Focus Story: Raise the Bar

Message from the GCC President

Maid in Hong Kongby Jason Y. Ng

How to sound like a native speaker of Chinese in 4 years by Professor Feng, Yu

INAUGURAL ISSUE

Brandeis China Review

布兰戴斯中国评论

Dear Readers,

I offer congratulations to the Brandeis University GCC Chapter on the launch of the Brandeis Chinese Magazine and greetings to all of you holding a copy right now. As a new chapter of Global China Connection, Brandeis has already made strides to help build leadership skills and foster deep relationship among Chinese and non-Chinese students. After only a few months, they earnestly began planning the magazine and today their work has come to fruition.

The Brandeis team has been working very hard to put the magazine together. A publication for people from all backgrounds who are in-terested in China to discover and share their ideas is no easy feat. It is a great first step in getting Chinese and non-Chinese students off their butts to start learning together, working together, and making new friends that last a lifetime. I wish the best for the development of Brandeis University Chapter and I am looking forward to seeing more creative initiatives like this in the future.

Best,

Daniel TedescoPresident Global China Connection

April 15, 2012

In this issue...Raise the BarProfessor Feng Yu

Maid in Hong Kong Jason Ng

Chinese Language HeroesInterviews by Megan Sun ‘15

Business Words and PhrasesCompiled by Ye Wang ‘13

Eat, Shop and PartyTianye Zhang ‘12 and Wensi Fang ‘13

City, PersonifiedLu Dong ‘15

Attractions for First-TimersAnqi Ma ‘14

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Real China: BeijingMeet our Members24

Lower the Bar or Raise the Bar?

I was invited in fall 2008 to attend the Chinese Pinyin 50 Anniversary Conference at Beijing Language and Cultural University and I found the majority of the attendees were proposing to lower the standard for Foreign Chinese learners. Although most people did not go to the extreme, most believed that learning Chinese, especially reading and writing, is a very di!cult, if not impossible, process, and it is necessary to slow down in order to entertain the learners (making them feel not too di!cult). "is “conservative” approach is actually one of the main reasons for the failure of the students to break through. To make them con#dent speakers and writers, I believe in a “radical” approach, i.e., we must raise the bar and accelerate their learning process.

No one would deny that Chinese is a di!cult language for Western learners. And many Chi-nese teachers still want to slow it down. To make students feel easy by slowing down may, in short term, make them happy but I don’t think the long term outcome will do the same. I still remember

very clearly what a very smart Harvard under-graduate student told me about 14 years ago. He said, Dr. Feng, it is a big mistake for me to take Chinese. He said that he was very serious to learn Chinese and took about 4 to 5 hours to learn Chinese everyday a$er class. Although he got As in all tests from #rst year to third year, he felt very frustrated when trying to read the People’s Daily (a newspaper run by the Chinese govern-ment) himself. “If an advanced Chinese student,” he said, “is still impossible to read common newspaper in that language, to learn the language is just waste of time.” I knew he was then very emotional but his words were from his heart. We called the third year Chinese “advanced Chi-nese,” but it was not really there. You gave your students A or even A plus, but they were not re-ally happy because they could not really carry out real language tasks in Chinese.

"en, how to make them really happy? Is it possible to enable students, who do not have previous exposure to Chinese language, reach the true advanced level in four years? My answer is yes. I started the teaching reform at higher

R%&'( )*( B%+Strategy to Enable Chinese Learners Reach True Advanced Level in Four Years

Yu FengDirector and Associate Professor of the Chinese Language ProgramBrandeis University

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Chinese classes at Harvard and passed it to Brandeis for lower classes in 2007. Among the students who started their Chinese learning in their freshman year at Brandeis in 2007 and 2008, a decent number of them have really reached the true advanced level. "ose achievements have been reached by raising the bar, not lowering the bar. To my point of view, it is not a problem of can or cannot but a problem of how. We Chinese teachers must push our students to the real advanced level. To do so we need new and revolutionary strategy and pedagogy.

Key to Initial Success: Computerized Learning

A successful Chinese program must provide the students with a clear and well designed “Road Map” so that students understand what are the focuses of learning in di,erent stages.

"e really di!cult part of the Chinese language is its writing system. Instead of using alphabet, Chinese people have been writing characters for at least four thousand years. A character is formed by a number of strokes, from one stroke to over 30 strokes. A

small percent of characters tell their meanings directly (pictographic) while most of the characters consist of two parts, one part points to the direction of its mean-ing and the other hints the pronunciation. It is always a formidable task for a Western learner to deal with the Chinese characters.

Traditionally, writing characters have been by pen and learners, not only Western learners have to memorize not only the combination of strokes but also the order of the strokes.. For a Western learner without long time training, it is really a painful and highly time consuming experience.

All at a sudden, however, the information technology has brought a revolution of Chinese language learning. One can write Chinese with a computer, either desktop, laptop, tablet, or a smart phone. All the abovementioned high tech gadgets are Chinese ready and you don’t need to buy and install special so$ware to write Chinese. As a result, the teachers no longer need to teach their students how to hand-write the Chinese characters and to memorize the order of strokes. Just typewrite it! "is is not merely a small technical change but a revolution because of the following reasons:

First, it can save a lot of valuable time to practice hand-writing of Chinese characters and learners may pay more attention to speaking, reading, and meaningful writing instead of mechanically copying of the charac-ters. As a result, it shortens the total hours needed to reach advanced level signi#cantly.

Second, this method can boost the con#dence of stu-dents. A$er the #rst class, a student will be able to write a whole sentence (e.g., I am an American) in Chinese characters and read those characters directly. "e typewriting speed of a learner is much faster than their hand-writing. Very naturally the learners will think the Chinese language is much easier than they have imag-ined.

"ird, the Chinese input method e,ectively associate characters with pronunciation because the input is fully phonetic but the products are real Chinese characters. "e learners are “speaking” Chinese when they are type-

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writing but at the same time they are reading the real Chinese characters. Such a practice helps students greatly to memorize the pronunciation of the Chinese characters. Typewriting is both an exercise of speaking and that of reading/writing.

Fourth, computerized learning opens a new door for many online resources. "ere are many online so$wares for the learn-ers. For example, there are dictionaries with recorded voices and even videos. Students can easily #nd interesting cultural knowledge of China online, can exchange emails with teachers and other students in Chinese, and they may even #nd penpals across the ocean and communicate with them in Chinese. It is a totally new global community.

Most of the Chinese teachers, however, have shown a strong objection to the new approach. "eir #rst criticism is that to write Chinese with computer is to weaken the Chinese charac-ter learning. "e fact, however, is just the contrary. "e com-puterized Chinese learning makes students learn to typewrite Chinese characters on day one and pinyin is not acceptable for homework and test. NYU and other universities have shown, the new approach has helped students to recognize Chinese characters 30% faster than the conventional approach.

"eir second criticism is that hand-writing is an indispens-able part of Chinese learning. It is not acceptable for a Chinese learner who cannot write Chinese with a pen. To be sure, to learn the hand-writing skills is good but for Western learners, we have to calculate the cost and e!ciency. As a matter of fact, many teachers have driven their students to spend too much time on character writing at the cost of developing their read-ing, listening, and speaking skills. "e most important thing for learning a foreign language is to communicate e!ciently. Both hand-writing and computer typewriting can ful#ll the task of communication while the later is much faster and hence much better in terms of cost-e!ciency. We can let students try hand-writing, including the traditional brush-pen-ink hand-writing, but that should be just a stimulus for them to explore Chinese culture. In order to make students learn faster and better, we have to postpone their hand-writing learning. We are not totally abandoning hand-writing. We shall teach hand-writing on the advanced level. When a student recognizes Chinese characters very well, it is not too di!cult for one to try hand-writing.

"eir third criticism is that with computer a student will write a lot of wrong characters. Students typewrite pinyin and the

characters will automatically appear on the screen. "e problem is, as many teachers are afraid, one syllable of pinyin may correspond over a dozen of Chinese characters with to-tally di,erent meanings. "is was quite true in the past but since 2003 Chinese input has improved greatly. Now one can continuously typewrite sentences and the computer will choose the right characters.

Despite the furious objections, computerized Chinese learning will be the main stream in a decade or less. In this direction, AP Chi-nese test has made a strong statement. You must complete the test with computer, not pen. And you can only typewrite Chinese characters, not pinyin.

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Key to Breakthrough: Understand the Four Sub-systems and Prosodic Grammar

!e di"culties of the Chinese language is not just the writing of Chinese characters. A#er a learner comes to the intermediate level, he or she will o#en get shocked when trying to deal with some authen-tic materials, in writing or in speech. Many learn-ers have experienced the embarrassment when traveling to China. Even a#er one has completed “advanced” Chinese courses, it is quite common that such a learner will still feel it impossible to read Chinese newspapers and watch Chinese mov-ies without subtitles.

What then is the cause of their frustration? For a long time, Chinese teachers and linguists have failed to classify, study, and teach the four subsys-tems of the Chinese modern Chinese language. Usually, the Chinese teachers only teach the so called “standard spoken Chinese,” a subsystem which is neither formal nor informal. We can use the metaphor created by Confucius: A room has four corners. If the teacher has only taught one cor-ner, can his students understand the three remain-ing corners by themselves? Confucius who taught his students rituals and ethics gave us a positive answer and he forced his students to think inde-pendently. But for the foreign language learners, it is impossible for them to do the same without the help from their teachers.

As some of the good textbooks have done, though not systematically, we must include some phrases of informal Chinese and formal Chinese even in the beginning period while keeping the focus on the stan-dard/neutral Chinese. !is makes student be aware of the existence of four subsystems in order to prepare them to study the four systems more systematically on advanced level.

Another long ignored nature/characteristic of the Chinese language is the prosodic grammar. In addi-tion to the universal syntax/structure requirements (such as word orders in terms of subject, object, verb, and adverb, etc.), there is a strict requirement of the prosodic balance of the sentence and phrase. For example, many two syllable verbs can be followed only by two syllable objects. !ose requirements vary in accordance with di$erent subsystems.

!e four subsystem theory and the prosodic theory are the most important breakthroughs in the %eld of Chinese linguistics and both theories were developed and put into practice at Harvard University a few years ago, resulting in unprecedented achievements by stu-dents who could not only read authentic materials but write professional papers in Chinese.

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Few symbols of colonialism are more power-

ful and universally recognized than the live-in maid.

From the British trading post in Bombay to the

cotton plantation in Mississippi, images abound of

the olive-skinned domestic worker buzzing around

the house, cooking, cleaning, ironing and bringing

ice-cold lemonade to her masters griping about the

summer heat. It is therefore all the more ironic that,

for a city that cowered to colonial rule for one and

a half century, Hong Kong should have the highest

number of maids per capita in Asia. In our city of

contradictions, neither a modest income nor a di-

minutive apartment is an obstacle for local families to

hire a domestic helper and to live out the dream of a

middle-class existence free of chores and errands.

On any given Sunday or public holiday, immi-

grant domestic workers carpet every inch of open

space in Central and Causeway Bay. They turn

parks and footbridges into camping sites where card-

board boxes are their walls and opened umbrellas

their roofs. They play cards, cut hair, sell handicraft

and practice complicated dance routines for upcom-

ing talent contests.

It is one of those Hong Kong phenomena that

charm tourists and fascinate newcomers. Local citi-

zens, on the other hand, have grown so used to the

weekly nuisance that they no longer see it or hear

it. But when the night falls, the music stops and the

crowds disperse. One by one the fun-loving revelers

return to their employers’ homes for another week of

mindless drudgery. And the weeks turn into months,

months into years.

In the late 1970s, Hong Kong was experiencing

historical economic growths and transforming from a

manufacturing to a service-based economy. The colo-

nial government found itself facing the twin problems

of labor shortage and rising labor costs. In an effort

to encourage local women to enter the workforce, the

government eased restrictions on migrant workers and

Philippines. In the decades that followed, the number

of Filipino maids in the city continued to rise.

More young women followed in the footsteps of their friends and relatives and moved here in search of higher pay and a chance to escape from their impover-ished country. Other South East Asian countries soon caught on and joined in the labor export business. Today, there are roughly 140,000 Filipino domestic helpers in the city, nearly as many from Indonesia and around 4,000 from !ailand.

Maid in Hong Kong

Jason Y. Ng

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Back in the Philippines, women with a high school education or less – who make up the bulk of the migrant workers overseas – make around HK$300 (US$40) a month working in a restaurant or a store. Here in Hong Kong, on the other hand, they stand to earn many times that amount, plus free room and board and a round-trip ticket to return home once a year. In exchange, they must leave be-hind their own familyand live a vicarious life in a stranger’s home. !ey must also endure homesickness, loneliness, spousal in"delity, and the occasional verbal and even physi-cal abuse by their employers. Fearing reprisals and termination of their employment contracts, domestic helpers keep their mouths shut when they are asked to do things they are not supposed to (such as wash-ing cars and giving massages) or paid less than they are supposed to. Indeed, the rising popularity of Indonesian maids among local families – they are soon to outnumber Filipino maids in the city – owes in part to their reputation for being so#-spoken and obliging, and in part to their willingness to accept a 25% discount from the statutory minimum wage.

More young women followed in the footsteps of their friends and relatives and moved here in search of higher pay and a chance to escape from their im-poverished country. Other South East Asian coun-tries soon caught on and joined in the labor export business. Today, there are roughly 140,000 Filipino

domestic helpers in the city, nearly as many from In-donesia and around 4,000 from !ailand.

Back in the Philippines, women with a high school education or less – who make up the bulk of the migrant workers overseas – make around HK$300 (US$40) a month working in a restaurant or a store. Here in Hong Kong, on the other hand, they stand to earn many times that amount, plus free room and board and a round-trip ticket to return home once a year. In exchange, they must leave behind their own familyand live a vicarious life in a stranger’s home. !ey must also endure homesickness, loneliness, spousal in"delity, and the occasional verbal and even physi-cal abuse by their employers. Fearing reprisals and termination of their employment contracts, domestic helpers keep their mouths shut when they are asked to do things they are not supposed to (such as washing cars and giving massages) or paid less than they are supposed to. Indeed, the rising popularity of Indo-nesian maids among local families – they are soon to outnumber Filipino maids in the city – owes in part to their reputation for being so#-spoken and obliging, and in part to their willingness to accept a 25% dis-count from the statutory minimum wage.

By law, employers are required to pay their live-in helpers a minimum monthly salary of HK$3,580 (US$460). !e amount re$ects how much our society

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Maid in Hong Kong

Raquel Nunag contributed research.

hai ( ). !e term, a relatively new entrant to our lexicon, refers to local children spoiled rotten by their doting parents. With a maid at their every beck and call, they have troubles performing simple tasks like making their beds, tying their shoelaces or even brushing their own teeth. Accustomed to barking orders at their adult helpers, these pint-sized tyrants lack basic manners and social skills. !e sheltered environment at home, com-bined with thedeep sense of entitlement it instills, sets these children up to fail in the real world. Parents waking up to this new reality are forced to take a closer look at the way their children are raised. Some are rethinking the wis-dom of getting domestic help in the "rst place.

I don’t have a live-in maid and I never thought about getting one. Besides "nding the idea itself too colonial for my taste, I would probably feel awkward and some-what restrained having another person living in close quarters. Still, every other family in my apartment build-ing seems to have a helper; some even have more than one. Everyday I see them walking the family dog or lug-ging bagfuls of groceries. !ey hold the door for me and let me get into the elevator before them, always a smile on the face. !e fact that they would yield to someone they don’t even work for reminds me of the social divide that still exists between us and them. More than three decades a#er their predecessors "rst arrived in Hong Kong, these migrant workers are still not a$orded full membership in our society. Like it or not, these quasi-citizens un%inchingly hold up a mirror to our city and reveal our parsimony and ingratitude to those who have made an immeasurable contribution to our prosperity and quality of life.

values the economic bene"t of freeing up a parent from domestic responsibilities to earn a second household income. For the price of a couple of piano lessons or a monthly parking space, we get to hold a fellow human being in captivity while we are out in the world making 10, 20 times the salary we pay them. !ough much of the city’s economic success is built on the backs of these migrant workers, they remain one of the most mispriced commodities in our economy. Perhaps that’s why most gweilo (expat) employers voluntarily pay their domestic workers more than the legal minimum, starting at $5,000 and sometimes as high as $7,000 or $8,000. !e pay di$erential between two com-munities is largely unknown and irrelevant to the local population, most of whom sees absolutely nothing wrong with sticking to the bare minimum. For there appears to be a simple justi"cation: if they don’t like it, there is always that $300 job waiting for them back in the Philippines! We got a glimpse of that line of reasoning recently, when the gov-ernment raised the minimum allowable wage by a meager $160 per month, an increase of less than 5%. !e move was meant to pacify the migrant worker community a#er the government callously excluded them from the protection of a new labor law guaranteeing local workers a $28 hourly rate. Nevertheless, the $160 pay raise prompted unhappy citizens to call in to radio talk shows to gripe about the excessive increase and the added "nancial burden on the middle class. No doubt the callers were already thinking up ways to work their maids a little harder just to make up for the di$erence.

!e access to cheap domestic help has altered many aspects of our daily lives, but none is more disturbing than the creation of a generation of gong

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Maid in Hong Kong

HONG KONG State of Mind is a collection of essays by a popular blogger who zeroes in on the city’s

idiosyncrasies with deadpan precision. The author raves and rants about Hong Kong and the seven million

quirky, endearing people with whom he shares the tiny island.

The book comprises 37 essays organized into three thematic sections: people we see, things we do and places

debate to the unique and unmistakably Cantonese coffee-drinking culture. While the book is meant to pay

The author’s no-nonsense style, punctuated with wry humor, cuts through the obfuscation and gives the read-

er the kind of social commentary that recalls F. Scott Fitzgerald during America’s Jazz Age. Illustrations by

the author’s father Lee Po Ng lend the book a personal touch and the aura of an old-fashioned travel journal.

HONG KONG State of Mind is available at major bookstores in Hong Kong and online at www.amazon.

com.

Jason Y. Ng

Born in Hong Kong, Jason Y. Ng is a globe-trotter

who spent his entire adult life in Italy, the US and Cana-

da before returning to his birthplace six years ago. He is

a lawyer, a published author, a columnist and a contribut-

ing writer for lifestyle magazines.

Upon his repatriation to Hong Kong, Ng started

his blog As I See It, commenting on local culture and

current events. In 2012, he launched his second blog The

Real Deal, a comprehensive review site for leisure life-

style.

was released in December 2010 to rave reviews and was

reprinted in eight months. He is a regular contributor to

popular Hong Kong English language periodicals such as

the South China Morning Post and Manifesto.

Contact: info@jasonyng.com

visit www.jasonyng.com.

!e Author of Maid in Hong Kong

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Benjamin KalmanClass Year: 2012

Major: Politics, East Asian StudiesMinor: Legal Studies

Current Job: !e Cambridge Institute of International Education

Future Plan: Going to Brandeis’ Hague Program in Netherlands to be a TA

Q: What do you think is the biggest di"erence be-tween Chinese and English as languages?A: !ere is a huge di"erence between the two lan-guages. Chinese idioms and two-part allegorical sayings are very much related to the Chinese cul-ture, which is di"erent from English. In my Chinese class, I sometimes get lost. I understand most of the words by their literal meanings, but I sometimes get lost when it comes to Chinese cultural knowledge. Also, sometimes it is hard to understand phrases that don’t translate well into English. When I visited Chengdu in 2010, I met a Chinese-English translator who asked me what I had eaten for lunchI can’t recall what he said exactly, but he phrased it in an extremely strange way that I could not understand. So he asked me: “Did you actually learn Chinese?” Another time in Beijing, a Beijinger asked me “Is Chinese easy to learn?” in such a way that, because I had only stud-ied Chinese for a little while, I could not understand.

问：你觉得学中文和英文差别在哪里？答：学中文和英文当然有很大的差别，中文里面的成语和歇后语跟中国的文化有关，这方面跟学英文不太一样。就像现在我们上中文课时我很多时候都听不懂，需要很久才能理解。我对很多字大多数是书面理解，但是很多口语化的东西我就不太明白。我之前去成都的时候，有一个做中英翻译的人，他当时对我说了一句话想问我吃饭了没，我不记得他具体是怎么说的，但是我没听懂。 后来他问我：“你真的学过中文吗？”另外一次在北京，有个北京人问我：“中文好不好学？”我没有听懂他的问题。

Interviewed by: Megan Sun

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Q: You just mentioned about Beijing and Chengdu, so you must have been traveling around in China. Which city did you like the most?A: When I was in Beijing, I felt Beijing was just like my hometown. However, the pollution was bad, I couldn’t jog outdoors and my lungs felt terrible on some days. I also liked other cities a lot, such as Chengdu. I thought Chengdu was really modern. Also, I liked Kunming a lot, because it was less ur-banized compared to other cities and it still kept its own culture. Moreover, Kunming had a great Mexi-can restaurant called Salvador’s that liked it a lot.

East Asian Studies Heroes

Q: Do you think that possessing Chinese skills has helped you to learn more about China?A: I think being able to read and write Chinese has allowed me to learn more about Chinese history. When I was learning Chinese in China, the experi-ence has allowed me to see the di!erence between America and China in a more sophisticated level. I think most American do not understand Chinese that well, they normally don’t understand why Chi-nese think in a certain way. By learning Chinese, it has allowed me to overcome this problem; I think everyone should do it.

问：你觉得你的中文技能能够帮助你更有效的了解中国么？答：我觉得能够读写中文让我更能了解中国的历史。当我在中国学中文的时候，我能够精准地看见美国和中国的差异。我觉得很多美国人并不是很了解中国人，他们通常不理解中国人的思维方式。但是学习中文帮助我去更好的理解他们。我觉得每一个人都应该这样做。

Q: Will you consider going to China to work in the future?A: I am still thinking. I would love to go. But I don’t want to leave my family again for too long, because my mother missed me a lot when I was in China studying. But I did apply for a job in China this year and I think I might go. I am not sure yet.

问：那么你会考虑以后去中国工作或者发展吗？答：我正在考虑，我非常愿意回去。但是我不是很想离开的我家庭，因为我去中国study abroad 的时候我妈非常想我。但是我也有找中国的工作，我觉得我可能会去，但是我现在也不确定。

Q: What do you make of your study abroad experi-ence?A: I thought it was really great. Even though the curriculum I enrolled was not well developed, but my daily life gave me a great taste of Chinese cul-ture. I taught English to immigrants’ children. "e children taught me a lot about Chinese culture and global problems. I enjoyed it.

问：你觉得你在中国study abroad 的经历如何？答：我觉得非常好。虽然当时我上的课程还不是很成熟，但是我平时的生活体验给了我很好的体会。我当时给外来工人的孩子教英文，他们让我了解了中国文化以及世界社会的问题。我觉得我非常喜欢那样的经验。

问：刚刚听你提到成都还有北京，所以你已经去过中国了，你有最喜欢的中国城市吗？答：我在北京的时候，觉得北京就像是我的家乡。但是北京污染很严重，我都无法在室外跑步，感觉肺很难受。我也很喜欢其他的城市，另外一个就是成都。我觉得成都很现代。而且我非常喜欢昆明，因为昆明有比较乡村的感觉，虽然在现代化，但是仍保留的它的文化。另外，只有在昆明我才能吃到比较好吃的墨西哥菜，有一家餐厅叫做Salvador’s. 所以我特别喜欢昆明。

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Clark Soucy Class Year: 2012Major: Economics, East Asian StudiesFuture Plan: Going to Ningbo and working as a property developerHonor: One of the top !ve students in East Asian Studies

问：你好，麻烦你先自我介绍一下吧答：我叫苏克凡，大四学生，我的中文名是我第一个中文老师取的。我的老家在缅因州。我主修经济还有东亚学。我大三去中国交流的时候才开始学中文，我去交流的学校是上海财经大学。我也在复旦大学学习中文。

问：那么你最喜欢的中国食物是什么呢？答：什么都可以除了狗肉。我最喜欢四川菜，很辣。我也很喜欢西藏的牦牛肉。我在中国还吃了乌龟，蝎子。但是我不太喜欢乌龟。

Q: You mentioned that you haven’t learned Chi-nese until you were in China, were you nervous when you !rst went there?A: No, I was not nervous at all, because I knew that I would learn Chinese when I got to China anyways. What is noteworthy is that when I went there, a lot of Chinese restaurants did not have English menus. "ere were only pictures, so I only pointed at the pictures, but they all turned out to

问：你提到你去中国交流的之前没有学过中文，那么你去的时候不慌张吗？答：我当时一点也不怕，因为我知道我去了中国后总会学的。而我去饭馆的时候很多都没有英文翻译，只有图片，所以我就乱点，但是都非常好吃。

Q: Hi, could you please !rst introduce yourself.A: My name is Clark. I am a senior. I got my Chinese name from my !rst Chinese teacher. I am from Maine. I major in Economics and East Asian Studies. I didn’t start to learn Chinese until I went study abroad to China in my junior year. "e school I went to in China is called Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and Fudan University.

Q: What’s your favorite Chinese food?A: Anything besides dog is !ne. My favorite food is Szechuan food, since it is very spicy. I also liked Yak beef from Tibet, I will eat them again when I go to China. I have also eaten turtles and scorpion, but I didn’t like turtles that much.

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问：你刚刚提到西藏，所以你在中国的时候去了西藏？你对藏独有什么切身体会吗？答：是的，我去了拉萨。而布达拉宫是我最喜欢的名胜古迹，我从未见过那么多的金子，我觉得非常伟大。 去西藏后我发现很多西藏的人恨中国。我觉得西藏人应该有更多的自由，但是我也知道中国政府不会停止控制，否则会令很多其他少数民族也要开始独立运动，例如新疆的穆斯林. 我觉得最好的效果是西藏人应该有更多的自由，但共产党应该继续控制。

Q: Since you mentioned Tibet just now, I assume you must have been there before. How do you feel about Tibetan Independence movement?A: Yes, I visited Lhasa, Tibet. !e Potala Palace was my favorite attraction. I was amazed by how much gold there was. A"er going to Tibet, I real-ized that many Tibetans hate China.I think Tibet should have more freedom, but I also understand that the Chinese government won’t stop controlling the area. Otherwise other minorities may also start their movements, such as the Muslims in Uygur Autonomous Region. I think the best solution is for TibetanS to have more freedom, but the com-munist party should continue to own Tibet.

问： 你觉得中国和美国做生意的方法有什么不同的吗？答：中国和美国做生意的方法完全不同。在中国做生意的规则很不一样，但是很有意思。我觉得最难的就是中国做生意的体系很不一样。之前在上海财经大学交流的时候教授有浅浅地教我们做生意的时候不应该送人绿色的帽子。但我觉得我需要更多的实践，以后会开始明白。但我觉得最重要的就是服从政府的命令。

问：那么就你去中国交流的经历来说，你会给想去中国交流的人什么样的意见呢？答：我会叫他们多和中国人交朋友，练习中文。不要经常和自己国家的人待在一起。

Q: Do you think there’s any di#erence between doing business inChina and doing business in America?A: !ey are completely di#erent. !e regula-tions in China are quite di#erent, but they are also interesting. I think the hardest part for me to do business in China would be to adapt to its own system. I did brie$y learn some business rules from a professor in Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. He taught us that we should not give others green hats as gi"s when it comes to busi-nesses. But I think I still need to practice more in the future in order to understand the system better. Most importantly, I think I should always follow the Chinese government’s regulation.

Q: Based on your own study abroad experience in China, whatsuggestions would you give to other students who are going to China as well?A: I would suggest them to make Chinese friends more o"en instead of staying in their own circles. !is would help them to improve their Chinese.

East Asian Studies Heroes

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意思: ]Original explanation: meaningSpecial explanation: offering some goods or money to make conncectionEg: 一点小心意, 意思意思

路子 [lù zi]Original explanation: no such word, 路 means waySpecial explanation: connection, networkEg:这个生意他有路子, 做得成

先干为敬/先幹為敬 [xiān gān wéi jìng]Original explanation: noSpecial explanation: I drink first to show my respect to youEg: 我先干为敬, 您随意

走后门/走後門 [zǒu hòu mén]Original explanation: go through the back doorSpecial explanation: get secure ad-vantages through connection Eg: 他走后门找到了一份工作

方便 [fāng biàn]Original explanation: convenience(can be used simi-larly as走后门)Eg: 行个方便成不？Special explanation: go to the bathroom

回头/回頭 [huí tóu]Original explanation: turn the head, turn aroundSpecial explanation: after a short period, laterEg: 回头我给你打电话

充场面/充場面 [chōng chǎng miàn]Original explanation: noSpecial explanation: (in a event) add some element to keep up appearance and make it looks like elegant or populousEg: 接领导的时候, 人们喜欢借好车来充场面

单飞 [dān fēi]Original explanation: solo flightSpecial explanation: leave the group and work by him ownEg: 原来的合伙人单飞了, 这公司快倒闭了

给面子/給面子 [gěi miàn zǐ]Original explanation: give faceSpecial explanation: show some behavior that is cooperative and helpfulEg: 陈总让你去就该去,

搞关系/搞關係 [gǎo guān xi]Original explanation: Special explanation: Get connection and networkingEg: 要在中国做生意就要学会和政府搞关系

!"#$%&%'()&#$%&&'*+,-&

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“Chinese-style” economics vocabularies

!ere are also some chinese economics vo-cabularies that have thieir own meanings if and only if a person undertands or familiar with Chinese language, culture and social

circumstance. You’d better ask your Chinese friend about these phrases. BUT don’t worry,

these are all interesting words for a non-native Chinese speakers.

Eg: 大城市比如广州, 有很多农民工

因为中国西部比较落后, 国家实施了西部大开发

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!"#$$%&'()&(*+%,%&'

TongrentangTime has made countless brands famous, but there are few brands like Tongrentang that have enjoyed such a high reputation or one as long as 300 years. It was 1669, the 8th year of Emperor Kangxi’s reign, when Yue Xian-yang made the decision to establish his !rst pharmacy to better serve his patients, Ton-grentang was come into being since than.

WangfujingWangfujing is now considered the central heart of the city and in an area of about 810 square metres are over 200 shops. "e new street can also provide convenience for pedestrians and motorists alike. Also, in spite of being modern and new, the reno-vated Wangfujing Street has retained its traditional cultural atmosphere. "e street is a kind of beauty perfectly combining tradition, modernity, culture and commerce. With a group of sculptures depicting the lives of the people of Beijing in the old times was established in front of the modern New Dong An Plaza, a 70-square-metre relief sculpture recalling the operation of the 12 old famous shops in the area was set on the southern wall of the Women’ s Department Store. Also the ancient well, from which the street got its name, was also symbolically restored. Besides, the Foreign Language Bookstore is in this area, which is the largetst bookstore of this kind in Beijing.

SanlitunSanlitun is a famous bar place. You can always hear something like “Let’s go to Sanlitun and grab a drink.” Unlike Gongti, which is full of night clubs, Sanlitun is famous for its small bars with live performance. Several years ago, a big shopping mall named “Village” was built next to the famous “bar street.” Village is la-beled with not luxury but high-fashion. You can !nd many fashion brands from Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

Ruifuxiang Silk StoreRuifuxiang Silk Store was established by Meng Hongsh-eng, descendant of Mengzi (Meng ke, Chinese Confu-cian philosopher). Meng Hongsheng was from Zhangq-iu, Jiujun county, Shandong Province and he !rst built up his business by selling hand-woven cloth with the shop named Ranfuxiang. With thriving business, Meng Hongsheng started to set up chain stores in Shang-hai, Qingdao, Tianjin, etc. and extended his business to luxury commodities such as silk, satin, tea and furs.

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北京 特色

人们根据自己的教育背景，生活阅历的不同，性格自然千奇百怪。但是北京人作为一个群体，自然有其独立于全国其他城市的一面，而这些独立恰恰就是共性，正是有了这些得天独厚的共性，才能将将近1400万的人口聚合在一起，成就其独立的文化之星闪耀整个中国。 说起首都人的性格方面,第一联想到的应该是豪迈，热情以及大方。都说首都人民有特殊的优越感，越有这种特殊的优越感，首都人民群众越对你热

作者：董璐

情，此话一点都不假。 大街小巷，上至大爷大妈，下至顽皮小童，都会亲切的对你指东道西，恨不能将熟知的北京地图在白纸上画出来。 一些公共场所闲聊，总能觉的首都人民对外地游客十分的亲切。因为首都人知道，只有热情周到的为外地人服务，就更加突显“我是北京人”这个概念，从而一些潜藏的优越感油然上升。说到豪迈大方，北京人都不是斤斤计较的群体，你若待我一顿便饭，我便还你一桌满汉全席恰是再生动不过的写照。 前几个月的喜讯传遍大江南北－北京的篮球金隅队击败了7年总冠军的广东东莞队 获得了年度的CBA冠军，不管在人人上微博上等，都会看

17

到一些相关的来自北京同学的祝贺状态。也是此刻，让我顿时觉得全世界的北京人在一起。 其次，北京有一种特有的“闲文化”。 泡茶馆，逛戏院，逗蛐蛐等等，这种老北京特有的文化方式已经成为北京皇城的一道风景线。虽然世异时移，很多文化方式已经不复存在，但是这种“闲文化”依然再老北京心中深深扎根。这种闲文化的最直接作用，就是造就了北京人能侃的性格。北京人在一起侃大山，天南地北无所不包。不管是图一时之快解心头之闲，还是正儿八经的聊天。总之，大家聚集在一起侃大山，喝喝茶，已经成了老北京最深的写照。 同时 “岔人文化”也是当今北京盛行的一种文化。说起岔人文化，似乎只有皇城根脚下的北京人才能体会出一番乐在其中的滋味。岔－就是损人的意思，这个岔人要分时间地点人物。北京人岔人，绝对不会岔陌生的外地人。通常情况下，岔人都是气氛非常友好的，岔自己最熟悉的

朋友，因为他们最了解自己的脾气，而且北京人直接经常互岔，达到幽默的最高境界。岔人通常会带脏字，但是这并不代表骂人，而且大家都乐在其中。tip：首先关系不熟的人千万别用脏字，其次别随便用 “丫” 这个字。总之，岔人是一门艺术，就像北京的儿话音一样。 总而言之，作为皇城后裔 “皇城”的概念可以说贯穿始终 “皇城信仰”可以说是北京人的集体信仰 这种信仰带领的整个首都走在文化前沿。

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THE FORBIDDEN CITYINSERT PHOTO HERE

Gugong, the Forbidden City, was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. !e palace complex exempli"es traditional Chinese palatial architecture and is listed as the largest collec-tion of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.

Palace constructions include material with whole logs of precious wood and large blocks of marble from quarries. !e #oors of major halls were paved with “golden bricks,” decorated with magni"cent paintings. !e Forbidden City is surrounded by four great gates: southern end is the main Me-ridian Gate; north is the Gate of Divine Might, which faces Jingshan Park; the east and west gates are called the “East Glorious Gate” and “West Glorious Gate.”

!e Forbidden City remains important in the civic scheme of Beijing. !e central north-south axis remains the central axis of Beijing and divides the Forbidden City into two parts: the Outer Court and the Inner Court. !e Outer Court is mainly comprised of Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Central Harmony, and the Hall of Preserving Harmony. !e Inner Court is separated from the Outer Court by an oblong court-yard lying orthogonal to the City’s main axis. It was the home of the Emperor and his family. From the south, these are the Palace of Heavenly Purity, Hall of Union, and the Palace of Earthly Tranquility.

北京故宫，旧称紫禁城，是中国明、清两代24个皇帝的皇宫。现指位于北京的故宫博物院。位于北京市中心，是无与伦比的古代建筑杰作，也是世界现存最大、最完整的木质结构的古建筑群。故宫宫殿建筑均是木结构、黄琉璃瓦顶、青白石底座，饰以金碧辉煌的彩画。故宫有4个门，正门名午门，东门名东华门，西门名西华门，北门名神武门。面对北门神武门，有用土、石筑成的景山，满山松柏成林。故宫的建筑沿着一条南北向中轴线排列并向两旁展开，南北取直，左右对称。依据其布局与功用分为“外朝”与“内廷”两大部分，以乾清门为界，乾清门以南为外朝，以北为内廷。外朝、内廷的建筑气氛迥然不同。外朝以太和殿、中和殿、保和殿三大殿为中心，其中三大殿中的”太和殿”俗称“金銮殿”，是皇帝举行朝会 的地方，也称为“前朝”。是封建皇帝行使权力、举行盛典的地方。内廷以乾清宫、交泰殿、坤宁宫后三宫为中心，两翼为养心殿、东六宫、西六宫、斋宫、毓庆宫，后有御花园。是封建帝王与后妃居住之所。内廷东部的宁寿宫是当年乾隆皇帝退位后养老而修建。内廷西部有慈宁宫、寿安宫等。此外还有重华宫，北五所等建筑。庭院深邃，建筑紧凑，自成一体，秩序井然。

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GREAT WALL BADALING

Badaling is the site of the most visited section of the Great Wall of China, approximately 50 miles (80 km) northwest of urban Beijing city in Yanq-ing County, which is within the Beijing municipality. Made of stone and bricks from the hills, this portion of the Great Wall is 7.8 meters (26 !) high and 5 meters (16 !) wide."e portion of the wall run-ning through the site was built in 1505 during the Ming Dy-nasty, along with a military outpost re#ecting the loca-tion’s strategic importance.

INSERT PHOTO HERE

八达岭长城位于北京市延庆县军都山关沟古道北口，史称天下九塞之一，是长城重要关口居庸关的前哨，在明长城中保存最好，也最具代表性，因此是万里长城向游人开放最早的地段。八达岭长城其关城为东窄西宽的梯形，建于明弘治十八年（1505年），嘉靖、万历年间曾修葺。关城有东西二门，东门额题“居庸外镇”，刻于嘉靖十八年（1539年）；西门额题“北门锁钥”，刻于万历十年（1582年）。两门均为砖石结构，券洞上为平台，台之南北各有通道，连接关城城墙，台上四周砌垛口。古称“居庸之险不在关而在八达岭”。该段长城地势险峻，居高临下，集巍峨险峻、秀丽苍翠于一体，1953年修复关城和部分城墙后，辟为游览区。经多次整修，可供游览地段达3741米，其中南段1176米、北段2565米，共有敌台１６座。1961年３月“万里长城——八达岭”被确定为第一批国家级文物保护单位；1982年被列为国家重点风景名胜区；1986年被评为全国十大风景名胜之首；1987年被联合国教科文组织列入《世界文化遗产名录》；1992年被评为“北京旅游世界之最”中的第一名；1995年八达岭长城被中国关心下一代工作委员会命名为“全国爱国主义教育基地”。2000~2009年，共有500余名世界各国的国家元首、政府首脑或执政党领袖登上过八达岭长城。2007年5月8日，八达岭长城经国家旅游局正式批准为国家5A级旅游景区。八达岭景区除了长城外，还有长城碑林、五郎像、石佛寺石像、金鱼池、岔道梁、戚继光景园、袁崇焕景园、长城碑林景园、岔道古城等景点。

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BEIJING NATIONAL STADIUM Beijing National Stadium, colloquially as the Bird’s Nest, is a stadium in Beijing, China. !e stadium was designed for use throughout the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. !e Bird’s Nest covers an area of 21 hectare and a "oor space of 258,000 square meters. !e total of 91,000 seats was shaved further when 11,000 temporary seats were removed a#er the 2008 Olympics. !e stadium also hosted the Open-ing and Closing ceremonies and athletic events of the 2008 Summer Paralympics in 2008.Post the Olympics games, besides sports games, the Bird’s Nest hosted theatrical performances, non-prof-it government and private corporation events. !e design was awarded to a submission from the Swiss architecture $rm Herzog & de Meuron in April 2003. !e design, which originated from the study of Chinese ceramics, implemented steel beams in order to hide supports for the retractable roof; giving the stadium the appearance of a “Bird’s nest,” which sym-bolizes the hope for future. !e design, construction and execution represent the motto “green Olympics, high-tech Olympics, humanistic Olympics.”

“鸟巢”，即中国国家体育场，位于北京奥林匹克公园中心区南部，为2008年第29届奥林匹克运动会的主体育场。工程总占地面积21公顷，建筑面积258,000㎡。场内观众坐席约为91000个，其中临时坐席约11000个。于2008年举行奥运会、残奥会开闭幕式、田径比赛及足球比赛决赛。奥运会后除了体育赛事，其他一些大型活动，如文艺演出、非商业性质的政府主办的大型活动以及私营企业的大型活动也将在国家体育场举行。

TIANANMEN SQUARETiananmen Square is a large city square in the center of Beijing, China. It is the third largest city square in the world. Near the center of today’s square, stood the “Great Ming Gate”, the southern gate to the Imperial City. !e Great Hall of the People and the Revolutionary History Museum (now National Museum of China) were erected on the western and eastern sides of the square.Tiananmen Square has been the site of a number of political events and student protests. !ese include the May Fourth Movement in 1919; the procla-mation of the People’s Republic of China by Mao Zedong on October 1, 1949; annual mass military displays on all subsequent National Days until October 1, 1959. From then on, Tiananmen Square represents the new China’s establishment and it is an important part of Chinese national emblem.

天安门广场是北京的心脏地带，是世界上最大的城市中心广场。北起天安门，南至正阳门，东起历史博物馆，西至人民大会堂，南北长880米，东西宽500米，面积达44万平方米，可容纳100万人举行盛大集会。广场中央矗立着人民英雄纪念碑和庄严肃穆的毛主席纪念堂，广场西侧是人民大会堂，东侧面是中国革命博物馆和中国历史博物馆，南侧是两座建于l4世纪的古代城楼——正阳门和前门箭楼，整个广场宏伟壮观、整齐对称、浑然一体、气势磅礴。天安门两边是劳动人民文化宫和中山公园，这些雄伟的建筑与天安门浑然一体构成了天安门广场， 成为北京的一大胜景。

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OLD SUMMER PALACE!e Old Summer Palace, known in Chinese as Yuan Ming Yuan (the Gardens of Perfect Brightness), was a complex of palaces and gardens in Beijing. It is located 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) northwest of the walls of the Imperial City, built in the 18th and early 19th century, where the emperors of the Qing Dynasty resided and handled government a"airs (the Forbidden City was used for formal ceremonies).

圆明园坐落在北京西郊海淀区，与颐和园紧相毗邻。它始建于康熙46年（1709年），亦称“圆明三园”，是圆明园及其附园长春园、万春园的统称，是清代行宫式御园，占地350公顷（5200余亩），其中水面面积约140公顷（2100亩），有园林风景百余处，是清朝帝王在150余年间创建和经营的一座大型皇家宫苑。“圆明园”由康熙皇帝命名。“圆明”是雍正皇帝自皇子时期一直使用的佛号。康熙皇帝在把园林赐给胤禛（后为雍正皇帝）时，亲题园名为“圆明园”正是取意于此。雍正皇帝解释说“圆明”二字的含义是：“圆而入神，君子之时中也；明而普照，达人之睿智也。”意思是说，“圆”是指个人品德圆满无缺，超越常人；“明”是指政治业绩明光普照，完美明智。

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TEMPLE OF HEAVEN

在北京崇文区，故宫东南方数公里处，有一座占地273公顷的祭天神庙，这就是天坛。它比故宫还要大4倍，是明、清朝两代帝王冬至日时祭皇天上帝和正月上辛日行祈谷礼的地方。天坛建筑布局呈“回”字形，由两道坛墙分成内坛、外坛两大部分。外坛墙总长6416米，内坛墙总长3292米。最南的围墙呈方型，象征地，最北的围墙呈半圆型，象征天，北高南低，这既表示天高地低，又表示“天圆地方”。天坛的主要建筑物集中在内坛中轴线的南北两端，其间由一条宽阔的丹陛桥相连结，由南至北分别为圜丘坛、皇穹宇、祈年殿和皇乾殿等；另有神厨、宰牲亭和斋宫等建筑和古迹。设计巧妙，色彩调和，建筑艺术高超。

!e Temple of Heaven, literally the Altar of Heaven is a complex of religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. It’s 4 times bigger than the Forbidden City and became the last large-scale renovation of the temple complex in the imperial time.Earth was represented by a square and Heaven by a circle; several features of the temple complex symbolize the connection of Heaven and Earth, of circle and square. !e whole temple complex is surrounded by two cordons of walls; the outer wall has a taller, semi-circular northern end, repre-senting Heaven, and a shorter, rectangular southern end, representing the Earth.!e Temple grounds comprises three main groups of constructions—!e Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the Imperial Vault of Heaven, !e Circular Mound Altar, which are connected by the wide Vermilion Steps Bridge.

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Meet the GCC members!

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Jianfei Steven Zhu (2013)President

Jianfei (Steven) Zhu is double ma-joring in Environment Studies and Business. He likes to travel and has been to every continent on earth except Antarctica. He also likes driving, cooking and meet-ing people from all over the world. A!er graduation, he is eager to pursue a career in the renewable energy industry and hopes to make cleaner energy more ac-cessible to the general public.

Yiyi Zhang (2014)Vice President, External A"airs

Yiyi is a philosophy major and economics minor. She is pas-sionate about life and want to try everything new out! It’s so nice to be a part of GCC. GCC is not just a platform for networking, but more like a comfortable zone for people with same interests to have fun and exchange their ideas about the world. Hope you can join us and enjoy the time!

Miriam Wong (2014)Vice President, Internal A"airs

Miriam is a Linguistics and Global Studies double ma-jor, from Hong Kong. When she’s not busy with work, she likes to play saxophone with Improv Collective, play vol-leyball, visit art museums and watch comedies. She loves the GCC spirit and can’t wait to meet other mem-bers from around the world!

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Linxuan Yang (2016)Director of Marketing

Linxuan is majoring in Envi-ronmental Studies. She is ex-cited about everything happens in her life. When she has free time, she likes to draw her com-ic stories, eat with her friends, and watch movies. She loves to meet people who support GCC!

Steven Wong (2013)Co-Director of Event Planning

I am majoring in Business, Studio Art, and Art History with a minor in Philosophy. I am ambitious, optimistic, and I strive to succeed in ev-erything that I do. I look for-ward to building a stronger relationship with China and the international community.

Yi Wang (2014)Art Director

Yi is double majoring in Studio Art and Art History, minor in East Asian Stud-ies. She loves anime and that’s what she watches and drawes all the time:) She hopes GCC will have more activities and everyone will enjoy being part of it.

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Megan Sun (2015)Director of Magazine

Rising sophomore, unde-clared major. I now live in Hong Kong. I hope I can meet a lot of people from di!erent areas who share the common goal of learning more about china through GCC.

Dong Chen (2014)Treasurer

Dong is a Mathematics and Economics double major. He loves playing card games and chess in the weekend. He is very happy to meet with other mem-bers and works together to bet-ter connect China in Brandeis.

Wenxi Zhao (2016)Associate Director of Magazine

Wenxi Zhao is a freshman in general study. In her spare time, she likes to take pic-tures, play badminton, watch movies and make beautiful posters for di!erent clubs. She loves the GCC spirit and can’t wait to join this passion-ate and creative community!”

Jun Zhao (2013)Associate Art Director

Jun, psychology and stu-dio art major, science lover. Does art for fun and takes inspiration from metro-politan life and nature. Has a dream of owning a farm.

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Shanlai Shangguan (2014)Co-Director of Event Planning

I am a junior majoring in History and Environmental Studies in Brandeis. I am a big fan of Angry Birds and food with green tea "avor. Brandeis GCC is like a family. It’s there whenever you need it and makes your past shine for your future. Come and join us to build this home.

Terry Li (2014)Assistant Treasurer

I am pursuing majors in International Global Studies, Economics, and South Asian studies at Brandeis University. I am originally from Beijing, China. I join GCC because it is a promising institution which aim to tighten the Sino-US relationship, and I am proud to be part of this initiative.

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