Great post by Chris Amico of Eyes East blog.

“Anyone who’s taught in a Chinese university likely knows the perils of soliciting students’ opinions. There’s a predictability to it, you can almost guess the answer before it comes, and many will flat out refuse to register a thought. But us foreigners can be just as guilty of this, of refusing to engage, of thinking the Three Ts are secretly at the top Chinese students’ agendas, too. I’ve certainly made that mistake in the past.

‘No one ever asks us what we think,’ one of my students told me after class on Monday. I asked them one question: ‘If Hu Jintao decided you should be the next president or prime minister of China, what would be on your to-do list?’ Here’s what they wrote:

* Improve standard of living (4)
* build more roads
* protect the environment (5)
* rebuild our lost civilization
* reform the college entrance exam (2)
* improve medical care for farmers/peasants (2)
* make the country more democratic (3)
* prepare for the 2008 Olympics
* control the population size (2)
* conserve water
* reduce/eliminate college fees
* change China’s relationship with Japan (2)
* limit the use of oil and coal
* education reform (5)
* help the poor (3)
* set the minimum age to marry at 25
* call on all children to play football (soccer)
* let foreigners play on China’s soccer team
* lessen the income gap
* cut taxes (2)
* Hope Project
* develop Western China
* protect endangered animals
* improve traffic
* make food safer
* give everyone a car
* pay more attention to polls
* give more funding to the army (2); to education (3); to scientific research (2); health care (3)
* take back Taiwan (4)
* make buses free
* expand Chinese culture around the world (2)

…. I lumped some things together, cleaned up the grammar as best I could, but otherwise tried to stay true to what the students wrote. These are all freshmen, ages 18-20, in an elective English class. They’re considered the best in their majors, but this is the first class they’ve all taken together ….

[T]wo things strike me about this list:

It’s overwhelmingly domestic. Few suggestions even referenced China’s neighbors, and those were old strawmen, Taiwan and Japan. One student wanted to invade both, but only one.

[Second] [t]here’s much to be done. Democracy got a few votes, but not as many as education reform and environmental protection. Every student had at least one issue of their own, and the overlaps were shallow.”

Maybe you will have a chance to talk about these items with some of the students and people you will meet on the trip during your down time, or at English Corner.

Turns out that maybe people are just people, and maybe, just maybe, we are not so different after all ….

Check out this wonderful video that Erik Slayter has noted. This is one reason I agree with Henry Lane, who spoke to us earlier in the year, that it’s only a matter of time before China becomes an economic, political, military and geopolitical force to be reckoned with. They just have too many people like the amazing young woman that’s the subject of this video portrait who are willing to buck up, sacrifice and just get it done ….

Chris — I recently came across this website. This site is a project where they interview regular people from all over the world on a handful of topics such as “love, tears, happiness, childhood, etc.”. It is a very compelling site if you enjoy watching people.

Also, of particular interest to us is an interview with an 18 year old Chinese girl who has just moved to Shenzhen to start working. To get to her interview, once you’ve gone to the “English” page, click on the little link called “portraits”. Once you get videos playing, you can scroll down to “China”.

She talks about her family, her country, her work, etc. I found it to be very interesting to listen to her talk.

Go check it out…it might even be better than watching people at the airport.

Also, before you lecture or preach to the Chinese on labor and factory issues, and to help you put the issue of the factory working conditions we will see in China into a comparative historical context and perspective, you simply must read this Wall Street Journal article, Lemonade Stands? Children Used to Toil 14 Hours, Every Day.

Professor Carr October 15, 2008 update:  See also this thoughtful Newsweek article on factory girls in China, Assembly Required.   An interesting piece that comes at this controversial topic from a different angle that most I have seen.   The book highlighted in the article might also be a good one to select for your Spring quarter book review.