For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight. To be updated
May 9th 2008Asia » China » Jiangsu » Zhangjiagang hey! I brought the letters my 6th graders had written to their penpals this morning to read while I was eating dinner tonight, and omg I was actually laughing out loud! I'm gonna look through them now ... 12 photos[full story]
May 7th 2008Asia » China » Shanghai We arrived in Shanghai, the largest city in China on Wednesday 30th April. Part of the trip is an organised tour with Intrepid travel which begins on the 6th May. We met the tour group of 9 people on ... 13 photos[full story]
May 9th 2008Asia » China » Guangxi » Longsheng Said farewell to beautiful Yangshuo, and all the western food that it holds.. and headed by bus to Longsheng to check out the rice terraces.
We were under the impression that our hostel was in DaZhai ... [full story]
May 9th 2008Asia » China » Shanghai We have arrived in Shanghai - the hotel is amazing! We are staying at the Four Seasons and as soon as I am done with this posting I am going to take a nice long bath...just me, my book, and maybe a gl ... 4 photos[full story]
May 5th 2008Asia » China » Hainan A few pretty significant events have happened in the last couple of weeks here in China that (fortunately) I was not apart of, but could have very well been. The first occurred a few weeks ago when a ... 30 photos[full story]
May 9th 2008Asia » China » Hebei After a decent sleep (only waking up a few times on Tuesday night), I started my first day of work at Agricorp. When I woke up, I decided that I should probably shave since it had been two days, only ... [full story]
May 6th 2008Asia » China » Beijing » Chaoyang district Well…what the hell am I doing back here again? For some masochistic reason I decided to send myself back to China this summer but rather than traveling I’ll be working for China AgriCorp ... [full story]
May 4th 2008Asia » China » Shanghai Today is our last day in China and last day of vacation. I know we have to go home at some point, but I wish it wasn’t tomorrow.
The day was gray and there was a light rain. We were going to ... [full story]
May 8th 2008Asia » China » Beijing » Great Wall of China Wow. Yesterday was many adventures packed into a few short hours. Last night I was so exhausted, the only thing I could do was crawl into bed. I even fell asleep on the bus home from dinner! This morn ... 14 photos[full story]
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