resident Paul Mooney. The

series will continue with

Peking University political

science researcher Zhi Zhen-

feng who will talk to us

Thursday in Chinese about

jurisprudence in China. The

rest of the schedule is as

follows:

Oct. 29: Musician, Writer,

and Entrepreneur Kaiser

Kuo (English)

Dec. 3: Peking University

Economist Chen Dong

(Chinese)

Dec. 17: Palace Museum

Researcher Alfreda Murck

(English)

We are also planning an

alumni event in November

(TBA) at 798 which will

likely include a talk by an

important contemporary

woman writer . . . more on

that as the event shapes up!

So please enjoy this issue,

share it with your friends

(also electronically, through

IUPeople.com), and look

forward to a lot more as the

year progresses!

— Charles A. Laughlin

罗福林

Dear IUPers:

We've had an eventful fall

semester here at IUP so far,

and now thanks to newslet-

ter editor Larissa Jesanis, we

now have a chance to reflect

on it as we move forward

through the year. In this is-

sue Ma Yinqiu Laoshi writes

about her first experiences

and impressions as an IUP

teacher. Kathleen Bucking-

ham offers an article (in

Chinese!) about her trip to

present her research at the

World Bamboo Congress in

Thailand, and Cecelia Chen

writes about a self-organized

trip IUP classmates took to

Heilongjiang and the charms

of staying in a bathhouse!

This is an exciting group;

during orientation week you

spontaneously set up dinners

and parties and continue to

do so (don't forget IUP can

support themed events if you

let us know in advance).

Some have gone on outings

to 798 and musical and the-

atrical performances as well.

As for IUP-organized

events, we went to the Marco Polo Bridge and the

Peking Man excavation site

in September (see photos!),

and just got back from a

great trip to Changsha,

where I think we all learned

that good Hunan cuisine is a

world unto itself, and one of

the few things you cannot

get in Beijing (at least not

easily). Those of us who

went to Yali Middle School

also got a first-hand glimpse

of one of Yale University's

oldest connections in China,

and met some of the most

excellent high school stu-

dents in China (the Yale-

China Association assigns

Yale College graduates to

Yali and other schools as

teachers for two year stints).

We also began our lecture

series with freelance jour-

nalist and long-term Beijing

Charles Laughlin (罗福林):

Resident Director

Letter from the Director

I n t h i s I s s u e :

初试IUP 2

中国的竹林对

环保的大贡献

3

Exploring China

with IUP

3

Picture Page 4

“Spas” 5

Upcoming

Events at IUP

and in the Bei-

jing Area

6

Acknowledge-

ments

6

I n t e r -

U n i v e r s i t y

P r o g r a m f o r

C h i n e s e

L a n g u a g e

S t u d i e s

IUPeople 清 华 I U P 中 文 中 心 V O L . 2 , I S S U E 8

清华大学

P A G E 2

“只有在汉

语方面，我

们能成为他

们的老师，

在很多其他

的方面，学

生都是我们

的老师”。

—廖老师

初试IUP 要是放在以前，我怎么也

没想到自己有一天会成为

一名对外汉语的老师。倒

不是觉得此项工作有什么

不好，只是觉得凭着自己

高中的那点功底扎在一群

学汉语言文学、中文、对

外汉语等的老师中间，难

免会相形见绌。

说来也巧，今年的四月

份，刚刚结束为期半年的

田野调查的我，不得不转

身投入到找工作的大潮

中。虽说经济危机对中国

学生的就业率影响不算太

大，但我们身在其中，还

是能感受到些许的波动。

想着传播文化就是人类学

的宗旨，而语言则是传播

过程中不可或缺的途径，

我抱着尝试的态度来到了

IUP应试。没想到，自己

还真就顺利通关了，有幸

成了IUP的一名新老师。

在这里，借这个机会，和

大家一起分享我来IUP的

一些感受。

一。 培训严格

真可谓“不做不知道，一

做吓一跳”。初来IUP时

经历的“折磨”现在依然

历历在目。为了让我们尽

快适应IUP的教学模式，

IUP采用实战教学法，先

让我们去旁听别的老师上

课，然后练习备课。平时

一周的课时，需要我们在

当日内完成，“仿真的学

生”+“仿真的老师”就

成了那一段时间我们的辛

勤工作的重心。由于培训

任务繁重，每天我们都得

挑灯苦读，初上讲台的紧

张加上“仿真学生”的刁

难，真是让我们承受的身

心的双重“折磨”。好在

功夫不负苦心人，经历了

枪林弹雨，我们依然挺

立。

二。 水平不低

还记得来IUP听的第一堂

吅班课是廖老师的材料

课，当时是讲钱钟书先生

《围城》的节选。原来以

为，这样的课也就是老师

帮助学生理解文章的内

容，毕竟想要把钱老先生

的书看懂还是得经过一番

推敲的。等到上了课，着

实让我吃了一惊，老师的

话并不多，三名美国美女

讨论得兴高采烈，哪里是

比喻，哪里是讽刺，哪里

特别幽默，分析的头头是

道，一个中国人都未必能

读得如此仔细，着实让我

有点惭愧。下课以后，廖

老师解开了我心中的疑

问，她告诉我一句话：

“只有在汉语方面，我们

能成为他们的老师，在很

多其他的方面，学生都是

我们的老师。”IUP的学

生还真是不能小觑。

三。 文化多元

刚来IUP的时候，我以为

所有的学生都是从美国来

的，后来才发现，自己又

犯了一个错误。原来IUP

的学生来自世界各地，专

业也是从政治、经济到文

学、艺术，五花八门、多

种多样。还有不少人类

学、社会学的同行们，偶

尔可以和我切磋一下“武

艺”。从文化人类学角度

来看，IUP不失为一个不

错的田野基地，不同的文

化背景、不同的成长环

境，每个人的言谈举止中

都附着浓厚的文化元素。

在这里，似乎有一个浓缩

的“联吅国”，可以感受

到，在文化在碰撞中融化

与涵化。

四。兄弟姐妹:

都说IUP像个大家庭，兄

弟姐妹其乐融融，真的置

身其中，你会觉得一点都

不假。因为IUP，学生、

老师都不再只是匆匆过

客。上课时，我们各抒己

见；午餐时，大家谈笑风

生；讨论时，可以互通有

无。可以说，来IUP是所

谓的一举多得，认识朊

友、增长知识，集体的生

活，足有家一样的感觉。

可能总是会有人问，为什

么我学的是人类学却喜欢

在IUP，呵呵，可能从这

里就可以找到答案啦。

— 马吟秋老师

I U P e o p l e

中国的竹林对环保的大贡献

P A G E 3 V O L . 2 , I S S U E 8

全世界都重视气候变化这个热

门主题。 每个国家的政府都

考虑怎样能够应付世界上最突

出得问题之一。世界缺乏自然

资源，所以我们都该重视可特

续发展 (sustainable devel-

opment)。那竹子能不能应付

气候变化的问题呢？

我9月份逃课去泰国参加了

“世界竹业组织第八届世界竹

子大会”。今年的题目是竹子

与环境和气候变化。 有些人

可能认为“气候变化与竹子有

什么关系？”我想

给你们介绍，竹子

并不只是熊猫的饭

而已， 竹子有各种

各样的用途。

在泰国会议上， 对

气候变化这个主题很多人重视

碳库 (carbon sequestra-

tion)。 有些专家认为竹林碳

汇能力达40 吨 CO2 英每亩

(ha)。 科学家估计生物碳可

能是积累CO2最快的方式。 生

物碳是由有机物经高温生成的

一种农业次生物，其来源于土

壤又归还于土壤。如果对3年

以上的竹林进行采伐，每年伐

其生物量的20%，则人工竹林

可能维持50-70年高强度的碳

汇能力。

但有些专家对于竹碳汇的潜力

存在分歧。我们目前开发竹林

碳汇潜力任重而道远。 根据

自然状态下，如果竹林是天然

林不是工人林, 竹株的平均寿

命为7—10年，之后通过生物量

分解将CO2 释放到大气中。

另外各方面不管竹子是天然或

人工林, 而且很多竹种因开花

死亡会造成高浓度的CO2 释

放.

尽管气候变化是世界竹类委员

会关注的热点，然而对于竹类

与气候变化关系的相关研究还

不足。因为我们缺乏自然资源

我们该想办法用竹子替代森

林。 为了达到可特续发展,替

代品是必不可少的。中国的竹

林不但面积很大而且种类比较

丰富。 对竹子的潜力大家都

应该很有信心。

— 凯瑟琳同学 (Kathleen Buckingham)

凯瑟琳

同学的

演讲

世界竹业组织

第八届世界竹子大会

“中国的竹

林不但面

积很大而

且种类比

较丰富。

对竹子的

潜力大家

都应该很

有信心”。

Exploring China with IUP IUP is famous for its high stan-

dards and rigorous curriculum.

But that doesn’t mean that IU-

Pers don’t know how to have

fun! On two occasions so far

this semester we have managed

to drag ourselves away from

our textbooks and Chinese-

English dictionaries to explore

the country we love so much.

On September 12th more than

twenty IUPers expanded their

knowledge of Chinese history

at the Marco Polo Bridge (卢沟

桥) and the Peking Man exhibit.

On the weekend of October 9 a

record high of over seventy

students, teachers, and friends

braved a seventeen-hour train

ride to explore the capital of

Hunan Province: Changsha.

There they discovered the

beauty of the Yuelu Hill Park,

visited IUP alum Carol Yu at

Yali High School, and learned

about Hunan’s rich history at

the Hunan Provincial Museum.

Many even ventured off into the

Hunanese countryside to visit

Chairman Mao’s former resi-

dence in Shaoshan Village.

All in all, IUP has pro-

vided us this semester

with several unique cul-

tural experiences that

few foreigners (or even

Chinese) ever get to en-

joy . . . and believe me,

we definitely enjoyed

ourselves.

A few IUPers have gen-

erously offered to share

their pictures with our

IUPeople readers. So just

turn the page to see for

yourself that at IUP we

do more than just learn

vocabulary; we also gain

an intimate knowledge of

Chinese culture.

— Larissa Jesanis

(贾日姗同学)

P A G E 4

“At IUP we

do more

than just

learn

vocabulary;

we also gain

an intimate

knowledge of

Chinese

culture.”

PICTURE PICTURE

PAGEPAGE

I U P e o p l e

“Travel is

more than

the seeing of

sights; it is a

change that

goes on,

deep and

permanent,

in the ideas

of living.”

– Miriam

Beard

旅游

“Spas”

P A G E 5 V O L . 2 , I S S U E 8

Improper

―Host Mom, what is a 洗浴中心(xǐyù

zhōngxīn)?‖ I asked casually in the car.

―Oh, those are bad places,‖ replied my

host mom in her gentle, mellifluous

voice, ―洗浴中心 are filled with ques-

tionable visitors and even more ques-

tionable practices. It’s well, hmm, in-

volved with the, hmm, prostitution in-

dustry.‖ My host mom finished near a

whisper as she tried to keep the

―improper‖ word out of my young host

sister’s hearing. ―Why do you ask?‖

―Oh, nothing! My friends and I passed

by some while traveling and were curi-

ous what they were,‖ I added hastily,

knowing immediately that I could no

longer share with my morally upright

host family the degree of our curiosity.

We didn’t simply pass by the 洗浴中心 (―spas‖ was the euphemism we chose in

favor of ―bathhouses‖), we lived in

them for 4 nights of our 7-day journey

up into China’s scenic Northeast. It all

started with some disgust, some curios-

ity, and some adventurism for the un-

known.

Addiction

We started out like normal college back-

packers, roughing it out with enormous

hiking packs and staying in pre-booked

hostels. The first night, as we dragged

our travel-worn selves into the commu-

nal bathroom, we couldn’t help groaning

at the disgusting stalls. By the next

morning, we were desperately trying to

fit all of our belongings onto the lone

little hook in the shower stall, teeth chat-

tering from the shower’s lukewarm driz-

zle and Harbin’s chilly morning. The

thought of returning to our dismal hostel

at night was disheartening, but to travel

economically like the poor students that

we are we could only stare wistfully at

the more centrally located hotels. We

tried to convince ourselves that all bath-

rooms in China stunk, with the excep-

tion of those in 5-star hotels that would

set us back thousands of RMB each

night.

Wikipedia turned our lives

around. Robert’s Wikipedia Travel

printouts casually mentioned that ―spas‖

are popular venues in the Northeast and

listed two recommended places. Pere-

grine was relieved one such place, 上海滩 (Shànghǎitān), was not in the seedy area

next to the train station; Robert and

Kevin, with hopes of finding warmer

showers, cast in their vote; Larissa was

curious; and I was drawn by the mention

of my hometown in the spa’s

name. Since we needed a place to nap

before our 1:45am train, we went to the

―spa.‖

Liveried doormen and professionally-

attired employees greeted our entrance

into the brightly illuminated lobby, ush-

ered us onto plushy sofas, brought us

sanitized slippers, and patiently stood by

to introduce all of our options. 24 hours

of rest, buffet breakfast, a free towel,

usage of the shower and sauna facilities,

and access to the library could all be

ours for just 38RMB. A 60-minute mas-

sage was available for 50RMB

more. We consented and proceeded to

enjoy the most powerful jet stream

shower since arriving in China. Dressed

snuggly in sanitized pajamas, we girls

proceeded past the main resting area

with individual reclining sofas and big

screens into a room with semi-enclosed

clusters of beds. Finding a cluster just

for us, we snuggled into the fresh laun-

dered sheets and slept.

Alas, we were forced to wake up at mid-

night to catch the train. Yet, we were

hooked. At our new destination in Mu-

danjiang we found a cluster of police-

men and asked them for the best 洗浴中心

in town. This one was slightly cheaper at

28RMB per night, and as we enjoyed

free internet service in a mostly empty

reading room furnished with elaborate

wall paneling and fine leather chairs, we

mused over our great find. While Robert

wondered how such luxurious yet

cheap establishments were sustainable,

Kevin realized that I wasn’t kidding

about the existence of both scholarly

and pornographic magazines in the

library. Oh well, no time to ponder!

Our buffet dinner had been splendid

and we were off to enjoy some much-

needed massages.

Descent

―师傅! Take us to the city’s most ex-

pensive 洗浴中心!‖ we cried to our con-

fused taxi driver the moment we got

into Shenyang. We got what we

wanted: a palatial complex complete

with exercise rooms, book rooms,

whirlpools, dry and wet saunas, mas-

sage pools, and even our own personal

locker-opening attendants,

all for 48RMB per

night. By now, we had

already gotten used to

separate attendants who

would put shoes on our

feet, hand us towels, lead

us up and down the stair-

cases, and charge our

phones for us. We had also

gotten into the habit of

requesting ever-longer

massages and receiving

ever-longer bills. As for

other sights in Shenyang,

well, what sights? The

attendants only allowed us

to leave the spa for a maximum of 2

hours before we would have to rereg-

ister, and really, who would want to

stop parading around in clownish paja-

mas all day anyways?

Hmm, now that we are back in Bei-

jing, maybe we should drop our apart-

ment leases and move into the city’s

most expensive 洗浴中心. After all,

how could we stand the IUP workload

without 24-hour long massages, right?

— Cecelia Chen (陈茜茜同学)

“„师傅！Take

us to the city‟s

most expensive

洗浴中心!‟ we

cried to our

confused taxi

driver the

moment we got

into Shenyang.”

Event

Oktoberfest 2009

Clean Energy, Climate Change and the

Future of US-China Relations

US-China Information Technology

Products and Trade Issues

BConnected Networking Event

Spark Beijing Innovation Series

US-China Advanced Technology Trade

and Industrial Development

AmCham-China Charity Ball 2009

British Chamber of Commerce Book

Dialogue: ―When China Rules the

World‖

Managing Reputational Risk and Inter-

acting with Local Communities

Guest Lecturer Kaiser Kuo

Date and Time

Every Day until October 25,

18:00—23:00

October 20, 15:00—17:00

October 21, 8:00—9:30

October 22, 18:00

October 23, 9:30

October 23, 13:00

October 24, 17:30

October 29, 8:00

October 29, 16:00 – 18:00

October 29

Location and Details

Paulaner Bräuhaus (no entrance fee)

China World Hotel, Function Room 12

(150/250 RMB)

Capital Club (150/250RMB)

Centro Bar, Kerry Centre Hotel (40/80

RMB)

Hilton Beijing (480/580RMB)

Tsinghua School of Public Policy and

Management (free for members)

China World Hotel (1,100 RMB

Westin Beijing Chaoyang Hotel (200/400

RMB)

Westin Chaoyang Hotel – Ballroom

(250/400RMB)

IUP

IUPeople is a bilingual publication produced for

the student, teacher, staff and alumni community

of the Inter-University Program for Chinese Lan-

guage Studies at Tsinghua University. This issue

has been written and compiled by a dedicated

group of IUP workers and volunteers.

Supervisors:

Charles Laughlin and Han Xu

Editor:

Larissa Jesanis

Contributors:

Charles Laughlin, Ma Yinqiu Laoshi , Kathleen

Buckingham and Cecelia Chen

Upcoming Events at IUP and in the Beijing Area

The staff would also like to thank Jia

Yuting Laoshi, Cheng Xiuwen, and Lori

Huneke for their assistance in the

editing and logistics of this issue. We

couldn’t have done it without you!

Inter-University Program for Chinese

Language Studies at Tsinghua University

Wen Bei Lou, 502

Tsinghua University

Beijing 100084

People’s Republic of China

86.10) 6277.1505 (phone)

(86.10) 6277.2221 (fax)