About Me

You sound a loud voice. We all know that our country have many problems, but no voice.

There are some things that simply need a voice that is not waiving a charity collection envelope at you while it is speaking

chunlin [mrlcl@msn.com]

chunlin

I've found that China has many voices and many things to say, both about the world and about China but it does not have an environment where people can say all that they want to all of the time.

On the other hand, if to many people speak at once much will become lost in the din and only the angriest or the loudest people will be heard.

I only have a very quiet voice, but I say some interesting things if you look deep enough to see.

Visit me @ http://angrychineseblogger.blog-city.co.uk

Real content is rare on the web. Your passion for change in China is well written. Keep it up. Erik

Erik

Hi,
Your August 3rd entry titled:"A visitor made this comment" is a CLASSIC.
I am so sick of hearing PRC citizens scream this sentence at me whenever I dare to make a comment about their country. It seems that even a sholared foreigner's modest understanding of 3000 thousand years of Chinese history will never equal that of a PRC-born citizen, just because we we were not BORN in the PRC. They are JUMPY about this. I should make a blog secifically for all the e-mails they send me asking me not to talk about China because I was not born here.
You can take a look at my blog where I review PRC chinese-content medias. It is called Yellowfrog.

Charles [charlesdesmeules@hotmail.com]

Well, here is my rant?
There are millions of foreign immigrants who live in the States for more than 10, 20, 30, 40 years. Nobody gives a rat what they have to think about US. Why Chinese people are so absorbed in foreigners learning about Chinese culture. What's the deal. You dont see Chinese get invited to the TV show to showcase how well or poor they can speak English. Until we learn how to be orignal, confident about our culture, we cant really say we are the dragon to rise.

An angry Chinese

fred

After check out your blog , i hope you wouldn't mind if I added you to my blog so I can flip back and forth to read your blog... finally some one I can relate too...thanks to your blog...

charlebrown

I am in the same situation as you. I am still living and working in China. It has been the best time in my life, but, just like you, I seem driven to speak up about this place.

It has it's many faults, and just as many great things about it.

As I tell my students, there is no good or bad, just different. China sure is different.

I am, however, an American. I do understand your feelings, and to a great extent, I agree with it. But let me tell you, it's not intentional on the part of most Americans... it is out of blindness.

And, that is exactly the reason every country has it's faults.

China has a completely different culture, you know this firsthand. I just dislike people trying to apply western logic to a place where it would be just as insane to apply their logic to the west. (Yes, I am guilty of this, but then again, I live in this place... haha)

Great blog.

Kyle 凯尔

Dear Fred,

I'd like to point out quickly that although there are a whole bunch of white Americans that don't 'give a rat' about what other peoples, namely those who are immigrants or liberals, think, these same immigrants are at a very minimum listened to when they gain citizenship and vote. Also I might point out that America has an on-going free media debate about race and immigration issues, which I would attribute to the decreasingly xenophobic attitudes in the States - over the years interracial marriage, gay and lesbian issues and equality have gained general acceptance among even the middle-american-white-christian-mostly-conservative people, according to a NY times poll of people nationwide I'm not here to apologise for America, although I am the first to admit that it is very flawed, but let's please try to at least be fairminded.

On the topic of a sense of Han self-worth, I totally agree with you. The foreigner-worship in China is weird and ugly.

Peace out,

Laowai number 19790204

great man!

just smartest and bravest man can find the truth even who living in china for long time.

I'm a chinese,just have poor english,can not understand everything very clear on your blog,but i like your style,i like your angry,most chinese people already forgot what is "angry" by the heavy bonds and delicacyly brainwash.

thank you for your angry!

i disagree that "It has it's many faults,And, that is exactly the reason every country has it's faults" for lots of reasons, don't talk it here, just want say at least that's can not mean the faults should be excuse and can still continuance.

and i agree"The foreigner-worship in China is weird and ugly",if someone think it's good and enjoy it,that's double ugly!

Hu-胡

dogthat [dogthat@hotmail.com]

it is definitely the japanese who need to be made aware of their own past

me

Like I said, Japan already knows, and as I also said, this isn’t a Japan blog. It is for China stories only. You can't post unrelated articles to my biography page. Join an appropriate web forum. There are many like minded people out there that you can talk to about this, but you can't use my China website as if it were a Japan forum.

You also should not become confused between what you read in tabliods, and reality.

You have decried me as ‘a Japanese’, and you have said that Japan doesn’t know. Yet it is clear that I know.

This defeats your own argument. If I am a Japanese, shouldn’t I be ignorant?

Either I must not be a Japanese, or Japanese must know, yes?

I find this blog hilarious and educational. I'm an Chinese American (from mainland China)who has lived in the states for almost 20 years and gone to China for short visits regularly, and till this date I'm still wondering if there's any Chinese culture left among the vast money hungry population? For those of you who love the Chinese culture, would you go to Taiwan, Japan, Korea or mainland China to study or observe Chinese culture?

ching [qqsc567@yahoo.com]

Not meaning to be insulting, but Mao drained the Chinese out of much of China.

There is still a lot of old China left in the countryside, but not in the cities. What I did see in the cities was preserved for tourists, and what I saw in the countryside was Chinese, but it wasn’t the same kind of Chinese that you see in documentaries. It was more a hanging onto tradition because if not knowing any other way of life, rather than an active pursuit of it.

I found Hong Kong during spring festival to be a bit closer to what I had imagined that China would be like.

If you want to see a ‘picture book’ China, that hasn’t been laid on exclusively for the tourists, I would advice going somewhere populated by pre Cultural Revolution Chinese ex pats. Go to China town in New York or London. Chinese communities in Japan are also good. Chinese Taiwan is also high on my list. Semi rural areas populated by minority communities that are trying to maintain their way of life are also a good place to seen ‘real’ (picture book) Chinese culture.

My most ‘Chinese’ experiences were had in farming villages or in mountain communities where poverty had kept influences from the west out and both stubbornness and strong traditions kept Mao’s influence to little more than lip service.

I get the feeling that many people in China lost the essence of being Chinese during the Cultural Revolution, and that they often loose a bit more of this essence by aping western ideas.

ACB

My sentiment is, if you don't like it for being American, who the heck is making you buy it? Just don't buy it! But that said, I so often see so many things, so many beautiful things tossed and thrown out just because they are old and I hate this so much. I saw it a lot when I lived in Singapore, where beautiful old houses got the wrecking ball to make way for soulless skyscrapers and I see it in Europe, where Europeans themselves refuse to put representational things on their money, only ugly modern abstractions that don't denote place or time, and have empty churches that now serve as tourist attractions, not ancient places of worship, as well as a 70,000-word constitution that contains not one word about God. Why do people throw away the things that defined them and made them great? I cannot comprehend this, I really really can't. I felt wrenched when so much heritage was destroyed to make that giant dam in China. Why much so much that is good and treasured be thrown away?

A.M. Mora y Leon [ammorayleon@gmail.com]

Hmm, I see from this that you are probably a practicing or conforming Christian, probably Catholic or Evangelical, and probably a republican voter. Not that there is anything wrong with these things, only that they tend to dominate your thinking.

I lived in Europe for several years and I found it to be a very moral and faithful place, but that people either kept their beliefs aside from their political views or that they obeyed most of the moral tenements of faith (usually Catholic) without them naming them as such.

The reason that Europe’s constitution does not mention a belief in religion, only the right to believe, is that the minute that you bring faith in, you bring the question ‘which faith?’ and what role faith should play in lawmaking, and when all European governments are secular organizations that represent many different faiths, having faith in a constitution suddenly seems a very bad idea.

Some EU states have state churches, some are predominantly protestant, some are Catholic, some members are also orthodox, and some countries are fiercely secular. The minute that you bring faith into a constitution, you have a knife with two blades. It empowers one side and disenfranchises another.

Europe has a deep seated fear that if religion and politics become intertwined what is legal becomes what is moral, and what is moral to a secular man might not be moral to a Catholic man, and what is moral to a Catholic man is not necessarily moral to a Muslin man.

The right to believe and to practice without being discriminated against because of faith is enshrined in human rights legislation, why do you need to mention faith in a constitution? If you were a non religious leader, would you sign a document recognizing the existence of a power that you don’t believe exists?

If you remember your history, the US constitution is secular as well.

ACB

Angry Chinese blogger,

I applaud you sincere opinions and the news you provide about the PRC. I, myself, have lived and worked in mainland China for about two years. I hope you continue to encourage candid debate about the Chinese government, the Chinese people, etc.

That being said, I feel I cannot but address the remarks in your bio regarding the United States. I am a US national. As you were not explict about your nationality, I do not know to which greivances you are refering when you speak of your country being "subverted" by "American ideals" or the morals in your home nation "slide to the level of America." So, I cannot speak to those remarks specifically.

Still, this sort of non-descript rhetoric is not constructive and, personally, insulting. It damages your credibility as a disinterested voice in media. As a recent visitor to you China blog, I sincerely implore you to, as Laowai number 19790204 said, "try to be fairminded" and, moreover, be clearer when making swiping generalizations about nations and peoples, no matter where or who.

I do wish you well in this and look forward to reading your commentary. Thanks for this space.

Tallduck

PS. Also, did you mean to imply that there is an "American" ethnicity? This is unclear to me.

PSS. Voluntary feedback: Haven't scanned your sight thoroughly, but thoughts on Chinese notions of race and ethnicity would be interesting. For instance, a friend said to me that Japanese "xingge" (nature, disposition) renders them less inclined than Germans to deal with their violent past. I get the sense that this is a common assumption here in China.

tallduck

Tallduck

This is my biography page, and is one of the few parts of this site that actually has anything about me on it, so I thought that I should explain a few things about myself, and one of the things that I feel very strongly about is that cultures should be preserved rather than melded wit another (I’m all for multi racial societies, just as long as you can see where one culture starts and another ends), and that one people should not ape another.

I have this thing against cultural assimilation, particularly when one culture goes around and proclaims “I am great, you should be more like me” or if it tries to persuade other people to be more like it. This might be offensive to you, but I see this attitude in a very large slice of your country, particularly since the start of the war on terror and particularly from people associate freedom with US style democracy (I was born into a democracy, and I am very attached to the concept, but we have a different style from you).

Sadly I feel that America has influenced my country in many bad ways, that we have taken on too many bad habits from America, that we are associating something with being desirable or undesirable because it is or isn’t ‘American’ rather than because it is or isn’t actually desirable

I don’t like being preached to by Americans who bring violent movies about sex and drugs to my country and then call us immoral and debased because we are not a right wing Christian country, or who proclaim that they are free and we aren’t because they have the freedom to do undesirable things like own guns while at the same time trying to take away personal freedoms like the right to have an abortion.

I came from a traditional background and was raised with a distinct set of morals and the belief that just because one thing is right for one person or country, it doesn’t mean that it is right for another, which is the exact opposite of what America appears to be saying these days

I have seen my fellows aping America because they think that it is ‘cool’ and I have seen them discarding our own culture in favor of something that is foreign and goes against not only our best interests, but also against our value system.

This might be an over generalization, but I feel that my culture has been overly influenced by an undesirable culture that is constantly telling us that we must change to suit their view of the world, yet is unwilling to accept that maybe their view of the world is subjective.

An ethnic American is an American with a named ethnicity.

I am not a White-America
I am not a Japanese-America
I am not a Chinese-America

I’m not certain entirely certain why, but Japan seems to come up every few minutes on this site, but Japan has come to terms history and is dealing with it, only in a Japanese way that might not seem obvious or appropriate to others (this goes back to what I was saying about not having a one size fits all attitude).

Japan’s disposition is to be utterly ashamed of its past, and if you know anything about Japanese culture you will know that when something is shameful it mustn’t be spoken about because airing shame is considered bad (the discussion of shame brings conflict and destroys order, and in Japan harmony and order are very important). Japan is dealing with its past by reflecting on it with dignity. Germany on the other hand is apologizing as much for its own benefit as for other people. Its apologies are almost worthless now because they are just saying the same thing over and over rather than reflecting on what the apologies actually mean to them and to other people.

When you look at it in terms of what has been said, Germany comes out on top, but when you look at things in terms of progress, there are still Nazi in Germany (more now than 10 years ago I fear) and they are still committing hate crimes. But, Japan the kind of self glorifying superiority complex that was behind war crimes is utterly dead and the movement that spurred Imperial Japan onwards has been cast aside.

PS

Laowai number 19790204 was answering a post by a user named Fred.

Don’t let my rhetoric put you off. I’m a very open minded person, but I will defend my beliefs and opinions as if I weren’t.

Angry Chinese Blogger,

One idea that particularly struck me in your response was that "cultures should be preserved rather than melded with another." Here, I think, is one place we disagree. "Culture," I believe, is not static. Although it may have many unique forms, its edges are often indeterminate. The exchange of technologies and concepts among disparate peoples inevitably (and it is just that, inevitable) alters how each, particularly the receiver, sees the world and themselves. This attitude, I would say, while quite common among them, is certainly not unique to Americans. Cultural and national identity is indeed an ongoing debate for people, like me, with this view.

As I hope your blog and others like it will encourage, this is a debate that is only recently resuming publicly (with severe restrictions) here in China. What does it mean to be Chinese? Many things, and many things to come; but the Communist Party ought not to have a monopoly on setting the parameters of this discussion, nor disallow others from participating in it.

Regarding your concern that I might be offended by your "thing against cultural assimilation" or perceived US arrogance. No, this honestly does not offend me. As I said in the opening paragraph, I simply dissagree with the former sentiment. As for the latter, I do make an effort to be sensitive to how others see the US. I'm empathetic to the sense that Americans, especially politicians, come off as presumptuous.

Still, to be fair, this is true of commentators of the US the world over. It just affects more people when the US chooses to act. To bring it back to China, CCTV9, the English language TV channel, and the media here in general, give heavy (I think, gratuitous) coverage to US issues and American tabloid stories. US pop culture is global and it is profitable. But sanctioned US-obsessed media also functions to deflect rigorous evaluation of the Chinese government here. The broader discussion itself is fastened around two choices: "Americanize or remain Chinese [or insert your nation here]." But government suppression of expression here hampers a comprehensive domestic response to this issue, which (I don't know firsthand but) appears to be going on in much of the world -you seem to have alluded to this in your comments about your country (which you have not revealed). Chinese are largely not allowed to organize freely and formulate independent solutions to problems in China; the Party certainly rejects outright foreigners who try do so.

Conservatives and nationalists use criticisms of US policy and culture (of which there are indeed many valid ones) as political ammunition to say, "They [the US] wants us to be like them, but, if we do, we'd cease being Chinese [or whoever]." This is an oversimplification. It is politically useful only in this dumbed-down form. It serves to associate the arguably good suggestions of, say, media or judicial reform with the distasteful things of "American" or "western" society, which, I think, many times is conflated with what is actually democratic, industrial civilization in general (ie, racial suppremecists and high violent crime). [Example: "Free up the Chinese media?" "Isn't it obvious from the racist, greedy US media that everyone is biased."] My mom used to call this mentality "Throwing out the baby with the bathwater." She's such a traditionalist.

But, I think, this is backfiring because, as user ACB put it, "Mao drained the Chinese out of much of China." But I don't think this is merely because the radicals razed too many pretty traditional buildings in the 1960s or that sections of Beijing, for example, are tourists traps. The "essence of being Chinese" is gone from the mainland because the Maoists for decades dictated what being Chinese was supposed to mean. They monopolized the discussion, what little of one there was, and systematically eliminated alternative voices. The Party continues this practise today, though to a less extreme degree. Amidst this void of home-grown voices of dissent, young Chinese, in my opinion, reject state-sponsored wishwash for novel, politically irrelevent foreign culture. So, the Party is actually accelerating the displacement of genuine Chinese culture by foreign pop debris, which is largely only the most generic kind and out of context to many Chinese. This, tragically, is all in the name of preserving "Chineseness," whatever that is -oh, and retaining political power.

To conclude, I want to address your idea that "just because one thing is right for one person or country, it doesn’t mean that it is right for another." This is tricky. I'm certainly not going to argue that everybody and nation should resign to a social and moral code dictated by any single organization or country, as critics of the US are worried Bush and the right-wing are trying to do now. These debates indeed continue to rage inside of free societies, including the US. But I would say that public debate is necessary to reach concensus among peoples and nations regarding social order and moral expectations. The UN was conceived as an institution (where no effective existed) to define acceptable behavior among states and, thereby, minimize international conflict. Hence, the recent debate about reforming it and expanding its role in reaching agreements, particularly after the failure to do so regarding Iraq. Another example is the current evolution of the European Union. It is for this reason, I think accepted behavior, across the world, has already begun, and will continue to be, standardized. The UN charter is such a document. If a truely interconnected global community is to evolve, unacceptable practices need to discontinue and some new ones be adopted. How this will happen, I can't predict. But it'll be difficult.

Tallduck

fred is right, i am aware of what he is fuming at. u have got reasons for ur innocence. but, what is the fact, u,the westerners, r enjoying thoes privileges right here right now, are u.

woodentown

Like most ancient cultures, including China, the traditions remain in the hearts and minds of the elders, however, the easy flow of transcultural information leaves are younger generations closing their minds to the traditions, and seeking the illusory glamor of American science and technology.
Fortunately, Oriental scholars have for the past 50 years labored frantically to translate the ancient teachings into English.
To quote Lu K'uan Yu: "so that Buddhism can be preserved at least in the West, should it be fated to disappear in the East as it seems to be."

unfortunately, while Budhist teachings do exist in English, and are actually translated very well, almost all traces of Budhism that I have seen in the west (I lived there for a substantial number of years) appear to have been taken in by people as a curiosity rather than a life path.

Budhism in the west tends to be seen as a toy philisophy used by new age people who are disolusioned with western greed and coruption, but who are not committed to following the true path of Budhism.

From what I have seen (at least among whites or those with no personal ties to an Asia heritage), people in the west tend to like the philosophy side of buddhism and the pacafist aspects as well, some are vegitarians, but often for western reasons, and almost non actually believe in the spiritual side.

Its sort of like wearing a skull cap and reciting a few interesting scriptures, and saying that it makes you Jewish.

ACB

ACB,

Greetings from your home country! Tokyo is marvellous - the cleanest and most civilised city I've ever been by far. Am going to see fuji no hana somewhere tomorrow - not sure where.

Just wanted to ask more about what you are saying about buddhism in the west - i'm a bit biased as my aunt is as practicing as a layperson can be - but where are you seeing the scores of practising buddists in Asia? Japan is - as far as I've read in my sociology books - a society that may have assimilated some of the aspects, while wholly disregarding others, and only the monks really get it - although my girlfriend has a cynical attitude about even that given her experience with a drunk monk at a wedding. And china - people are buddhist mostly just for good fortune, not really assimilating anything there either.

The west is still taking on a lot from buddhism. I'm not sure how far it will go, and we've definitely done it from a philosophical point of view as you point out, but as Buddha says, a thousand different people, a thousand different paths. I hope dharma and buddha do grow more in the US, but as you've pointed out in you blog on numerous occasions, we may not be able to hold this phenomenon up to scrutiny with a wholly asian set of criteria. it's going to have to adjust, and we to it. Buddhism has certainly changed a great deal since it crossed over tibet, into china and over to Japan. there's no reason it won't do the same on the streets of NY city and San francisco!

Cheers

Laowai 19790204 [wtl21@cam.ac.uk]

Actually, she says it was a funeral.

Laowai 19790204 [wtl21@cam.ac.uk]

While there are some strong Buddhists in the west, most of the Buddhism that I saw in the years that I lived there seemed to be an extremely watered down ‘new age’ form of Buddhism that mixed generic eastern wisdom and meditation in with pretty trinket

I’m not trying to be insulting, or to say that Buddhism shouldn’t spread, but what I’ve seen doesn’t even rate as being proper Buddhism, it mostly seems to be disenchanted or bored westerners (mostly white women nearing 30) who are looking for something to solve the problems that they perceive that they have, and are attracted to Buddhism’s exotic image. They like the idea of harmony and peace, but they don’t believe in reincarnation, and still hold largely Christian views about everything from the fate of the spirit after death to what is considered appropriate behavior. Many of these people don’t even seem to know the basic Buddhist texts and scriptures, or that there are many different types of Buddhism.

They also seem to like to decorate their houses with crystals, incense, and little Buddha statuses, which most ‘true’ Buddhists simple don’t do (Most Buddhists have a personal shrine with a statue and incense, but they don’t decorate their houses with miniature plaster Buddha and they certainly don’t hang crystals everywhere).

To put this into a context that you might be more familiar with, it would be like announcing that putting up a Christmas tree and loosely following the Covenant made you a Christian. Worse still, it would be like knowing the nativity as told in a school play, but not the rest of the Evangelion, or even that there was a rest.

Your books on Japanese sociology are spot on; if you want to see a firm adherence to Buddhism, or indeed any religion, don’t go to Japan.

Japan has two dominant views on religion, one is that just so long as you live a good life and obey good moral tenements, then nobody in whatever comes next is going to blame you for not doing the rest because you’ve lived a good life and haven’t hurt anybody, and the other is that just so long as one thing doesn’t disagree with another, then they can both co-exist. Many people also think that drinking and eating meat can co-exist with Buddhism.

This is probably why Islam and Judaism are almost non existent in Japan. Both require absolute commitment, where as Buddhism is more about living a moral life, Shinto isn’t actually a religion at all (as seen by the west) because it is about natural spirits and energies rather than testaments and creation stories, and Christianity can exist (at least this is the way that some people see it) in a loose form that follows Christian teachings and beliefs but doesn’t involve all that many rules and rituals.

Japan is also a good example of what can happen when people blur the boundaries a bit.

In Japan you will see people who say that they are Christians, yet have a shrine in their Shinto shrine homes dedicated to a local spirit. In Europe a Christian might consider this to be unthinkable, but to a Japanese, because Christian texts don’t really mention spirits (as a Japanese would think of spirits), let alone tell them not to make offerings to them, then there is no real problem for them to do both, and even if there was a conflict of interests, not making an offering might just be worse than making an offering if the spirit was inclined to be angrier about it.

What has happened in Japan is that both Shinto and Buddhism have become so integrated into the national culture that people do things because they are Japanese and not because they are actively members of that religion. I’m sure that you follow many of the Christian teachings about tolerance, kindness, and morality because they have become so much a part of your culture that you don’t even think about them as originating from religion any more. It is the same with Japan.

Japanese are also more inclined to say that they are one thing because their grandparents were, than most other people are, and to see a mild adherence to a religion as being just as valid as a strong adherence.

Just quick question or two to you before I finish.

I haven’t written my nationality on my bio page, I try to keep Sino-Japanese stories to a minimum unless they’re topical, and I try to be fairly balanced when talking about Japan, Right; so how is it everybody seems to write me down as being a Japanese in about ten seconds?

If you think that Tokyo is clean and civilized, I would suggest that (or rather suggest that you don’t) visit some of the down town areas in Shinjuku after office hours, and certainly DON’T take your girlfriend. When tired Japanese businessmen let of steam it is a rather uncivilised sight.

How were the Cherry Blossoms in Tokyo this year? I wasn't there to see them. I have some pictures that I took in my local park, but I have yet to post them in an online library.

Seitaro-san

You can't print that kind of thing here. This is liabel. I also suspect that you are Chinese, not Japanese. You write in English like a Chinese.

I have never worked for Toshiba, I don't even own any substantial Toshiba products, but I run a China only blog cattering for serious news.

你不是日本人，是巴
你是谁，真的？

ACB,

Yeah, my visit to Japan has been dominated by my gf parents and a trip to Hakone for some Onsen and Hiking, so it`s likely to be skewed towards the beautiful and pleasant. I missed sakura also by about 2 weeks - it was early this year I think, but I went to see wysteria at the turtle shrine (forgot the name) near... kanda? and rhododendron in Nezu Jinja. gorgeous.

I must say that I love the fact that people queue up for the trains here. And very very little trash on the trails of Hakone, despite a gazillion people being there (albeit not hiking) during golden week with us.

Laowai 19790204

I'm from Taiwan, and I don't get how teachers can be driven away by chinese students. Don't they want to learn?

Mignon [euphrosynemazemind@gmail.com]

China is a very very different place form Taiwan.

Many students do want to learn, but they often don't see the point of learning in any other way that doing reading comprehensions and memorising vocabulary.

Chinese students regularly sleep in class, carry out loud conversations, and do many things that annoy the poor white guy or girl at the front who wants everybody to pay attention. They also do the same during business meetings and conferenses. MAny just seem to exist in their own little world apart from what they should be paying attention to.

The attitude of other Chinese people is also rather grating. People can be so incredibly intransigent, and make irrational desisions seemingly at random without bothering to consult foreigners or even acknowlegding that they should be consulted.

China can be a very frustrating place to live. Comunisim did something nasty to China

ACB

I can understand how upset foreign teachers must be, though I must say that not only foreign teachers but teachers in other subjects in China must also be under this strain. Westerners are used to the respect that every individual deserves, it is ingrained in their culture - to chinese people of today it is only rules, unfashionable because it is tradition. It is very irking to me to know that our congressmen answer their cellphones in the middle of meetings. In Taiwan there are our high schools are divided so in better schools the students pay attention and are respectful (thus earning better grades and have potential of being more successful) while in not so good schools it is chaos, as you have stated above. Do schools in china not have this leverage? I would also like to know if they teach old chinese morale lessons in Chinese class there? And how do they teach history?

Mignon Chang [euphrosynemazemind@gmail.com]

Chinese school are SO graded, but unfortunately they are graded on students ability to memorize the thing that they are being graded on rather than to actually DO anything.

Schools are numbered, with 1 being the best in the city, and thus receiving the best equipment and being able to attract the best teachers, students who get into a low numbered school often have to work extremely hard to get into a better school, and are often held back by the quality of their school, making escaping from a low ranked school quite difficult.

I have known many foreign teachers in China (my job brought me into contact with quite a few over the years), and they all have the same complaints about the Chinese system, particularly that Chinese methods of teaching are outdated rote systems based on memorization, and that Chinese students simply don’t want to participate in the two way engagements required to improve their language skills, especially if such engagements are not pre scripted.

The only apparent difference between the good and bad students in this case is that the bad ones are noisy and the good ones are quiet, especially when a teacher wants them to speak.

I think that Chinese teachers don’t get nearly as frustrated because they don’t expect any more from their students. Being attentive is not a mainland Chinese characteristic.

I don’t actually know much about the broader Chinese education system because I don’t work in it, but from what I do know, people are taught things but not why they are relevant, so if they do teach Chinese moral lessons, then they probably teach them as dry phrases without explaining why they still hold importance today.

As for history, I know about how China teaches history. I despise it.

In China, history is what the government says is history, anything that the government doesn’t like it doesn’t teach (like what happened in Beijing in 1989 or what was accepted in 1972).

Chinese history is very selective, very nationalistic, and it is highly political.

For example, students in China are taught some very inaccurate things about Taiwan, Japan, and Colonial Britain (especially post war Japan, much of which is wrong, misleading or is highly edited). Everything is taken from the Chinese perspective, and no attempts are made to explain the reasons why something happened. Try to explain why something happened is seen as trying to excuse it in China.

The Chinese school system introduces nothing new, and it actively discourages children from showing any initiative or from discussing anything in any meaningful way.

It is like a highly concentrated version of the Japanese state system from the 1950s, but without the Juku system to add depth and variety.

Wow, I didn't realize that. Of course I knew that China teaches history selectively (there is no arguing with some exchange students from China), but I didn't realize how our education system bothers foreign teachers. Our goverment is now teaching teachers in Taiwan to encourage class discussion and interaction as a healthy part of learning, and a lot of students enjoy the opportunity to talk to foreign teachers. Of course, as far as I have observed, I am the most active in asking questions (albeit rather weird ones), it is because I have been in school in the states when I was very young. Not all teachers encourage interaction, though. My chinese teacher wants us all to write notes quietly, memorize meanings, and not speak when not spoken to. Interacting is a great way to exchange informationa and make a class more enjoyable for both teachers and students.

Mignon Chang [euphrosynemazemind@gmail.com]

Hi I still do not know your real name.. I guess that s the way you should be to hide from the authorities. I am from India.. and I read about your blog in a article on how behind the veil of development and progress , Chinese authorities are trying to curb journalism.
It was not very surprising for me , since I have heard about these things in China for a long time. It does happen in India, to an extent as well . It just seemed quite short sighted on the authorities part. Ultimately trying to suppress a people s movement is going to be like a ticking time bomb. Gonna explode sometime

Let me tell you that your Blog has reached a national magazine in India.. So you are definitely getting more eyes and ears watching , listening and comprehending you.

The fact that the auths have still not blacked out this site is in itself a great achievement. I shall still come back to this site to see what the real 'China' is..

Would appreciate if you dont just focus on the bad things. I am sure there are some good happenings there as well.

Nitin Kailaje [zoso_sth@yahoo.com]

I'm surrpised to hear that you read about this site in India, I had no idea that it was getting much coverage outside the China scene.

Any Chance of knowing which magazine?

ACB

I know that I tend to cover only negative stories, but they are not always negative about China, I often defend China against the US and those who believe that it is a military threat to America, I also try to cover Sino-Japanese reconciliation, but there isn't much of that right now. If you read my 'Down the rabbit hole' section I've tried to explain China using humor, OK so some of it is negative, but a lot of it is making fun of foreigners perceptions.

ACB

Do you mean Christianity doesn't belong in Asia or "right-wing" Christianity doesn't belong here? I don't get that. I am not at all arguing with you. If the people who are Christians in Asia have "conservative" beliefs in what the Bible is teaching isn't that their business. Just like leftists ideology. I think Marxism didn't belong here but it came. China, N Korea, Vietnam, Pol Pot-Cambodia.
Or do mean US importing "right-wing" Christianity? I never thought that a belief is to limited to certain continents.
How do you think the US should limit itself in exporting its image to other countries? Isn't it unavoidable?

I like your blog. I check it everyday:)

bert again

Bert

To clear up the confuseion, or possibly confuse things even more, I mean that the particular brand of right wing Chrisitanity that is being promoted in the US right now has no place in Asia.

I have a pronounced dislike for those who try to force the most conservative aspects of Chrisitanity (or any other political, social, oral or religous group) onto anybody else, and I have a great distain for those who try to push religious values on others while saying that the values are moral and social values rather than those derived from faith.

Overall, Christian values are good, they promote forgiveness, acceptance of the differences between people, and of course the covernant most of which is applicable, and highly relevant to, secular life in every culture and comunity. I support these values whole heartedly, but I don't support somebody in the midwest saying that abstinance is the only way to protect against STDs in Asia, or that something is immoral simply because Chrisitianity says that it is immoral. I also don't like the connection between morality, democracy and Christianity that is implied by some of the more vocal right wing Christians

The forcing of any value system on another society is wrong, and so is the condemnation of that society for being as being wrong, merely because it is different from your own.

Live and let live.

ACB

Hello,

My name is Julien. I am building a new website for expatriates, and will be the webmaster of www.expat-blog.com. In the last three years I have spent a lot of time travelling and living away from my home country, hence me setting up www.expat-blog.com.

I had the idea to create a blog so I could share my experiences of living abroad and keep in touch with my family and friends. While reading other expatriate blogs the idea came to me to create a classified expat blog directory. This would include a free blog hosting platform with interesting features such as picture albums designed specifically for expatriates. I do not believe this would be in competition with existing blog platforms such as blogger.

The website is still in working progress. The present situation is as follows:
> The expatriate blog directory, including a classification per country and language - I am working on this at the present time
> The free Blog platform – this section will be completed by the middle of June.
> An Expat resource directory - this will include all expatriate suggestions.
> A forum designed to encourage interactivity and questions/answers from expatriate to expatriate

This is the global presentation of the website. Do you think my project is a good idea?

Would you like to add your blog in the expatriate blog directory?

I look forward to hearing from you

Julien

Julien [julien@expat-blog.com]

Good Idea, but it might be hard to pull off given the competition. Living in China already tried to build comunity but it tanked when interest faded, and you might have trouble paying for the bandwidth, but otherwise, feel free to try, nothing ventured nothing gain. You might be the next big thing.

I'd be happy to contribute if I can find the time.

Is the "we observe the world" for real? I hate, hate, hate most of the crap that is written on this site and I get sick of the stupid a**holes who then write to the "journalist in training" and comment on how proud they are of their "reports". I just read some of their latest entries. These people are just so incredibly one sided I can't believe it. Is for real? I never see any true self reflection of themselves or of China. Just judgement towards the US and Japan. This new generation in China is going to be a big pain in the a**!
I am sorry ACB for using your sight to say this but it is useless on WOW.

Bert

bert

China has no idea what self refelection and self critique are, if they did then they wouldn't keep banging on at Japan to 'reflect on history' and they would understand why they shouldn't just pirate everything that the west produces so mercilessly.

I don't personally spend much time reading that site so I can't really comment on it, but it sounds liek it has been 'infiltrated' by milk-sops.

ACB

What exactly is a "milk-sop"?

bert

milk-sops = wuss

ACB

angrychineseblogger,

nice blog. well done. just wanted to say something re: some of the visitors' comments. what is it with some people and their desire to "observe" chinese people and/or culture? not only that, but they want the "real" deal. today's china apparently isn't "authentic" enough for their liking that they have to create a list of places where you can go and observe "real" chinese people and/or culture, in their natural habitat, as it were. please, people, enough w/ this ridiculous notion of "observing" the chinese already. what're they? some exotic species that needs to be taxonomised and studied??? and then there's the obssession with "authenticity" as if chinese culture (assuming there is a singular culture in china) had remained unchanged for hundreds of years and was only recently lost to communism. if that's what you people think, well then you clearly don't know anything about history (and i'm talking about history in general here, not just chinese history).

I think that people really mean that they want to see 'traditional China' like they see on the TV in living form.

Communism brought China to its nknees in terms of culture and a lot was lost in a very short period of time and what is left isn't alway very photogenic.

What happened? No entries for awhile. Are you ok? You didn't get "punished" for your latest story did you?

• Bert

Life V Work V Blog = life wins, for a short time at least.

Then again, my sudden departure from blogging did come suspisiously after the US release of starwars and before the release of batman begins. Could I secretly be in Hong Kong so that I can buy a pirate of both of these films in my own language?

Okay, It's talking back time. Do Americans have a speaking voice against all the racism and social injustice. It seems NO ONE even want to talk about the LA race riots. You can fool those ignorant Chinese who do not know what the US is all about. For those who knows everything in side the Dark Empire of the US, we just laughs. Because why bother the criticise others while you are simply doing the same ??!!

"we just laugh"

This says a lot more about you than it does about them.

As an American I get tired of others who belittle us without reason. You criticize countries that mimic "American attitudes" (whatever that is) just to be cool but your anti-American comments seem to be right out of the same genre - an autoresponse just to be cool. I love the UK but your standards are not "set to a higher moral standard than our own"

Jay

Believe it or not, people actually have a good reason not to want US culture overrunning their own. You might not see it, but many of us non Americans see our cultures as being very different from yours and we see our own ways as suiting us better than yours do. Some of us also see whee the US has set its moral standards (eg its tollerance, and even promotion, of sex drugs guns and violence in computer games and the media) as being very worrying indeed. Particularly as our youths are echoing them.

I hope that your UK comment wasn't directed at me through. I have been there and I have spent time there, but I'd rather not have people thinking that I was from there. TheUK is too American for my taste.

ACB,

I am not guess at your allusive race, but your age and timeline. You mentioned you are a generation Xer, which I am as well. I am 32, so you would have to be around my age. You said you have in China for a "long time". Did you grow up there?

Alicia

I noble guess, but I'm generation X in spirit. Things went differetly in my country and generation X happened at a different time here. So I'm off mid 30s by a good few years.

I wasn't born in mainland China, but my family was there during the days of the Chinese Emporers, so China is in my families blood so to speak. I'm still a foreigner though.

How was batman?

Don't know, haven't seen it.

I've been reading several China-related blogs and I came across your blog today. I read ACB's comments that were made a while back and it just reminded me of this conversation I had with a friend about the rapid modernization of China.

I quote from ACB- "I get the feeling that many people in China lost the essence of being Chinese during the Cultural Revolution, and that they often loose a bit more of this essence by aping western ideas."

Does that mean that China has become less Chinese throughout its 5000+ years of history starting with the "city-states" leading to Qin's (as well as China's) first emperor who slaughtered thousands in order to unify to build his empire, burned books that didn't sit well with him, built the "Great Wall" thus killing more men, many of whose bodies never properly buried/mourned/recognized?

If Mao drained the Chinese out of my relatives, has Shi Huang Di drained the Han-ness out of the Han people then?

An old country, old culture such as China has as much rights and as many reasons to evolve and rebuild itself as a newer country such as the United States does. I mean, how do you define what's China, what's Chinese and what's not? More importantly, WHY do you have to define it? Why does an authentic Chinese experience have to involve poverty? Just because the majority of the Chinese population is less well off than you, doesn't mean that the 1 or 2% of the rich Chinese entrepreneurs are not Chinese enough. Why can't you recognize that China, this elephant, is as diverse as any given society/nation/culture??? Why is the modern China not China enough??

You wouldn't say America is less American because of all the immigrants and non-Christians, non-WASPS populating the nation, would you? (Actually you would if you were a white supremacist). I live in San Diego, CA, and parts of the county is changing rapidly between highway construction, road paving, house building, business expansion, etc. No one out here is saying that San Diego is becoming less San Diego than 50 years ago. Why? Just because it's a US city, it is expected to undergo changes whereas god forbid the dam to be constructed in good old China to rid of floods, to better utilize and conserve an energy source!

I understand the need for critical examinations of historical events, economic decisions, cultural domination, etc. to make sense of this modernization, and to question the validity of global Westernization, but to say that there is a certain way to be Chinese, that there is an "essence" of being Chinese - that's a double standard.

I actually meant that the big CR killed off a lot of traditions and a lot of regional diversity and replaced it with a kind of semi unified drudgery. It also altered the national outlook quite drastically.

The Chinese that I met in China often seem far less 'Chinese' than the children of the people who escaped from the CR. Go to any China town in Japan or the US, or to Hong Kong and Chinese Taiwan, and they will seem far more 'Chinese' even through they are n the developped world surrounded by western things.

An example of this is with superstitions. Superstitioon is one of the many things that the CR aimed to kill.

Many New York Chinese are far more superstitious than Beijing Chinese, and often appear more inclined to believe in fortune telling and traditional spirits than their native born 'cousins'. It is one of the things that makes the Chinese 'Chinese'.

I have seen the traditional values ebbing away in my own country in favor of genric western themese brough in from places like the US, and the slow death of our traditional ettique and way of thinking. I don't like it.

Imagine that I went to the US and got rid of sports because I said that they were a distraction from something else. You aren't loosing anything key to your life, but could you imagine life in the US without football and baseball as cultural symbols?. America would be a far less vibrant place and it would be far less American.

Whatever the impact brought on to China and its people by the Cultural Revolution does not equate to Chinese people not being "real" Chinese. Yes it chopped away the things that were characteristics of the Chinese culture - were - but you cope with it any way you can - letting go of old beliefs, old thinking, old ways, for survival - doesn't and shouldn't make you any less Chinese.

I see a problem with identifying Chinese by only certain characteristics. Superstition does not constitute Chinese-ness. My immediate family has never been superstitious - and not as a result of the Cultural Revolution. In fact I've lived in Taiwan and we were surrounded by all types of people with different kinds of beliefs, education backgrounds. this is just one example of how you're type-casting what's Chinese and what's not.

I understand what you're trying to say with the Western influences in China, that many people look up to western ideals, almost blindly accepting everything in the West as better. But it does not mean that China is less China, or that the people are less Chinese. Or that a Chinese Christian is less Chinese than a "traditional, superstitious" Chinese. Do you think a Buddist Chinese is more Chinese? Or is he/she more Indian? Do you see my point?

And I also know a lot of americans who just don't care about the football season. I'm one of them. I don't think that makes us less American. It's just a preference.

I was just being generic when I used superstition and football, its quite hard to explain what I mean without sounding insulting.

I wasn't trying to say that people in China weren't "Real Chinese", as if there is such a thing as being "fake Chinese", more that CR Chinese just aren't as 'picture book' Chinese as non CR Chinese and that many of them they don't show as many of the traditional traits that make them distinct from other Asian as their non CR cousins do.

Post CR China isn't as diverse or as culturally colorful as Hong Kong and Chinese Taiwan are, its a far less spirited society that it used to be.

As football wasn't a good example, imagine that all of the black people and all of the white people in America suddenly turned grey overnight and anything that was considered black culture or white culture was binned in favor of something generic. Add to that that you could no longer discuss history, but instead only listen to a few bits of scripted history that the government had dumbed down, and you have the CR.

"From this you can probably put together that I’m not American, ethnically or nationally."

I myself was born in the USA and have lived there all my life, but you and I see eye-to-eye more than I do with most of my fellow Americans.

Of particular interest to me are your comments about the America's (or the West's) growing influence over Chinese society and culture, something I often refer to as cultural imperialism. As an example, I might not like it if American culture began getting heavily influenced and compromised by a massive influx of traditional Indian culture, for whatever reason, and I really have no desire to impose the tastes of American Pop Culture upon the citizens of New Delhi. What really bothers me, though, is that much of the world, including China, Japan, Southeast Asia, many of the Hispanic countries, and even a few Muslim/Arab ones, are being fed what is essentially cultural trash, courtesy of the Hollyork government-media complex. I, and a number of other Americans, don't like the relentless imposition of the values of, among other things, Red-Light Districts and Brooklyn slums upon nearly everyone in the US, and so I can only imagine what the cultural conservatives in other nations must feel when they see their society and culture get invaded and rapidly modified by "American Values."

And that's about all I've got to say for now. Good day.

In my country we have a weird paradox. US big business exports 'trash culture', as you so nicely put it, to us, then the Christian right critisizes us for elements that we originally got from America.

Then the US government provokes our neighbors and groups like the hard line Islamic clerics, and say that it has to keep troops and spies in our country to protect us from these people.

This is not addressed to one certain person. I am just using the term "US cultural imperialism" that does not mean I am attacking the previous poster who was using this term.

• Yeah China (and its people) can change there is no problem in that. But I am sick of people who think because they are Chinese that that simply makes them traditional and the protectors of good and right asian values. And there are too many people who are like this. Just like Americans who think that they are the protectors of world freedom. I think the people people who can honestly teach others about China are not the people who were born in China. People are people, they are selfish. It doesn't take US "cultural imperialism" for people to take drugs, commit murder and have sex outside of marriage. When any of my students suggest that the US is the reason why they "sin" I ask them about the term "number two wife" in Chinese. This was around way before US influence. But yet many people (who don't self-relect i.e. most Chinese) will blame the US on the openness of the youth in China and the divorce rate. How about parents take an interest in the child not just the childs placement in school so that the can make as much money as humanly possible in the future? Or the parent be a good example for behavior? These are the same problems in China as in the US. But Chinese feel that they are above this problem. As we all know Chinese love their children more than American parents do (Heavy sarcasm!) These problems come from the love of money or just having the money. The more money we get the more "freedom" it gives us. So don't blame the movies and food and fashion from America. Blame China for making cheap goods that the rest of the world wants and making money from it:p I am not saying that success and money are wrong but they do bring new problems and responsibilites. Half the people who complain about the US influences are probably wearing Nikes or ADIDAS anyway. Stop blaming others and take freakin responsibility. You can't change the world but you can change the community you work and live in. If we all try that then maybe things will become better but if we just simply blame the big picture we just complain and nothing gets done. Maybe I am rambling and not making myself clear,sorry 'bout that. I find it interesting that Chinese (that I know) think that the US is so open but when they then go to Europe their ideas change, especially when they go to Spain, (haha sorry Nicolas). China and Chinese change, that is true and fine, but they aren't willing to take the responsibility for the bad change, just blame it on the US cultural imperialism. Go to the US and see that not everyone lives only in New York City or L.A. and has a "sex in the city" lifestyle. China is just like the rest of our societies, they are materialistic.

This is not addressed to one certain person. I am just using the term "US cultural imperialism" that does not mean I am attacking the previous poster who was using this term.

• Yeah China (and its people) can change there is no problem in that. But I am sick of people who think because they are Chinese that that simply makes them traditional and the protectors of good and right asian values. And there are too many people who are like this. Just like Americans who think that they are the protectors of world freedom. I think the people people who can honestly teach others about China are not the people who were born in China. People are people, they are selfish. It doesn't take US "cultural imperialism" for people to take drugs, commit murder and have sex outside of marriage. When any of my students suggest that the US is the reason why they "sin" I ask them about the term "number two wife" in Chinese. This was around way before US influence. But yet many people (who don't self-relect i.e. most Chinese) will blame the US on the openness of the youth in China and the divorce rate. How about parents take an interest in the child not just the childs placement in school so that the can make as much money as humanly possible in the future? Or the parent be a good example for behavior? These are the same problems in China as in the US. But Chinese feel that they are above this problem. As we all know Chinese love their children more than American parents do (Heavy sarcasm!) These problems come from the love of money or just having the money. The more money we get the more "freedom" it gives us. So don't blame the movies and food and fashion from America. Blame China for making cheap goods that the rest of the world wants and making money from it:p I am not saying that success and money are wrong but they do bring new problems and responsibilites. Half the people who complain about the US influences are probably wearing Nikes or ADIDAS anyway. Stop blaming others and take freakin responsibility. You can't change the world but you can change the community you work and live in. If we all try that then maybe things will become better but if we just simply blame the big picture we just complain and nothing gets done. Maybe I am rambling and not making myself clear,sorry 'bout that. I find it interesting that Chinese (that I know) think that the US is so open but when they then go to Europe their ideas change, especially when they go to Spain, (haha sorry Nicolas). China and Chinese change, that is true and fine, but they aren't willing to take the responsibility for the bad change, just blame it on the US cultural imperialism. Go to the US and see that not everyone lives only in New York City or L.A. and has a "sex in the city" lifestyle. China is just like the rest of our societies, they are materialistic.

oh! double post. Sorry!!!

I THINK your site has been blocked by the Chinese authorities, damn!! On the other hand, it's the best form of flattery. My blog hasn't caught anyone's attention.

Hi, ACB, just want to inform you that I have to use proxies to view your blog. I think the content is great, I feel most things in China the same way as you do, and I am a native Chinese living in Guangzhou. Cyberspace is very restricted over here, not to mention the inexisting freedom of speech.

Best wishes & Keep up the good work!

I agree with Jimmy and I wish him a future of more and more freedom. The content of this blog tries to go beyond the superficial. Seems to me that learning the difference between the systems of logic of East vs West, is the key to grasping the real meaning of each. Nowadays despite the gulf between systems of logic, folks apply their own as if it's universal. As for the US, to pretend that it's not all built on a Judeo-Christian foundation is to delude oneself. Then what's native to China's (including its appendages), thought? Perhaps only Daoism and ancestor or spirit worship. What's native to Korea's thought? Perhaps only shamanism. What's native to Japan's thought? Perhaps only animism, or pantheism. What about Vietnam....ditto China, plus the spirits that inhabit bodies of water.

Dear Angry Chinese,

• Your site came in 19th this month on our Far Eastern Blog ranking system. To see the rankings go to the stated URL.

• Keep up the hard work and someone is paying

• attention.

PS- For our blog visitors would you please fill out our political questionnaire, if it is safe to do so? We will send it to you if you contact us.

Aku rasa, ACB ni adalah orang Tanah Melayu. Betul tak?

For anybody who doesn't speak Malay. No, I'm not Malasian.

Disgusted:

Your comment has no relevence to my CHINA site. Answer it on GI Korea, NOT here. Tis is not the appropriate forum.

From your comment, you appear to have no idea what I was trying to say. I was emphasising the difference between two cultures that were in the same boat but for diffrent reasons.

Good bye.

Disgusted

MY blog, my rules, you can't spread racist hate on this site, you can't send personal insults, you can't use curse words, and you can't post irelevent non China comments.

Answer my post on GI Korea, not here. This isn't the right forum.

You obviously don't know Japan or Korea very well. Korea has a much more fiery temprement, people speak their mind more and they complain when they are disatisfied. In Japan people don't speak their mind and they don't complain so much when they are disatisfied, they just sit and take it. Japan has been taking bull from the US for 60 years, would you have Korea do the same?

Most Koreans would string you up by your feet if you try for one second to tell them that they should be more like Japanese.

You show the typical blindness of somebody raised among whites.

Take your white talk somewhere else.

You make me laugh..

'Most Koreans would string you up by your feet if you try for one second to tell them that they should be more like Japanese'

What the hell are you talking about?? I would NEVER say those kina <censored by admin> comments <censored by admin>

Your just SORRY because YOU KNOW you <censored by admin> up when you went around the internet sites spreading nasty things about Koreans. You are the one who compared Korean to Japan, NOT ME YOU <censored by admin> I live in <censored by admin> area where there are a few hundred Korean church goers <censored by admin> "It must be something in the Korean mentality.".. Then you proceed to compare Korean to Japan again by expressing that 'Korea NEEDS protection by the US military while Japan does NOT need the protection'.

And you try to tell me you are not insulting Koreans? I don't know if you are a Japanese or Chnese.. but I know I was quiet disappointed and disturbed that there are cancel cells like you going around the internet spreading nasty things about Korean people. Obviously you could not leave my comment on your blog because <censored by admin>

Don't worry.. I will proceed to let Korean community in <censored by admin> aware of you, comments you made on GI Korea, <censored by admin>

This is not the right place for this kind of debate. This is not s US-Korea forum. There are hundreds of more appropriate places, I suggest that you go an find one. I am not going to debate this with you when you only have half of the facts. You don't appear to have been to Korea, go there, you will see for yourself that Koreans have a hot headed passion and a unbroken spirit of defiance that Japan does not. I will not have ignorant whites slandering Korea and telling it to surrender to the US on my site.

The truth is that Japan and Korea are two very different countries, and it is not racist to say this.

Japan was occupied by the US, but it is in Japan's nature to accept this quietly. Korea was the subject of a US military intervention during the Korean war, but it is in the Korean people's nature to speak out when they are unhappy.

How on earth is it a bad thing to say that it is in the nature of a Korean to act DIFFERENTLY to a Japanese.

You may tell all the Koreans that you like, they will agree with me, they are NOT like Japanese. They will be very angry if you tell them to give in to US occupation or to accept dominance form the US like Japan did.

I have censored your comment, I do not permit curse words or personal insults on my site. I have also removed your location because there are people there who don't want to be dragged into this argument.

I am a BSc IR student studying at the LSE. I am a Buddhist. I ... don't know what to say... after reading all these, I feel really nervous(don't know why). I was an extremist before but during the process of intellectual building, I learned on thing,not just theoretically, but spiritually, "don't judge arbitrarily" .

I left China when I was 15. I used to dislike China so much because of my PERSONAL experiences there.... after several years, after all these years' walking path..... I turned my bitterness into understanding and faith. It's just too naive to use your personal case to represent the whole.

A country also has its own personality and at the moment, China is in the progress of healing psychologically. Like a person who suffered so much, he/she needs time to walk out of the confusion and build up its confidence.

I am not as knowledgeable person, only a student, not for a certain period of time, but for my whole life. So I don't want to make an one-sided judgement before I go and do some research myself.

Chinese people are more and more polite. Please don't judge like an Chinese Expert when you, for example, only travelled there, or stayed at a certain spot for a limited period of time, or a fixed environment (company, certain group of people etc.)

Emotionally, I do not really like Japanese people, but I would never encourage my English friends to behave the same because rationally, I know "every country has to learn to surpass their history, but one should know it takes time and is needed effort". I have a friend from Japan who did the same degree and currently works in the Government. I would not tell people that " Japan is .........." because I am a scholar in IR... NO, I never live in that country so how could I make a conclusion !

Every country has rude uncivilised people. Every country has discrimination including England, but luckily all the people I have met so far are very gentle, polite, sincere, loving and caring. I think it has sth to do with their education backgrou