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Published: October 14th 2007
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"Eat your heart out Bruce Lee!"
During the first days of Freshmen-Military-Training, a member of the Peoples Liberation Army demonstrates to admiring college students how it is done. All entering college students in China are required to participate. The National Holiday for China is October 1st. On this day in 1949, Chairman Mao declared the P.R.C. from the rostrum of Tian'anmen Gate in Beijing to throngs of proud and cheering Chinese citizens. Each year this National Holiday celebration continues in importance and significance, and the festivities now include the first seven days of every October.
These 7 days in October are now known by the Chinese as the "Golden Week" for travel. Increasingly, China's ever-more affluent 1.4 billion people enjoy this vacation as national tourists, traveling to China's grand sights, sharing pride and quality time with family and friends.
Students around the country also anticipate these first seven days in October, as millions of them prepare return-visits to their families, much like our students travel home during the Thanksgiving-holidays.
The college and university "freshmen" especially relish this week and will use it to rest from the exhaustion and excitement of their now completed mandatory military training. The photos in this journal are dedicated to this Freshmen Military Training taking place on every college and university campus of China.
Parents of these returning students will make sure their "little" emperor or empress is lovingly pampered, and
The PLA soldiers are proud and happy to pose.
By the end of the training these professional young soldiers are adored by their (mostly female) students. my students have spoken of nothing but rest and food at home with mommy and daddy.
When these freshmen return to the college campus, they are then officially perceived as part of the school's academia, as they commence with an over-load of classes, and begin the demanding process of preparing for the looming and never-ending examinations, that will determine their every future success.
Most of the students of Taizhou Teachers College, the college in which I teach, also prepare for their way back home to visit their parents during this National Holiday. They too will report on the progress of their first weeks of study at the college, talk about their "crazy" foreign teacher, and "re-plenish low running funds".
It is a time to feast on fine home-cooking, while sharing their experiences from their mandatory freshmen-military-training, catching up on some reading, watching TV, or "playing" on the computer when one is available.
But there are also some upper classmen, who will remain at the college, to advance their "self-study" courses in preparation for additional up-coming examinations. These are disciplined, young men and women, who have passed the most demanding tests already, and are making preparations to
The freshmen show great enthusiasm.
Under the colors of the Chinese Flag, groups of freshmen are learning the basics of the martial arts. attain additional degrees and certifications at the expense of a well-deserved vacation.
Taizhou's reputation is closely tied to its many modern schools, which help fill the ranks of skilled workers for the quickly expanding national and international industries that settle around the growing city of Taizhou, in prosperous Jiangsu Province on the east coast of China.
A new campus rises quickly from Taizhou's re-claimed farmlands, and dozes of new structures continue to be completed almost daily. The city is becoming a center for learning, much in honor of its most famous citizen, current President Hu Jintao, who spent much of his youth growing up and attending school in this rapidly expanding city.
Once the National Holiday commences, taxis of all shapes and sizes wait in front of Taizhou's school-entrances. The drivers know, it is time to make some serious money from the eager, departing students.
Once driver and passengers agree on a fare, and that can take some time, the students are rushed to busy train-stations and crowded bus-stations, where waiting transport will be filled beyond capacity.
Tickets to "anyplace" are at a premium, and often impossible to get and remember, that only a one-way
These two soldiers encouraged my daily visits.
They were quite happy when I presented them each with a copy of this photo. Note the groups of hundreds of students in the background. ticket can be purchased by each traveler. The return ticket will become another challenge for each of them.
And so all nationalities in China settle down to celebrate and commemorate the founding of the New China each October 1st:
Before 1970, state banquets, military parades, fireworks, and civilian parades were held as part of the celebration. There were colorful and grand meetings in Tian'anmen Square as well as in all provinces, regions, and counties. In each meeting leaders of all levels of government made speeches. Then workers, farmers, and representatives of the Peoples Liberation Army made speeches, expressing the love of people and the P.R.C.
After the meeting there was usually a parade. Excited citizens held colorful triangular flags and shouted slogans while parading along streets.
In 1960, the government decided to have "minor" celebrations every five years and "major" celebrations every ten years.
By 1969, the 20th National Holiday, military parades declined in importance, citing the negative influences of deploying armies and because of the limitations of national finances.
1979 was the 30th National Holiday, and it became a time of China's increasing openess and reform.
It was not until 1984, under
The training begins.
Each unit of freshmen train together for 3 weeks and form close bonds. Every unit is carefully supervised and challenged by a soldier of the Peoples Liberation Army, himself no older than the students. Deng Xiaoping's rule, that the first huge, military parade in 24 years was held as part of the Tian'anmen Square ceremony on the 35th anniversary of the founding of the P.R.C.
In 2004 the Chinese government made new arrangements on how to celebrate the National Holiday. The major activities of the National Holiday in Beijing included banquets, large scale theatrical performances, and park-tour activities. There were theme-activities about the education of patriotism and revolutionary traditions for China's youth.
Only since the year 2000 does the National Holiday last seven days. With an improved Chinese economy people have more choices on ways to relax and entertainment.
More and more Chinese choose to join national and international tours. It provides an additional boost to China's growing holiday-economy of tourism, transportation, gift industry, and food and hospitality industry.
The cost for each increases significantly during these festive days, as tourists crowd every historical site in China. The Great Wall for example becomes so congested with tourist traffic, that there is little if any forward motion by a mass of visitors, often seemingly standing still.
The days of the "Golden Travel Week" come to an end rather quickly. The
Taking a rest from the stress of the drills.
An injury has side-lined this young freshman. return journeys for every traveler and the millions of students become their next adventure. They can only ponder and hope for "possible" return-transportation to their homes and schools, and ticket counter lines stretch for many hours. Once again Chinese patience is severely tested.
**** Do enlarge the 41 photos for their greater details and I hope my wonderful former students, many of whom are this year's college freshmen in America, ponder these differences for the first year of college in China and in the West. I hope your studies are going well, and I think of you often. ****
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Chambers
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An Unforgettable Experience to Every Freshman
It reminds me of my MFMT time in 2002. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Time flies always.