Feb 7, China the Beautiful Zhanyong Wan Huiling Ma

Feb 7, 20022

3 Typical Place in China? 1.3 billion people 56 ethnic groups Hundreds (thousands?) of dialects –Mandarin Standard talk in mainland and Taiwan –Cantonese Hong Kong Huge contrast in fortune –Rich vs. poor –Powerful vs. powerless

Feb 7, Events and Holidays International/western holidays –New year’s day –Women’s day (3/8) –Labors’ day (5/1) –Children’s day (6/1) –Christmas! Traditional Chinese holidays –Spring festival Lunar new year’s day In a child’s eyes: Gifts, Yummy food, Firecrackers –Mid-autumn festival Moon cakes

Feb 7, Food Different from one region to another –South: rice –North: flour Chinese restaurants here are not authentic! Recommended –Taste of China ( ) 233 E. Main St, Clinton, CT Romeo and Juliet

Feb 7, Education System The ladder –Elementary school: 5-6 years –Middle school: years –College: 4-5 years –Graduate school Master’s: 2-3 years Doctor’s: 4-5 years

Feb 7, Who Operate Education Used to be just the government More private schools now –More opportunity for those who can afford it –More difficulty for those with low income

Feb 7, Education System Expenses of education –Tuition charged from elementary school on –Prodigious tuition for private schools 1 year’s tuition = 10 year’s salary for an ordinary worker –Much higher tuition for people w/o Hukou –Many cannot afford even elementary schooling

Feb 7, Education for the Poor Not One Less –Faithful depiction of life of China’s lower- class people How they struggle to receive education Played by non-actors – –Blockbuster?

Feb 7, Chinese Characters Tens of thousands of them 6,000 for the well-educated Traditional Simplified

Feb 7, Chinese Calligraphy Subtle form of art Traditional way: brush pen Modern way: hard pen

Feb 7, Brush Pen

Feb 7, Practice w/ Brush Pen Taught in elementary school Calligraphy sheet

Feb 7, Chinese at Info Age MS Windows is able to process Chinese –Windows NT/XP: built-in –Windows 9x/Me: free download To input Chinese –Hard problem –Used to employ a huge keyboard –Now using western keyboard Tons of input methods: by pronunciation, by structure, …

Feb 7, Beyond the Presentation Photos Characters on Mah Jongg Questions?