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.
November 9th 2009Asia » China » Hebei » Qinhuangdao It's a 3 days tour by train from Beijing.
Key attraction is to see where the Great Wall of China begins from the sea. We also managed to visit a section of great wall there called the water great w ... 3 photos[full story]
October 17th 2009Asia » China » Hebei Last saturday, Oct. 10th, the program took us to a mountain range a couple hours outside of Beijing called 方山。It was a somewhat chilly and it was a smoggy or foggy day, (i can nev ... [full story]
May 24th 2009Asia » China » Hebei » Chengde The Syracuse University Abroad program went on our last group trip together to Chengde. ... 81 photos[full story]
September 2nd 2009Asia » China » Hebei » Qinhuangdao We really haven't done any sightseeing the past 2 days and instead have been staying close with Lisa's family which means her mother, her grandmother and her son. This has meant that I am eating way t ... 14 photos[full story]
August 31st 2009Asia » China » Hebei » Qinhuangdao Some relative slack today so I am going to focus on what I have seen for living in China so far. I gather that most everything is condominium and that renters can rent from the owners and many will pu ... 23 photos[full story]
June 5th 2009Asia » China » Hebei » BaoDing After arriving back in Baoding yesterday, my uncle booked a big dinner to celebrate Justin's 22nd Birthday! (Happy birthday hubby!!)
We had the biggest table ever with a huge spinning top! See pict ... 9 photos[full story]
June 4th 2009Asia » China » Hebei » Shijiazhuang Today was our second day in Shijiazhuang. This morning we saw Yini's old school. The kids were finishing up their morning exercises when we arrived. We weren't allowed in, though. I guess that would h ... [full story]
June 3rd 2009Asia » China » Hebei Today Yini and I and her Mom and Aunt caught the 7:44am train from Baoding to Shijiazhuang. Shijiazhuang is Yini's hometown. Woo-hoo!
It is probably most famous for its pollution. Wow! The skies we ... [full story]