Chinese Writing

As many people know, Chinese language is one of the hardest languages in the world. It has many dialects and many different characters for writing. The "art of writing" as they call it in China is very difficult and rare- due to constant development of new characters in their written and verbal language. This is why a lot of Chinese Art is actually filled with their written symbols. Symbols vary in their difficulty too. There are some that more difficult and used by knowledgeable people or for Art; and others used for regular writing. Here is an example:

Education fact... Tang Dynasty....

Education was a big part of Chinese culture. At first it was just noble people who were educated and they were only men, later they started to educate Nobel women too-because they spent most of the time with future rulers of the country who were suppose to be very well educated. In the Tang dynasty, anyone with an education was expected to greet as well as say goodbye to another person in poetic verse composed on the spot. Can you imagine how difficult it is to compose a poem on the spot? But, apparently for that time it was a regular thing for every educated person.

Cost of Olympic Games in China....

I'm  sure many people watched Olympic Games of 2008 that were in Beijing. It was a grandiose show! Most people could not even imagine that a person is able to come up with and make so many interesting and fascinating things. The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing turned out to be the most expensive games in history. Olympic Games of 2004 in Athens were estimated to cost around $15 billion, the Beijing Games were estimated to cost a whopping $40 billion.

Flag of China

"...China’s national flag was adopted in September 1949 and first flown in Tiananmen Square (the world’s largest public gathering place) on October 1, 1949, the day the People’s Republic of China was formed. The red in the flag symbolizes revolution. The large star symbolizes communism and the little stars represent the Chinese people. The position of the stars represents the unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party..." (http://facts.randomhistory.com/)

Another thing about Chinese Flag is that stars represent people's unity under Communism.

Smart people of China...

It is known that Chinese people are extremely smart. A lot of people believe it is due to their dedication to studying and consistent repetition. But I found one fact that defiantly shows their smart generations started to evolve a long time ago. By the second century B.C., the Chinese discovered that blood circulated throughout the body and that the heart pumped the blood. In Europe, circulation wasn’t discovered until the early seventeenth century by William Harvey (1578-1657).

Royal Chinese customs

I found information that "..It was customary for wealthy men and women in the late empire to grow the nails of their little fingers extremely long as a sign of their rank. They often wore decorative gold and silver nail guards to protect their nails..." This is defiantly royal way of showing their status in society and their nobility because only they can do nothing and grow their nail, unlike working class people who work all the time with their hands.

Color in Chinese Culture

I have read that color also means a lot in Chinese culture. There are so many interesting meanings that Chinese put in to color. Probably no other culture in the world has that much meaning in color. Here are some examples: White-symbolises purity, as in many cultures, but also sometimes connects to death and is a funeral color for Chinese culture; Red- is a color of happiness and used in all holidays, red envelopes are used for greeting cards it symbolizes good luck; Green- is very unpopular color, they have a saying about a men wearing a Green Hat, which means his wife is unfaithful; Blue-Green- on the other hand is a symbol of spring and represents nature and renewal; but Blue or Dark Blue- is also a color for funerals and also symbolizes immortality; Yellow- represents freedom, it is considered most beautiful color in China; symbolizes royalty and a symbolic color of five legendary emperors of ancient China; it is thought to generate Yin and Yang and is a center of everything; it is also respected color of Chinese Buddhist and sometimes used by them in funerals as a mourning color.

I found it very interesting that number 1 hobby in china is stemp collecting. Because, in Ukraine and Russia it was (i dont know about now, but before it was) pretty popular too. I personally know people who had huge books of all kinds of stemps that you can only imagine. Now, I think this hobby probably came to western Europe from China.

Intersting fact about Fortune Cookies

1. Many people mistakenly think that so famous Fortune Cookies are a long Chinese tradition and this is why you always see them in Chinese restaurants. But, it is not true. Fortune Cookies were invented only in 1920, considering how old Chinese culture is, 1920, is very resent date. They were invented by a worker in the Key Heong Noodle Factory in San Francisco. I was not able to find if a worker was actually Chinese or not, so it is possible that so famous Fortune Cookies were not even invented by Chinese.

China-longest continues civilization

China is considered the longest continues civilization by many historians. Some mark the beginning of Chinese civilization as far back as 6000 B. C. and the modern name of China is thought to come from "Chin" dynasty. This is not only unique and different culture, but as you can see one of the oldest and most interesting too. China has centuries of rich history in thir country, customs, and religion.

Tea in China....

I find it very interesting how much Tea itself means for Chinese people. It is not only used as a drink, but also it is an important part of their lives. Tea is used by Chinese people as a medicine and as a regular drink. They have whole Tea Ceremonies that are different for every occasion. To explain how much tea means for Chinese people is easy by comparing it to coffee in America. For example when they want to show respect for older people or invite somebody somewhere to visit with them they offer to go for a cup of tea; here in America people always invite to go get coffee. This is another aspect that shows the difference and much healthier style of living of Chinese culture.

The "Goddess of Democracy" carved by students from the Central Academy of Fine Arts and erected in the Square during the protest. I found this picture very interesting. This is Chinese students protesting in Tienanmen Square in April 1989. I think this picture shows the difference of the culture compared to other nations in the world. Here they not only brought flags and posters but even a statue that represents what they are protesting for. In other nations you usually see aggressive remarks towards government on the posters and people yelling and screaming. This is why i found this picture very unique and interesting.

I have noticed that China is very good about covering things up. Everything that can play against them they erase from history completely, so that nobody even knows about it. For example about famine in my previous post and Tienanmen Square protests. I was very surprised that people in China have no idea what happened in Tienanmen Square. History is very important for each country, as one famous saying goes "...Those who don't remember history, are doomed to repeat it..." So, i think in a way it is really bad to keep important historical events away from people. Of course for the communist government it is to their advantage, but i think it will get back at them one day.

Famine in China....

It surprised me how well China's government was able to cover what was really going on in the country from 1958-1962. Horrible starvation, millions of deaths, and even cannibalism in some areas was hidden from officials of the party. I think it is not right to do something like that, if other countries would found out about what was going on in China maybe they would be able to help and less people would die. But, it was not in China's interests for everyone to find out.

Movie....

What really surprised me is the part where they showed how hard people worked in the fields to produce something for the government. But, the most shocking part is that they were not paid for this, and they believed that it is okay. Government choose very good tactic of saying that it is like farming their own land, it is for their own good. It is scary how much government controlled people of China.

Movie...

An interesting fact about great Chinese leader is that he was teaching his family not to get used to luxury. This is very uncommon for western civilizations. In our culture we always can pick out people who are wealthy, because they have luxury cars, houses and clothes. In China, if you would see Mao walking down the street by himself you could probably not even notice that he is a wealthy leader of this country. Here is another example of how different Asian culture and mentality is.

Movie

What impressed me about movie is how many people showed a real deep sorrow at the funeral of their leader. Those people never knew him personally, but they were crying like it was someone they knew really well. This shows how different the mentality and relationships towards another person (especially a leader) is in China. I don't think you could see anything like this in western countries, i personally watched many documentaries about countries and their leaders and politics, but i have never seen people to react like that to the death of their leader....There was just as many people at the funerals....some were crying....but not as emotionally as in China.

Interesting fact about China

I just found out that for people in chine stop lights are not important at all. I think it is very interesting that in such a cosmopolitan and heavy populated areas like Hon Kong and Beijing and other cities drivers do not drive according to regular rules....They drive how ever they want to, and of course in their country there is no such a thing like pedestrianise have the right of way.

Chinese government is trying to get rid off native Tibetian people...

The Chinese government increasingly encourages Han Chinese to migrate to Tibet, offering them higher wages and other inducements. This policy is threatening the survival of Tibetan people. Tibetans are becoming a minority in the TAR. Yearly, thousands of Tibetans still flee from Tibet, making the treacherous journey over the Himalayas into a world of exile. (freetibet.org)

Repression of Tibet destroys religious beliefs

Religion has always been a most important aspect of Tibet and people of Tibet. Their whole community is based on their beliefs and their religion. As a consequence of China’s occupation, both before and during the Cultural Revolution, 6000 monasteries and nunneries were destroyed in Tibet and religious leaders, monks and nuns persecuted. The repression of Tibet's culture and religion continues today with 80% of political prisoners being monks.  Before, and especially during, the Cultural Revolution, all but eight of six thousand monasteries and nunneries were destroyed, religious artifacts and scripts burned, monks and religious leaders imprisoned and tortured.

If you can only speak Tibetan in Tibet, you have no future...

People of Tibet face many difficulties and restrictions, one of them is education. There is a big dilema between sending your kids to Tibetan Schools or to Chinese Schools. As it explains on freetibet.org "....Parents who want their children to have any chance of competing against Han Chinese migrants for educational and employment opportunities know that they must become fluent in Chinese..." But some parents want their kids to know their culture, which can also be dangerous: "...For those parents who desperately want their children to grow up proud of their own identity, the ‘highway’ is the only option – going with or sending their children on the dangerous journey into exile to India where they can be educated in Tibetan and allowed to practise their religion without restriction. The journey, over the Himalayas, takes many weeks with the constant threat of injury or capture by Chinese border guards..."

UN addressing issues of China and Tibet

The United Nations and international community have done very little to address the core issue of China’s illegal occupation of Tibet. China represents an enormous market and cheap labour force, and its associated businesses have such a strong lobby that officials are reluctant to take substantive measures. Since western countries adopted policies of so-called “constructive engagement” with China in the 1990s, the human rights situation in Tibet has only deteriorated. In November 2008, the UN agreed with Free Tibet's report on torture, clarifying that it believes that torture is 'widespread and routine' in Tibet. (from freetibet.org)

Religion in Tibet

The main religion of Tibet has been Buddhism since its outspread in the 8th century AD. Before the arrival of Buddhism the main religion here was an indigenous Shamanist religion, Bön which now comprises a sizeable minority and which would later influence the formation of Tibetan Buddhism. There are four mosques in the Tibet Autonomous Region with approximately 4,000 to 5,000 Muslim adherents, as well as a Catholic church with 560 parishioners, which is located in the traditionally Catholic community of Yanjing in the eastern TAR.

Dalai Lama-Nobel Prize winner!

The 14th Dalai Lama, won a Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent straggle to liberate Tibet. Even when China invaded Tibet in October 1950 a peaceful liberation of Tibet was achieved. He is also the first Nobel Laureate for his concerns with global environment problems.

Is Tibet a free government?

No, Tibet officially is not recognised as a separate government by any nation in the world. It is regarded by as a legitimate government of Tibet by everyone inside the Tibet and outside. It is based in Dharamsala, northern Indian town right near Himalayas. The Tibetian government, under the leadership of Dalai Lama, has developed an effective, non-violent resistance to Chinese occupation of Tibet. This resistance influenced worldwide movement for freedom of Tibet. There is also a Student for a Free Tibet, organisations that acts on behave of Tibet and its people and fights for the right of Tibetian people to be free and independent.

Yuan Shikai

He was the first President of the Republic of China. He tried to revive Chinese monarchy with him as the "Great Emperor". Yuan Shikai rose to fame by participating in the First Sino-Japanese War as the commander of the Chinese stationary forces in Korea. He avoided the humiliation of Chinese armies in the war when he was recalled to Beijing several days before the Chinese forces were attacked.After Yuan's death, there was an effort by Li Yuanhong to revive the republic by recalling the legistarors who had been ejected in 1913, but this effort was confused and ineffective in asserting central control, and Li lacked any support from the military.Besides his original wife, Yu Zhi (于氏), Yuan also had nine other concubines. He had a total of 17 sons and 15 daughters.

Tibet-the roof of the world.

Tibet is situated north of the famous Himalayas mountains. It is considered to be the highest region on earth, average elevation there is 16000 ft. This is why Tibet is refers to, sometimes, as "roof of the world". The main religious group is Tibetan Buddhists, but there are some minority groups of Muslims and Christians.

Women of China

Women in China did not have many rights all they did was staying at home and taking care of children. They could not do anything that man did. later on, society understood that inorder to raise smart kids women should be educated to, because they spend the most time with them. So, with the arrival of a modern wold many parts of china started those new educational practices. In 1905 first school for girls was opened oficcially by the government. Today, they still have separate schools for girls and boys.