Population 1mld 300mlnPopulation 1mld 300mln

The most populous nation in the world

China has a population of 1.300 billion according to the Fifth National Census in 2000, which makes up 23%of the world’s total. Planned parenthood has been a state policy since the 1970s.As a multiracial country, China is home to 56 ethnic groups. The Hans account for approximately 92 per cent of the country’s total population. No matter how big or small the population is, all people share equal

rights.

30%- city-dwellers

70%- villagers

100 cities with population over

1 mln inhabitants

200 mln people out of work

Every 2 seconds a new Chinese citizen is born

2 million Chinese people die every year (cremation of corpses)

In the 1970s the Chinese government decided to solve the problem of overpopulation and introduced the policy of planned parenthood, offering benefits for families who adopt this idea and punishment for those who reject it.

The departure from tradition causes that parents spoil their only child treating it as a small emperor.

The birth of a boy is more eagerly awaited.

The most popular name for a girl is Phoenix, while for a boy Dragon.

Don’t worry ...

be happy...

MotherhoodWhen the baby is born, the mother is required to stay in bed for a month in order to recover from the fatigue.

On the morning of the baby's 30th day, sacrifices are offered to the gods so that the gods will protect the baby in his subsequent life.

Ancestors are also virtually informed of the arrival of the new member in the family.

According to the customs, relatives and friends receive gifts from the child's parents.

YOUTH IN CHINA -education -

Preschool, or kindergarten, can last up to three years, with children entering as early as age three, until age six, when they typically enter elementary school. The academic year is divided into 2 terms.Secondary education is divided into academic secondary education and specialized/vocational/technical secondary education.Lower middle school graduates wishing to continue their education take a locally administered entrance exam, on the basis of which they will have the option either of continuing in an academic upper middle school or of entering a vocational secondary school. Vocational schools offer programs ranging from two to four years and train medium-level skilled workers, farmers, and managerial and technical personnel. Technical schools typically offer four-years programs to train intermediate technical personnel. ˇ°Schools for Skilled Workersˇ± typically train junior middle school graduates for positions requiring skills. The length of training is typically three years. .

If we compare the values of today's youth with those of an older tradition, we find these values significantly different. Young people not only emphasize the life of the spirit, but they also pay greater attention to material life and the quality of life. For example, the traditional Chinese attitude towards life is: be content with your lot, be hardworking and thrifty, study hard, and bear your burdens. But today's youth seek a life of quality and beauty. They raise doubts about the traditional value system, and challenge it. Some youth do not understand why, though life is now good, their parents repeatedly emphasize industriousness and hard work. The atmosphere of consumerism prevails in the land, but Chinese people with a traditional outlook still emphasize duty, practicality and patience. But today's youth seek novel things. They seek success; they want to travel; to enjoy gatherings of family and friends. They also seek stimulus and enjoyment.

Cheerful personalities and a positive attitude towards learning, and an emphasis on "personalizing" things are characteristic of today's youth. They are an energetic, idealistic, and courageous generation. This quest for learning is not without some flavor of "personal advantage." This is, no doubt, due to the pressure of work and the need to receive an income. Nevertheless, it is indeed commendable that young people are striving to better themselves.

WESTERN TRENDS

Another area of tremendous change is today's standards of love and marriage. The Christian values regarding love, marriage and the family are under attack. Love affairs, conception outside of marriage, and extra-marital affairs have already become serious problems for many youth, for their families, and for society as a whole. Therefore, pre-marital training and marriage counseling are becoming more and more important. Today's youth want to live a pleasant life, and enjoy this beautiful world, which the Creator has given to us. They want to experience a modern, cultured life. Traditional rules of conduct cannot bind or satisfy today's youth, who are used to thinking for themselves, and dare to search for new meaning in life.

TIBETAN LIFESTYLE

Tibetans lead shepherd’s life. Their stoic attitude to isolation is legendary.They are very religious andeven superstitious. For example, to protect their houses from evil spirits they hang a yak skull over their dwelling or dig a cat tail into the ground at the entrance to their hut.Besides, Tibetans show strong attachment to tradition. That’s why they have their own folklor: costumes anddances. They look vey old for their age as live in very difficultclimatic conditions at the height of over 3,600 metres above sea level – little oxygen, droughts, dry air.

During the first stay in Asia, some tourists are surprised at the sight of people in masks. Their first connotation is with SARS, but it’s not true. Uplanders i.e.people living in high mountains, especially Tibetans, put on masks to protect their breathing system from dry air.

City-dwellers wear masks not because of air pollution, but hygenic reasons. For instance, when they have a cold so as not to spread an infection to others.

PEOPLE IN MASKS

Nearly 50% Chinese people spend $1 daily on their upkeep, the poorest ones get rice allowance (usually one cup a day).There are few beggars on the streets. Poor people collect empty plastic bottles and give them to the bottle bank to earn some money.

China has often been referred to as the Nation of Etiquette. According to many westerners, however, Chinese people often act in what appears to be a discourteous manner. The reason for this anomaly lies in the different cultural and historical views of social decorum.

•They squeeze their way everywhere, especially conspicuous at the railway station (nothing strange as they are millions of them)

•There are cases of spitting on the streets

•While eating, slurping and smacking noises can be heard (it’s hard not to do it when picking up noodles from the chicken soup). Spitting out chicken bones on the table is also common.

•Simultaneous eating and smoking a cigarette. (there is not „Non-smoking compartment” in restaurants)•Never use napkins. Instead, customers get damp clothes before a meal to wash their hands and face; after finishing a meal they use them as napkins.

•Loud speaking, even shouting.

FAVOURITE PASTIME

Busking in the street

Singing in karaoke clubs

Rafting

FOOTBALL – the best teams from Shanghai and Dalian (by the way, 2 cities selected in the ranking for the best place to live)

BASKETBALL – Chinese basketball leauge attracts foreign sportsmen

GOLF – European competitions are sometimes held on island Hainan

CAR RACES - every October Shanghai is the host to Grand Prix Formula 1, while Grand Prix Formula 3 takes place in Macao in November

BADMINTON, TABLE TENNIS, VOLLEYBALL -Chinese teams are world leaders.

CRICKET FIGHTS (gambling )

STREET GAMES

Mahjong game – counters& dice from bamboo & ivory

YUNZI Stones for GO game

SLEEPING IN PUBLIC PLACES

RELAXING

EATING OUT

Eating out is common in China because of 3 reasons:

1) Too small accommodation to receive guests plus „My home is my castle”

2) Chinese dishes are served immediately after the preparation, so the

hostess would have to stay in the kitchen instead of entertaining guests.

3) Dining in restaurants is a form of socialising, democratic way of spending free time – three-hour lunch break; slow eating popular.

CELEBRATIONS In China, birthdays are not commonly celebrated, although city dwellers do so more frequently than their country cousins, and children and old people more than young and middle-aged people. No special ceremony is occasioned by a birthday. Many people like to eat longevity noodles, symbols of long life inspired by the noodle's shape. Nowadays, many city dwellers choose to eat Western-style birthday cakes instead of noodles. According to the Marriage Law, a man may legally marry at age 22 and a woman at 20, by acquiring a marriage license issued by a marriage registration office. Thus, a wedding ceremony is not a necessary legal procedure for marriage registration, but only a way for relatives and friends to congratulate the bride and groom. The newlyweds will offer wedding candies to their colleagues and friends. In return, their colleagues and friends will present the newlyweds with gifts. Funeral ceremonies in China are very simple. Usually, a memorial meeting is held to pay last respects to the deceased and allow the living to express their grief. Cremation is the rule in cities, and interment (burial) in rural areas. White is the traditional colour of mourning, but city people nowadays usually wear black gauze armbands to show their bereavement.

A wedding ceremony is held in a temple, while a reception in a restaurant booked a month in advance. It’s also the time when a roast pig is sent to a bride. At the reception, the bride and the groom serve tea to the guests."It is natural to get married when you grow up”. (28 years old)'One day of husband and wife, 100 days of conjugal love.' To get divorced even became a fashion. .

Double Happiness

WESTERN

JAPANESE

CHINESE

AS A BRIDE

Throughout history in all cultures a common ultimate goal is to achieve beauty. Just as all people look different, all people have a different outlook on the question, what is beautiful? For some time in the nineteenth century, in America a definition of beauty included corsets, making women's waists as small as possible. Over time beauty has resulted in a lot of pain and in this instance, resulted in broken ribs and damaged internal organs. Body piercing and tattoos fall under the same category although the consequences are not as severe. Great pain has been suffered for centuries for women to achieve perceived beauty.

LONG HAIR

Near Guillin there is a village where unique women live, proud of their black,thick, shiny and very long hair up to 2 m length, which is recorded in Guinness Book.

They usually tie their hair ina bob but when tourists paydollars, they let it loose.

Approximately one billion women in China have preformed this act for nearly one thousand years. It was an attempt to stop the growth of the feet. The reason for women binding their feet went deeper than fashion and reflected the role of women in Chinese society. It was necessary then in China for a woman to have bound feet in order to achieve a good life. Men in that era would not marry a woman who did not have bound feet. The process of foot binding started for the young girls from the age of four to six. It was done so early in her life so that the arch did not have much time to develop. After she received a foot massage, the four smallest toes on each foot were broken; The bandages, which were ten feet long and two inches wide, were wrapped around the smallest toes and pulled tightly to the heel. Every two days, the binding was removed and rebound. This part of the process went on for two years. By this time her feet were three to four inches long. To assure the feet staying small, the ritual continued for at least ten more years. It was very painful, however appealing to men mattered more to the girls than their health.

FOOT BINDINGca. 1250 - 1911

PEOPLE MONUMENTS

LANGUAGE

As a written language, Chinese has been used for 6,000 years – the oldest in the world. The national language is Putonghua or Mandarin (the common speech since 1950 introduced by Mao), which is one of the five working languages at the United Nations. Most of the 55 minority nationalities have their own languages, in all 350 dialects.Cantonese is one of the local dialects of southern China(plus Hongkong, Makao). There are 11,000 pictograms. One character means one word, in the past 1 syllable. These characters are read in a different way, that’s why the inhabitants of Suzhou don’t understand those from Shanghai although there is a space between them of 35 minutes by train.

To start a kindergarten, a child must know 1,000characters; 2,500 charactersso as not to be illiterate.

CHINESE PERSONALITY• They are proud of their 5000-year history.• Everything and everybody has their own place and value(such a big melting pot and vast area need order and self-definition)•They are ambitious and love statistics or rankings in which they prove to be the best• Ancestors instilled in them a sense of duty and reponsibility, which contributed to their success in economy field• This country-conscious and honorable society will do their best so as not to lose social credibility:• „We must organise good Olympic Games,

otherwise we and our ancestors will lose face”• Taking into account many years of isolation, many Chinese even now still think that the world consists of 2 parts: China and Waiguo – Overseas Countries. Therefore, they are curious about foreingers visiting their homeland.

•They feel well in crowd, noise, smoke and bright neon light.

Planned parenthood – planowane rodzicielstwo

account for approximately –stanowić około

punishment for those who reject it – kara dla tych, którzy odrzucają to

recover from the fatigue – odzyskać siły

commendable – godne pochwały

allowance - deputant

a discourteous manner - nieuprzejme postępowanie

of social decorum- dobre maniery

conspicuous - rzucające się w oczy

squeeze their way - zatłaczać przejścia

No special ceremony is occasioned by a birthday – żadna specjalna ceremonia nie towarzyszy dniom urodzin

the Marriage - Prawo Małżeńskie

Funeral ceremonies - uroczystości pogrzebowe

express grief - wyrazić żal

White is the traditional colour of mourning – biaały jest tradycyjnym kolorem żałobnym

show a bereavement - pokazać żałobę po bliskim

Be bereaved – być pogrążonym w żałobie

conjugal love / bliss - małżeńska miłość/szczęście

Ancestors - przodkowie

instilled in someone a sense of duty – wpoić komuś poczucie obowiązku

contributed to – przyczynić się do

to lose social credibility- stracić wiarygodność społeczną

Source:

Internet, Personal photos &

observations; Pascal guidebook