Mr. E's Forum: 2006-2007 -> Multicultural Studies -> Forum #19: Exploring China
Post Info TOPIC: Forum #19: Exploring China
mre

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Forum #19: Exploring China
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1.  Discovering China: An Inner Realm
Source: http://library.thinkquest.org/20443/home.html, http://library.thinkquest.org/26469/index2.html  
Background: China is a nation whose history and culture is one of the worlds deepest and most complex.  For well over a thousand years, China remained its own world, accomplishing scientific achievements, exploring much of the planet and influencing hundreds of millions with its culture, wealth, and political (and military) influence.  
Assignment: Imagine yourself as a cultural anthropologist.  You have just graduated with your masters degree from a prestigious university and have been hired by a New York Museum of Culture to spend two years in China, studying the culture of the people there.  Using the two sites above, determine what four exhibits should be included in your museum.  Explain in a brief paragraph what each museum exhibit will include, explain and describe.  Be detailed.  Imagine writing it for someone who is blind and cannot see.  Explain everything that would be included and why. 
Evaluation:  You will get 20 points for each story retold [80 total] and 10 points will be awarded for posting a question, comment or suggestion to another student and 10 points will be given for answering a question or comment from another student.

2. Chinese Travel Blogs
Source: http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/
Background: The internet has revolutionized the world in ways that we are just beginning to notice.  Take for instance this website concerning travel blogs from around the world.  In the past, people were limited to slide project shows or long hours around a photo album to hear stories from world travelers.  Now, anyone can visit this site to learn about the journeys of ordinary people around the world and, in this case, China. 
Assignment: Imagine yourself a foreign desk reporter (or a photojournalist) for a major United States newspaper or magazine.  Your supervisor has sent you on a project to travel to four locations in China.  Before you go, however, you want to learn as much as you can from the people who have been there before you.  Using the site above, retell four stories (by reading their accounts and describing their pictures) of travels to your choice of four sites, locations, cities, etc. in China.  Each story should be a paragraph (at least five sentences) long.   
Evaluation: You will get 20 points for each story retold [80 total] and 10 points will be awarded for posting a question, comment or suggestion to another student and 10 points will be given for answering a question or comment from another student.

3.  Go: Ancient Chinese Game
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_(board_game) Go: Ancient Chinese Game
Background: One of the oldest games in the world is called Go.  It is played on a nineteen by nineteen square grid with white and black stones.  Patterns that form are intricate and although the rules of the game are basic, the strategy and tactics are complex.  Deeply integrated with a Chinese philosophy and world perspective, this game has attracted players for thousands of years.
Assignment: Working with others in the class, read and research the history of the game and its rules.  Write an essay on the history, rules and its contemporary usage in the modern world.  Then design a board with pieces and play with others in the class. 
Evaluation: You will receive 40 points for your essay and 40 points for the game boards construction.  Students will receive 20 points for playing the game in class.
 

-- Edited by mre at 15:38, 2007-06-05

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Leslie

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Forum #19: Assignment #2 (Travel Blogs)
 Four locations in China:
Beijing
Dali
The Great Wall
Macau

 

Beijing: (Temple of Heaven): Retold from story from Paul Storrie:

The temple is like a park that contains three other large temples inside of it.  Many of the older Chinese people that go there just play cards with one another and the younger kids that go there mostly just play with kites or play game such as hide and seek with one another. It is a very colorful place and is full of classical Chinese music that is always playing. Many times 23-24 year old female students approach visitors to see if they will join them in a tea ceremony. A lot of the times the reason why the girls approach the visitors is because they want to practice their English or because they want to find their possible partner for life.  The stairs leading to the temple are absolutely beautiful and just full of color and life. Who wouldnt want to go into a place that was so lively and beautiful? The temple is basically the center of attention at the park. It is found right in the middle and is mostly what most people go to the park to see and encounter. Its just a very beautiful and serene place that is full of trees with beautiful cherry blossoms. It is a great place to go for a stroll and just enjoy the beauty of the outside world in China.

 

Dali: Retold from story by Mark & Chrissy Hayward:

From some pictures that were taken from Mark & Chrissy it is very easy to see how beautiful Dali really is. There are so many beautiful and colorful buildings and a bunch of cute little stores that are all around Dali. There was also a picture of local dress. Basically the women wear pant suits that are white and have red Chinese flowers all over them. The women also wear little cap like hats that have the same flower and have a little lace that comes down to the top of their neck. There is also this temple that I saw in one of the pictures that is absolutely beautiful and so decorative. There was a picture that was taken that was the overview of the whole city and showed all of the beautiful houses and buildings that were in Dali. North of Dali there is like this pasture that is just beautiful. I dont know if thats what you call it but it was just beautiful and clear and just full of beautiful, tall trees. Mountains are also a sight to see in Dali. There was a picture that I saw that had the sun shining through the clouds and was hitting the top of the mountains. It looked like something celestial and heavenly. It was definitely a sight to see. There are chairlifts that make it easier for tourists and newcomers to the town to see the mountains better. From the mountains the city looks even more amazing than it did from the other picture that I was able to see. The city looks like a majestic place and so beautiful!! Dali definitely looks like a fun and beautiful place to go and visit. There are so many sites to see that it would be an amazing trip to go to Dali!!
I still have to finish the two other destinations!!!!biggrin



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Valdir

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Travel Blog Summary:

1. Ancient Wonders in Modern China: After sleeping late the previous night, bloggers Jason and Vicky headed towards main street in Beijing. It was crowded and the atmosphere was boisterous, but nonetheless the couple was intrigued by the narrow paths which bordered stalls selling odd food, little cafes, silks, clothes and nik and nak. Deciding to dine elsewhere, the two came across a stall filled with all sorts of bizarre foods; from starfish to snakes, to scorpions and beetles. The next day the couple visited the Forbidden City, and later the Great Wall.
2. Beijing-Goodbye: During their last night in Beijing Monkey and Bear enjoy a tasty but spicy dinner. After the unforgettable meal the two traveled to the Houhai Lake area of the city, a popular destination. The next morning at 7:30 they would be headed to the airport, kissing their last four weeks in China goodbye.
3. Beijing for a Weekend: Back in Nanjing after a weekend in Beijing with four of their friends, John and Jen reflect on their stay in the capitol. When they first arrived in Beijing the group went straight to their hotel, located near Hutong. In the period of two days the group visited Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, and the Great Wall. Another highlight of their trip was the food. They enjoyed meals at the famed LiQun Duck Restaurant. Their experience was great and they wish they couldve stay much longer.
4. Bungee Jump at Macau Tower: At the worlds highest Bungee Jump, Liloo fell at over 200km/h plunging from a platform 233m high. The experience was fantastic, she commented, as was the view. Their sightseeing of Macau after the big jump was just as memorable. The beauty and lights rivals that of Las Vegas even.


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ash days

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Assignment: Imagine yourself a foreign desk reporter (or a photojournalist) for a major United States newspaper or magazine.  Your supervisor has sent you on a project to travel to four locations in China.  Before you go, however, you want to learn as much as you can from the people who have been there before you.  Using the site above, retell four stories (by reading their accounts and describing their pictures) of travels to your choice of four sites, locations, cities, etc. in China.  Each story should be a paragraph (at least five sentences) long.   

Evaluation: You will get 20 points for each story retold [80 total] and 10 points will be awarded for posting a question, comment or suggestion to another student and 10 points will be given for answering a question or comment from another student.


1.
BEING IN BEJING.

a lady told me about how she went to bejing at 530 in the morning and she said that usually there isnt manny pple out at 530 where she is from but in china they are already out exersizing.  they have so much goinmg on and everyone is already up and yelling.  she met this family that she really like and theyh talked for ours !  about everything possible. they were really interested in each other. they had a ll boy who peed on her ! hahahah! i tyhought that was gfunny. because the kids dont wear dipers they just hae a opening on there bum so they can pull it down and go to the bathroom. after talking to them they went to a festival type of thing and a lady from Falong Gong witch she says is a cult .. im not shure what there against but she said that the lady staritng yellhng and screaming next to the gaurds that were around the chinese flag.   it must have been amazing to witness somthing like that. that all she pretty much wrote becausze she had to go to bed.

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nessaA

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Visiting BEIJING
on daniel's trip to beijing, he tries to look for a guitar store. he googles "guitar shops in beining" and a few addresses show up in his area. when he gets to the block that the shops are on he sees that in every store there are about 2 or 3 guys who look pretty hip sitting in the store chatting. then when someone comes in they stand up and are super nice and when you ask how much something is, they give you a really really high price. the shops are really small and cluttered. but the people were really friendly and answered all the questions he had about the music and culture. he wants to buy a guitar, but he'll have to keep it in china, and he'd rather buy one in america. his school is almost falling apart and the assistant program director of the emory program said that buildings in china are not really deigned to last that long. but overall, he's had a very good time and he doesn't want to leave but he has to.



Visiting HENAN
susan goodman was desire to go on a trip to henan was sparked by the story she heard of the japanesse invading there and distroying everything. the people there didn't have any money to fix up the distruction, so they planted trees everywhere to hide the mess. from her campus, she and a few other people took a sleeper train up to a hotel where they would stay a night. her first day there they climbed a short way and then took a boat up river and later took a cable car to the top of a mountain. on their lunch they ate donkey meat, bee larvae, rabbit meat, mutton, beef and some common vegetables. she liked the donkey meat and bought some to bring back to her children. she also watched a kung fu demonstration on a raft on a small creek in the trourist area. she loved her trip and is looking forward to go back next year.



Visiting TIBET
on ed and gemma's trip to tibet they had some bad experiences and some amazing ones as well. their hotel didn't have any water, and their breakfast wasn't as good as expected, but on their drive around the area, the scenery was excellent. they also went to see the summit of everest, which they were very excited about. they climbed to 5220m to the highest point they could reach and they were so thrilled. and on their way back down the mountain, they seen a rounded bend and saw a "classic view of himalayan snow-covered peaks- with one noticeably taller than the others" and they pointed at the veiw and gazed in awe. it wasn't just the site of these enormous rocks that made them so amazed, it was how the sun hit them and how the clouds rested around them that make them a site for eyes to see. the amazing blue tibetan sky also gave a mejestic site to the mountain that was just climbed for the first time only three years ago.


TO BE CONTINUED ...

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nessaA

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continuation
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visiting SHAANXI
Tom Griffith visited Shaanxi and went to go see the terracotta worriers. 
Xi'an stands roughly where China's first imperial capital, founded by them emperor Qin, probly about 2000 years ago.  China got it's name from Emporer Qin Shi Huang.  He was also the person who commissioned the Great Wall to keep out the Mongols.  he was a really vain emporer.  to think, he had the largest tumb built for when he was dead, the largest the world has ever seen - 57 sq km in total - and it took 750,000 men and 40 years to build it.  talk about wanting to be protected. and each soldier was hand crafted... yeah that takes a lot of work.  and that's all this man really said.

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Leslie

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RE: Forum #19: Exploring China
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The Great Wall: (Retold by the journals of Elizabeth R. and Margaret Ashley Love)
She explained that the Great Wall was actually Great!!! The name did very well go with how it actually was. Every part of the wall has its own name. which must be a whole lot of names because it is such a huge wall. It is possible to hike the hill which was what Elizabeth did with another group of people. Most of the mountains that can be climbed in China have steps so it was pretty easy to climb the wall because there are actually steps that make it easier. It was first made as a barrier to keep invaders away from attacking China.  Simatai is the best place of the wall to visit even though every part is a site to see.   But Elizabeth explained that the closer she got to Simatai, the rougher the hike got.   From the story of Margaret Ashley Love, she was telling some of the history behind the actual wall. She started saying that the wall actually took 200 years to build and it is 2000 years old and 4000 miles long. That is super long!!! Both stories actually all of the stories that I read explained how amazing it felt to be climbing the wall. The Chinese believe that a person isnt a hero until he/she has climbed this great wall. So the ones who actually climbed the wall or at least attempt to climb it are very brave and will be bestowed with much luck because of the bravery.
Macau: Macau Tower (Bungee jumping- retold story by Liloo)
 This tower apparently is one of the most amazing towers to jump from. So Liloo was very excited by the fact that she was jumping from it. It is meant to take the people who jump from it at a speed of 200 km/h. The place where the people are meant to jump from is 233 meters high.  From the pictures that she had put on the blog, we could see that it was very high and something amazing to experience.  From another blog by Deven Brooks she said that Macau was a Portuguese colony for over 400 years. Apparently there are amazing casinos here that are receiving earning that are more than the ones in Las Vegas. Thats amazing to see. Basically the casinos are the tourist attraction in Macau. There are no hotels there that arent out of casinos and they are no restaurants that are really good unless they are in the casinos that are in this amazing city. One thing that is very easy to see is that in Macau you go to gamble. If you want to eat great food and see amazing things there are plenty of other amazing places in China. Another thing that I forgot to mention was that one of the big casinos in Macau holds the biggest chandelier found. That right there is something super amazing.
Honestly I didnt really realize how truly amazing China was! Its now on the top of my list of places to visit before I die!!!! Hopefully I get to it. biggrinbiggrin
 

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