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Background: 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.

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By Tiffany Journeys East
January 5th 2009

The Butrum Sisters Reunited! HK Day 2

Asia » China » Guangdong » Shenzhen

Chelsea on the Cable Car

Addendum to Day 1: Chelsea reminded me of a tidbit I forgot to mention in the previous blog. Our hostel is on Nathan Street. To get to the museums and the harbor, one only has to walk a block down Nathan and make a right onto Salisbury Street. Further down Salisbury there is an underground pedestrian crossing. On my previous visits to Hong Kong, that particular crossing has always been peopled by 'unsettling beggars', the ones who are the most pitiable and who often have maladies or malformations I'd rather not see. I know that sounds terribly callous, but it's the [View Full Entry]

By Tiffany Journeys East
January 3rd 2009

Lianhua Shan Park

Asia » China » Guangdong » Shenzhen

Words to live by...

I'm still playing catch up with my blog entries, so bare with me. Kim, Mariam and I went to Lianhua Shan Park about a month ago. The park is about a twenty minute walk north of my school. There are lakes, big open spaces, gazebos nestled in the wooded areas, and a 'mountain' to climb. The day was very warm, much warmer than the rest of the week had been, and it was nice to get outside and pretend to be in nature for a while. The entrances of the park are lined with people selling kites, balloons, fried dough sticks, [View Full Entry]

By Tiffany Journeys East
January 3rd 2009

The Butrum Sisters Reunited! HK Day 1

Asia » China » Guangdong » Shenzhen

Chelsea on the Tram
Isn't she the most adorable thing?

Wednesday, December 17th, my sister Chelsea flew into Hong Kong from Italy where she's been studying art conservation. I left Shenzhen to meet her at the airport. She was unable to obtain an entry visa for mainland China while in Italy, so the two days we needed to wait for her visa to come through gave us a chance to do some sight-seeing in Hong Kong. Hong Kong doesn't require an entry visa. They just stamp your passport and you're good for thirty days. Mainland is a little different. We stayed at the affordable yet totally sketchy Chung King Mansions located [View Full Entry]

By ChinaandBenjamin
January 2nd 2009

Finalized Travel Plans!

Asia » China » Guangdong » Shenzhen

Me and Chan
I dressed up like Santa for a bit the day after Christmas (I wasn't at the school on Christmas to do it). The kids went crazy. Here I am w/ one of my students from my sophmore class 19. Don't let t... [more]

Hello from China! So, I am really bad at the blogging and updating of information as to what I have been doing. Sorry 'bout that! But, here are my final travel plans for my winter vacation. Two Provinces and Four Countries My friends and I have finally confirmed all of our plans for the coming winter vacation. Please hold your jealousy till the end. =) The Trip * January 4: Liz and I will leave in the mid-morning for the train station in Shenzhen, where we will catch the 1100 train to Guangzhou. At Guangzhou, [View Full Entry]

By soonkatin
December 31st 2008

For being in a land that doesn't celebrate, I've been just as busy

Asia » China » Guangdong » Shenzhen

I'm realizing that I haven't really updated this except for a few things here and there for over 2 weeks! Sure, you're read about tea, Tibetan dancers, and a few holiday parties, but that's not all I've been up to! You'd think I was busy going to Xmas parties, shopping, and doing the general holiday mayhem for as busy I've been! My life has taken on a life of its own, for better or for worse. Plus, I'm just trying to plan the next stage while finishing up the term here at school. So this will be a brief (hahaha) "what [View Full Entry]

By Brian and Jess
December 30th 2008

The Joys of Stinky Socks

Asia » China » Guangdong » Shenzhen

In a little over a week Brian and I will be leaving for a much needed vacation. Life here has been keeping us very busy and teaching is very trying and tiring at times. I am beginning to believe that the long breaks in the school calendar are more for the teachers than they are for the students! (Although I must admit many of the students here work very hard.) Our vacation is from January 7th until about February 8th, and we do not have an exact itinerary for that time, just a general idea of where we want to go. [View Full Entry]

By Csmith
December 29th 2008

Christmas time is here!

Asia » China » Guangdong » Shenzhen

Oh snap!
We did get goody bags which had the coolest thing ever in them...Santa Claus snap bracelets!

So on Christmas eve CTLC threw a Christmas party...well it was more of a disappointing dinner and an ok get-together. That's about all I have to say about it, but here are some photos! [View Full Entry]

By Csmith
December 29th 2008

Hola. Dinner in Shekou. Saturday's adventure continues

Asia » China » Guangdong » Shenzhen

It was calling me with its siren song
The Tex-Mex restaurant. We had the whole place to ourselves.

After a long day of bus rides, temples, awkward dancing, and getting stared at. We all decided to head over to Shekou for dinner and find this alleged Tex-Mex place we had heard about. Shekou is the area of Shenzhen where many of the foreigners live, and I must tell you it was very weird to walk around and see so many non-Chinese people who weren't just a lone, skeezy old white guy with a young Chinese girlfriend, but entire families and couples. The little square with most of the Western-style restaurants hardly felt like China at all, and of course [View Full Entry]

By dpelfrey
December 29th 2008

Christmas and New Years Eve in Shenzhen.....and street food!

Asia » China » Guangdong » Shenzhen

Christmas in Shenzhen!
CTLC Christmas party at the Silver Lake Hotel/Resort....this is my contact teacher's daughter performing...she is really, really good!

CTLC Christmas Party For Christmas this year we got one day off - Christmas day. On Wednesday the Shenzhen Education Bureau held a party for all the teachers in the program and put us in a hotel for the night. The night began with a traditional Chinese dinner at the round tables...which was not very good. We had eaten here before at our contract signing and it was about the same. The only good thing was all the wine they had available.....although it kinda tasted like ass. We were also entertained. My contact teacher Lu and his daughter were a main [View Full Entry]

By dpelfrey
December 29th 2008

Buddha and KTV

Asia » China » Guangdong » Shenzhen

Fairylake
View from the Buddhist Temple.

Fairylake Botanical Garden My friend Linda(Xiaoran) asked me if I would like to go on a hike up a mountain - this is clearly the national sport of China, as I am asked this all the time! I of course said yes....always looking for new things to do! Linda said she would meet me at my school and bring her friend Jessie. I did not know if Jessie was a boy or girl...she's a girl. The two arrived at my school and we hopped on the bus. We then got off at some random stop and had to take a taxi [View Full Entry]

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