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.
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]
March 9th 2008Asia » China » Hebei » Shijiazhuang George has been asking me to take pictures around my school and apartment since I got here, and Lindsey and I finally got around to it yesterday. We started in our apartment which they are redoing-I w ... 28 photos[full story]
January 19th 2008Asia » China » Hebei Maggie and Jo have been telling us how great it is to visit the hot springs during the winter. The temperature dropped and Cori's sister, Jessi, was in town so we decided to make the trip. When we w ... 23 photos[full story]
December 26th 2007Asia » China » Hebei » Qinhuangdao I came back 'home' in Hohhot on the 20th of December form Hong Kong. Only had to work for 3 days, which a christmas party organised by school in the brandnew 5* Shangri-La hotel on the 23rd.
Had to t ... 10 photos[full story]
October 26th 2007Asia » China » Hebei » Chengde ChengDe
Vue que Chris avait un Lundi de off et moi pas de classe ce Week-End (Test pour l’ecole) on est partit vpour ChengDe pour la fin de semaine regarder des temples et visiter un des camp ... [full story]
November 20th 2007Asia » China » Hebei Earlier on in the year I wrote that I was going to do a TEFL course and then become a teacher in Asia.... Well..... here I am in China, with a TEFL diploma and a year contract with a large language s ... 9 photos[full story]
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