the tourists and visitors that don’t speak Chinese, every warning sign (don’t smoke, prayer hall — don’t enter, caution falling objects, etc) and every donation box included multiple languages. All, of course, were in Chinese first, but they also all included English as well. Many included Arabic.?
The third picture is graffiti in the Hutongs of Beijing. Just as Americans often do with various other languages with different writing systems, English has become romanticized in China. From clothing to advertisements to graffiti, this cultural shift has highlighted China’s globalization and recent romancitization of Latin alphabet. Despite its simple nature, this graffiti signifies China’s recent attitude towards English: “NICE TO MEET YOU :)”.
Emmalyn Nono - Stronger Together: Community and Belonging in China
As depicted in the first photo, my time in China can be neatly summarized by the image of two or more people coming together to eat a pomegranate. This visualization is often used by the Chinese government in order to promote community among the diverse ethnic groups that exist within China. It is a call for us to “closely embrace each other like the seeds of a pomegranate”. As a foreigner, I had expected to deboard my plane into a completely different universe. I was expecting to be stared at and approached with an air of hesitancy by the locals. Instead, I was met with invitations to try local cuisine and participate in traditional customs. I found that the collectivist culture in China did not abruptly stop at my U.S. passport. Locals were excited to see foreigners come visit and experience the Chinese way of life. They were often dazzled by our broken attempts to communicate with them in their language and infatuated with our willingness to try anything. Through these displays of community, China presents itself to foreigners as a nation united not only by shared history and culture, but also by a collective commitment to social cohesion.
Sabrina Phu - China’s Architectural Design?
Throughout this global seminar, I found architecture to be a standout aspect of China’s culture. It is something that is always present and within view. We see variation and consistencies in the hotels we stay at, the restaurants we visit and pass by, the historical sites we explore, the ancient towns, the national parks, the places we pass by during our bus rides, and in everything else in day-to-day life. It’s everywhere.
From my experience in China, I have noticed a blend of traditional Asian styles with modernistic western styles as well as influences from tourism culture. It is evident that the government makes an effort to preserve ancient towns and historic sites as they existed centuries ago. However, culture and heritage are not things or concepts that remain the same. They are constantly changing and evolving with time as people are living through it. This is exemplified by how cities and towns are constructed and organized. The photographs depict traditional Chinese architecture through the characters, the extravagant roof designs, and the red, black, gold color scheme. The westernization and globalization of tourism influences come in the form of minimalistic and sleek building structures, the abundance of glass as walls, the muted and plain color palette (white, tan, black, gray), and the excessive LEDs and lights. It’s truly fascinating to see and experience this contrast and cohesiveness in so many parts of China whether we are in large cities or smaller towns.
Lucy Reddell - Every Door Tells A Story
One of the things I learned while traveling through China was how much meaning can be found in something as ordinary as a doorway. In Chinese, the word for doorway is?门口?(ménkǒu), and?口?(kǒu) also means "mouth." Traditionally, the front door is thought of as the mouth of the home, the place where people, fortune, and energy enter. Because of this, entrances are treated with a lot of care. Red doors and decorations are especially common because red symbolizes happiness, prosperity, and protection from evil. Around Lunar New Year, many families hang 春联?(chūnlián), or Spring Festival couplets, and the character?福?(fú), meaning "good fortune," on their doors to welcome blessings for the coming year. Even details like keeping the entrance tidy, lining it with plants, and following a shoes-off tradition fit into the principles of?风水?(fēngshuǐ), which emphasizes harmony and the flow of positive energy.
As we traveled, I started noticing that these ideas extended far beyond private homes. Businesses often decorate their storefronts with red lanterns, gold accents, and other traditional symbols because a welcoming entrance is believed to invite opportunity and success. In Beijing, we visited historic hutongs, where the entrance marks the transition from the busy city into a close-knit neighborhood. Many hutongs have disappeared as cities have modernized, making the ones that remain an important connection to China's past. I also learned that doorways once reflected social status. Decorative blocks above entrances signaled a family's rank and wealth, and in some places, even determined which doorway someone was allowed to use. At a mosque in Xi'an, for example, one archway was historically reserved for elites while another was for everyone else, though today anyone can pass through either entrance.
One of my favorite things was seeing how these traditions continue today, even as China has changed so rapidly. Massive red gates covered in rows of decorative studs still stand at historic sites like the Forbidden City, where visitors often rub specific studs for good luck depending on the blessing they're hoping for. Door Gods (门神,?ménshén) still appear as murals, statues, and New Year's decorations to protect homes from misfortune, and dragons continue to symbolize strength and prosperity, although in tourist areas they are sometimes turned into elaborate attractions that blur the line between cultural tradition and entertainment. I came away realizing that doorways in China are much more than entrances. They tell stories about history, religion, family, community, and the ways traditions continue to evolve alongside modern life.
Kate Vanatta - Studying in China
Studying in China was a privilege beyond words. The immersion of actually being there, and seeing it for all it is, allowed for expansion of my learning and outlooks in ways that a traditional classroom simply cannot. It opened doors of curiosity that I had never even considered before, and that will remain open for the rest of my life. China proved itself to be relentlessly more complex than I understood it before. Modernization meets tradition and history at unique crossroads, unlike anything in America. Travelling from an academic perspective allowed in depth context for every sight we saw. I am going to go out of my way to continue studying abroad in the future. I think it's one of the most wonderful opportunities my college education has offered me.
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