You’ve heard enough from Russ, my husband. Would you like to hear from me? Russ asked me to contribute this section. though my life has no “tricks.”

I’d also love to contribute my singing to you. You’ll be surprised to hear my songs & their stories, at:

 

I’m a Chinese American. To American eyes, I’m Chinese; but if I go back to China, I’m legally an American.

I’m living in two cultures. I eat half Chinese food and half American food. I speak half Chinese and half English. I enjoy the two different cultures, which makes my life more colorful.

Here are interesting phenomena I’d like to share with you. In this article, when I say “Chinese,” I mean people in China, not Chinese-Americans.

What I say might not be 100% right, but I’m sure it’s at least 70% right: it applies to 70% of such people and situations. If you read it and think some things are not true, you may belong to or be familiar with the other 30%.

Eating

Eating’s an adventure!

Eat or drink soup? Chinese people like clear soup. They actually “drink” soup. A mother usually cooks chicken or pork soup, with special mushrooms, for her family. It takes 4 to 5 hours to cook, and the soup’s considered very good for you.

Not many people in China have Chinese-American “egg-drop soup” or “hot & sour soup,” which I’d never seen before I came to the U.S.

American soups are too thick to drink. The way Americans have their soup is more like eating a soup.

Eager to serve Visiting Chinese friends at their homes? As soon as you sit down, you’re automatically served with hot tea, fruits, and whatever snacks they have. They even peel apples and oranges for you. If the time’s right, they’ll persuade you to stay for lunch or dinner. Then the housewife will disappear into the kitchen, and in no time a table full of beautiful dishes magically waits for you.

Drinks When offered a drink, a Chinese guest often says, “Oh, thank you so much, but don’t bother.” An American guest is more relaxed and says, “Coke would be fine.”

Eating more Chinese try to make their guests eat more, even if the guests say they’re full. Chinese often help their guests to the food, like a server. Americans let guests decide for themselves what to eat and when to stop.

At a Chinese banquet, food keeps coming to the table. You find yourself already full, but dishes after dishes are still coming. So be careful not to eat too fast and get full too soon!

Even at a grand American wedding banquet, just 7, 8, or 9 courses are served, unless it’s a buffet.

Passing food When eating, Americans pass food around, with a big plate in front of each person. Chinese share foods from a few dishes in the middle of the table, with a small bowl of rice in front of each person.

Salt & pepper Americans often shake salt and pepper onto their food before even tasting the food. Chinese never add salt or pepper to their food at the table, unless the cook did a bad job.

Chinese food is tastier. American food is more natural.

Utensils Americans lick their thumbs after eating something like donuts or cake. Sometimes they use their thumbs to help the fork push food in the end.

Chinese sometimes hold up the bowl to the mouth and use chopsticks or a spoon to help shovel the food into their mouths.

Peeling Many Chinese peel apples, pears, and peaches. Some even peel grapes. But they normally don’t throw out chicken and pork skins.

Many Americans don’t eat chicken skin, pork skin, or salmon skin but eat lots of fruit skin.

Slaughter An American home doesn’t have to slaughter chicken or fish. At the table, Americans are scared to see fish with heads on.

Most Chinese families needed one brave guy to slaughter chickens until recent years. Now ready-to-cook chickens are available in a supermarket, but people complain those chickens don’t taste good enough.

Socializing

To understand a society, look at how it socializes.

Kind words Americans say “thank you,” “excuse me,” and “sorry” a hundred times a day. A Chinese couple doesn’t say “thank you” when passing food to each other.

Helpfulness If your car breaks down on a highway or you’re lost in a strange city, you’re more likely to get help from an American than a Chinese. But if you must borrow money urgently or need a place to stay for a few days, go to your Chinese friends.

Inside out Americans are more outgoing. They like to greet people. They’re more likely to talk to strangers and more easily make friends. A typical Chinese prefers to be quiet before strangers.

Back door In China, there’s a “back door” for power-related people to get a good job, promotion, business, and escape the law. Small-business owners try to befriend tax officials or policemen for “benefits.” Businesses spend lots of money for power-related social relationship.

In America, friendships are more personal than “beneficial.” “Back doors” are not common.

Gifts It’s not rare for a Chinese to spend 20% or 50% of a month’s wage for a wedding gift. If you receive 2 or 3 wedding invitations in a month, you feel you’ll go broke. But people still give generously, because they think smaller gifts can’t show their feelings — and if you spend less than others, you’ll “lose face.” American friends are content to give and receive small gifts.

When American friends go to a restaurant, they can pay bills separately, a rarity in China.

Never give a clock or green hat as a gift to a Chinese. In Chinese, the word “clock” is pronounced zhong — and so is the word “end” or “funeral.” Old people are especially scared of receiving that. As for wearing a green hat, it means “cuckold” (a man whose wife is sleeping with a different man).

Social drinking In America, a bigger percentage of people drink alcohol than in China. Pubs, bars, lounges, and alcohol have a secret strong attraction to American teenagers. College students under 21 can’t wait to go to a bar like their older schoolmates. The more you want to forbid something, the stronger desire it may arise.

China has no law against minors drinking alcohol, though it’s never encouraged. Parents can send a young kid to buy a bottle of wine (or cigarettes) for them. At a family reunion party when I was little, my parents dipped a chopstick into a glass of wine and then let me taste it, just for fun. But that taste made me dislike alcohol for the rest of my life.

Chinese men make lots of noise when they drink. At parties, they clamor to make somebody else drink — for congratulations, health, friendship, respect, good wishes, the punishment of being late, or no reason. The more you can make somebody drink, the better. That becomes the most popular social activity.

Waiting lines Americans patiently wait in lines for banking, boarding, and eating. In China, you can see people shove ahead to board a bus — and young guys cut in line for tickets.

Handling foreigners Chinese are very friendly to foreigners and treat them as guests.

In America, strange-looking people might not be foreigners. You can’t tell foreigners by their looks. But some Americans don’t have good feelings toward “foreigners.”

Lawsuits In America, “everybody sues everybody.” People buy expensive home insurance for fear someone will fall at the door and sue. Some people get very rich by suing big companies.

Chinese think that’s ridiculous and dishonest. The cost of “everybody sues everybody” is Americans pay too much for insurance and medical care. A Chinese saying is:

Traditionally, Chinese sue just criminals, but now they’re starting to learn American’s way and become smarter.

Family versus world

Which is more important: your family or the world?

Chinese parents Chinese parents pay college tuition for their kids, even if doing so puts the parents in poverty or heavy debt. Parents don’t mind working 80 hours a week to buy a kid a computer or piano. Often you’ll see a bright young man get a doctor’s degree but still not know how to cook rice.

When they’re old, Chinese parents are taken good care of, often living with their kids.

Chinese social circles Lending money to a relative or close friend is interest-free. Sometimes the money is even a gift. Relatives and friends form a strong social circle for a Chinese person. A Chinese saying is:

Getting jobs, promotions, and customers can depend on how strong your social circle is. A person may cheat or do something illegal just for the sake of a relative or friend. A Chinese may feel less responsible to the rest of the world; a cynical Chinese saying is:

American extended feelings Americans tend to have weaker family ties, even if family is the most important thing to them. Some kids must work hard for tuition or to pay back their loans. Old folks live lonely. Borrowing money from a brother, you might have to worry about the interest.

But Americans tend to have more extended feelings. They pay lots of tax to help the poor and schools, rather than buy their lonely old mothers expensive gifts. They’re especially nice to the handicapped and retarded. They treat their pets like their children. They donate money to African kids. They spend huge sums of money on international affairs, to fight for other countries and build other countries. They’re proud of working as the international police.

Schooling

China’s schools are quite different from America’s.

China’s mountainous burden China’s educational reformers say “Give back kids’ childhood” and “Study while having fun,” but middle-school students in China still study 8-10 hours a day, including morning reading and evening homework.

12^th-grade students study more than 12 hours a day, to pass the nationwide college entrance exams.

When they finally get into college, they never study as hard as in high school, and they can’t believe they were able to go through it. They’re scared even to think of it.

Goofing off? American high school students don’t need to study so hard to enter a college. They can always get into some sort of college if they can afford the tuition.

High-school seniors still have time to work in McDonald’s or date girls. Many kids already get admitted to a college while still seniors. If they really wish, they can begin college courses early.

In America, you can be a happy kid even if you don’t do well in school. In China, you get too much pressure from parents and teachers; you can hardly be happy if you’re not doing well.

Chinese-American parents complain American schools throw the burden of moral education onto parents’ shoulders. In China, schools watch student behavior more carefully.

Hours In China, typical elementary-school kids have 5 hours of class a day: 9AM to noon, then 2PM to 4PM.

American students have less homework. Schools start earlier and end at 2PM. Kids have just 30 minutes for lunch.

Classrooms In America, students go to different classroom for different teachers. Each classroom is decorated according to the subject and the teacher’s style.

In China, students stay in the same classroom while different teachers come to teach them. The only different rooms to go to are the music classroom, the science lab, and the gym or playground for PE.

Control In China, teachers have more control over the class. Students are required to keep quiet while their teacher talks.

American students are more active in class. They discuss more. They can even walk around.

In America, teachers try to make their lessons easy and fun. Teachers tend to make students feel good. They encourage more than criticize. Getting an A is pretty easy if students work at it.

In China, teachers are stricter. They always try to let you know you still have far to go to reach the goal. It’s hard to get an A, even you work hard. In the 2^nd grade, students already learn multiplication & division. Chinese textbooks are among the hardest in the world.

Insulting the poor students? Some classes in China post final total scores and ranks on the wall, so the students all know their classmates’ ranks.

Once or twice a semester, all parents have a group meeting with the teacher. Parents sit in their kids’ seats and see the posted ranks. Some feel proud. Some get embarrassed & shamed and beat the kids when they get home.

American schools think it’s against human rights to post student ranks. An American student may say, “You have no right to insult me just because I’m not smart enough in something.”

In China, students have extracurricular math groups where teachers teach more advanced math. Math competitions and other science competitions are held for cities, provinces, and nationwide. Chinese students often win first place in international “math Olympic” competitions.

American teaching emphasizes problem-solving strategies. Chinese style is to feed students as many facts as possible.

Life experience American students get lots of work experience before graduating from college. They feel more confident to deal with the competitive job market. They feel more at ease getting along with bosses, fellow workers, and customers. They’re outgoing, good at discussing things, solving problems, expressing their ideas, and using machines & computers.

Before the 21^st century, most Chinese students never got any work experience before college graduation (except in rural areas, where kids worked from a very young age to help on the farm). Chinese students in U.S. colleges are often among top students and always aim at higher degrees but are still nervous about competition.

American students are more sports-loving. Chinese students are more book-loving. Few Chinese students know how to play baseball or surf.

American students have cared little about what happens in the rest of the world (except after 9/11). They may not know where Iraq or Hong Kong is. Chinese students are the opposite: they know the name of France’s foreign minister and the name of Leonardo DiCaprio’s newest American movie.

Student dating

Traditionally in China, parents don’t let teenage students date.

In America, most kids aged 16 & up have some sort of experience dating. Teachers & parents don’t want to invade their privacy. Schools even give students birth-control pills. All a mom can do is to warn her daughter not to get pregnant.

In an American shopping mall, I came across a woman I knew with 2 kids. She introduced her 15-year-old daughter to me, then introduced the boy as her daughter’s “boyfriend.” I thought the boy was the girl’s younger brother.

In China, if teenagers want to date, they usually date secretly. Since most good kids don’t date, kids feel guilty if they do.

In America, a schoolgirl may feel bad if she has no boyfriend. She might wonder, “Is something wrong with me? Why do other girls have boyfriends while I don’t? Am I unattractive?”

How parents handle kids

Your opinion of life depends on how your parents treat you.

Saying “love” Chinese people feel embarrassed to say
“I love you.” That’s why Chinese parents & kids hardly ever say “I love you” to each other, and they seldom hug each other when kids grow up.

Many American parents & kids say “I love you” almost every day.

Investing in kids Chinese parents eagerly pay for a kid’s college education, computer, and piano. Some parents even buy a house for a kid’s wedding present.

American independence American parents raise kids to be independent and responsible.

I saw a 2-year-old American boy in a raincoat walking in the rain, followed by his mom. The boy splashed a lot of water, as he stepped hard into the puddle on the cement ground. His mom just watched and followed. When he fell, he looked back at his mom, but she just said “get up.”

When American kids grow up, they sometimes pay rent to their parents if they live in their parents’ property. Some parents pay their kids to do house chores.

Chinese worry Chinese parents worry about their kids, endlessly:

Here’s an ancient Chinese saying:

Parents hope their son will become a “dragon” and their daughter a “phoenix” (meaning “outstanding”).

American parents let kids choose what to do and what kind of schools to attend. The kids’ futures are in their own hands.

Spoiling? Many Chinese parents shelter their kids from doing any household chores. They spoil kids in everyday life.

But Chinese parents believe ancient Chinese philosophy:

That’s why many Chinese parents are strict about their kids’ early education, beginning at age 3 (in reading, arithmetic, art, musical instruments, ballet, and computer), making the kid’s life either promising or miserable.

In America, children are spoiled differently. Parents don’t force their kids to do much. Parents can’t beat kids, even if for drugs. From their early years, kids get a good sense of freedom. But since parents leave kids alone, some kids play hooky, some don’t work hard at school, and some get sexually involved and pregnant. (Exception: my American neighbors, Flo & Gene Fitzgerald, are very strict. Flo stayed home until her 2 kids graduated from high school, to take care of them and watch them. Now their son’s an M.I.T. professor and world-renowned scientist & entrepreneur, and their daughter’s a very good schoolteacher.)

Chinese have a saying similar to the American one, “spare the rod, spoil the child.” But most Chinese parents today don’t beat their kids as in the old days. If they do, it’s because they “hate if the iron doesn’t become steel.” Chinese don’t think “parents beating their kids” is abusive.

Serious dating and marriage

Up through the 1970’s, the typical Chinese girl would marry the first man she dated. If a girl dated 3 boys, she’d get a bad reputation. Hardly any man & woman lived together unmarried.

From the 1990’s on, things changed a lot. Now there’s not much difference between China and the U.S. You see girls & boys live together as “girlfriend & boyfriend,” unmarried. “Out-of-marriage relationships” and “third relationships” have appeared.

Singles There are more singles in America than in China.

If a Chinese man or woman is still single at age 30, the parents and other relatives get very worried. Friends & relatives go all out to help introduce somebody to this person.

Americans don’t worry much about their single relatives. They think single people may enjoy that lifestyle.

Personal ads Chinese dating ads concentrate on education, job, salary, property, looks, and height. (The Chinese prefer tall people.)

American’s concentrate on looks, personality, hobbies, and weight. (Americans prefer skinny people.)

Now more and more Chinese are dating through the Internet, “chat” through the Internet, and send messages through cell phones.

Divorce America’s divorce rate is much higher than China’s. Chinese couples are more likely to put up with a marriage even if it’s unhappy. Americans aren’t willing to suffer from an unhappy marriage: they keep just happy marriages.

A divorced Chinese couple doesn’t pay lawyers to decide child visitation rights. The couple just talks and decides for itself. Americans spent money on lawyers for everything!

Crazy sex Americans are usually good at obeying laws. They pay taxes, behave themselves in public, and act helpful and friendly. But for sex, even some very good Americans try crazy things (which seem strange to the Chinese!), such as the 1960’s sexual freedom, today’s bondage & domination, and nudist beaches. I heard this comment:

Americans have strip bars. Chinese nightclubs have “3-companion girls” instead (a companion for drink, singing, and dance).

Prostitutes are forbidden in both countries. But secret ones are always there.

Extra wives In China now, some rich people and officials illegally live with a second “wife,” sometimes even a third “wife” or more. Some even have kids with those extra “wives.”

No normal American woman is willing to be an illegal “wife” to a married man, even if he’s rich.

Relationships

How do you relate, if you’re Chinese?

Your in-laws If you’re Chinese, you call your mother-in-law “Mom” and your father-in-law “Dad.” You’d feel awkward and disrespectful to call them by their first names as Americans do.

Indirect expression Chinese express feelings indirectly. Example:

Who pays? In America, a boyfriend & girlfriend share the cost of rent, utilities, and food but buy presents for each other to show they care for each other.

In China, a man’s supposed to take care of his girlfriend. When dating, a Chinese man often spends lots of money for restaurants & presents. A good girl’s supposed to be proud & well-treated. If a girl chips in half of the rent to live with a man, she’s considered a desperately lowly cheap date.

Old people

A good old Chinese tradition is to respect the old and love the young. 3 generations often live together. If an old person lives alone, people take pity and think the children are unkind.

In America, old people usually choose to live by themselves, even though their children love them dearly.

Retirement age In China, men are traditionally retired at age 60 (professional) or 55 (non-professional); women are retired at 55 (professional) or 50 (non-professional). But now people are retired even earlier. Some get laid off with partial wages before the age of retirement.

In America everybody’s legal retiring age is 65 or 62.

Chinese activity In a Chinese city’s parks in the early morning, you see old people doing exercises (such as chi-kong air exercises, tai-chi exercises, playing with swords, and dancing). In the late afternoon & evening, some old folks do group dancing in parks and inexpensive nightclubs. Some go to an “Elder’s College” or “Elder Association” to learn art, dancing, cooking, gardening, calligraphy, and photography.

That’s just in the cities. In rural areas, old people usually don’t have retirement income, so they depend on their children and live a less cultured life than their city counterparts. Just recently have some rural areas started getting retirement systems.

American activity Some Americans choose to keep working part time after age 65. They’re active and energetic. Some have volunteer jobs. Elder communities often have parties, seminars, and club activities. Some elderly people like to travel. Some drive cars even in their 80’s and 90’s.

Who looks younger? From babyhood until turning 40, Chinese people look younger than Americans. But after turning 55, Chinese look older than Americans. An 80-old Chinese guy looks much older than an 80-year-old American guy.

Other differences

The Chinese use language differently and have a different sense of “variety.”

Names Americans have too many people called “Michael,” “Peter,” and “Mary.” (Americans are called by their first names.)

Chinese have too many people called “Wang,” “Chen,” and “Zhang.” Chinese are called by their last names, like “Xiao Wang” (which means “little Wang”) or “Lao Zhang” (which means “old Zhang”).

Calendar Americans use words such as “Monday,” “Tuesday,” “January,” and “February.” Chinese use numbers such as “Day 1,” “Day 2,” “Month 1,” and “Month 2.” Just “Day 7” has a name, also meaning Sunday.

Chinese use two different calendars. The main one’s the same as the American. The other is the “lunar calendar.” China’s most important holiday is Chinese New Year Day, which is the first day of the lunar calendar.

Backwards Old-style Chinese books are written in vertical columns, from right to left, backwards. To decipher addresses on American envelopes, Americans read from bottom to top, upside-down.

Music Chinese has a simple music notation (besides the professional notation used by Westerners). The simple music notation uses numbers for notes: 1 for do, 2 for re, 3 for mi, 4 for fa, 5 for so, 6 for la, and 7 for ti.

For a higher octave, put a dot above the number. For a lower octave, put a dot below the number.

Homogeneity All small American cities look the same, having the same shopping malls with same stores. Streets are lined by the same restaurant chains.

In China, each city is different!

 

China is far, and China is close. It’s tens of thousands of miles away, and it’s just at the other end of my phone.

Here are reports I wrote, in several years. See how China changes!

Report from year 2000

It’s the year 2000. On the Internet, I’m reading news in Chinese every day from Yahoo China and many other Chinese websites. I’m amazed to see how fast China is changing. China now is so modern that I hardly recognize it anymore.

DVD or VCR When I went back to China in 1998, I saw people using DVDs. I never heard about it at that time. When I said I was using a VCR, my friends laughed and said they weren’t using VCRs anymore.

My mom came to the U.S. to visit us in June 2000. While she flew across the Pacific Ocean, photos of her boarding at Shanghai’s airport were already sent by digital camera to our computer, from my relatives in China.

China is dressy Every time I returned to China, the first things to do were perm my hair and buy new clothes. My dear relatives would indirectly suggest I wasn’t dressed well enough, though I was wearing the same dress praised by my American friends.

One thing I like about the U.S. is you feel okay wearing anything you want. Nobody cares much if you’re poor or rich.

In China, city women seem dressed up all the time. Many buy expensive clothes & makeup and go to salons every week for hair & face treatments.

Newly rich Though most people in China aren’t rich yet, some did become rich as a result of China’s ex-leader Deng Xiao Ping’s policy: “Let some people get rich first.”

Some Chinese-Americans who went back to China (to work or do business) complained they couldn’t bear China’s lifestyle of “banquet every night.” They missed their quiet American lifestyle, which they feel is better for their kids & families.

People in China criticize overseas Chinese (especially those returning to China from America) by saying “They talk fancy (they speak Chinese with English words here and there) but look & act cheap.” The overseas Chinese reply, “If you people who got newly rich by staying in China had to pay high taxes like us, you wouldn’t criticize us like that.”

Open door to outside Between 1949 (when Communist China was founded) and 1976 (the end of the Cultural Revolution), nobody in China had private property: everything belonged to the public. Everybody worked for the “country” and earned some money for a basic life. People gradually forgot about getting rich; they cared more about how to survive political class struggles. Some tried to enjoy a rich spiritual life in arts, literature, and science.

In 1976, continuous political class struggles finally ended, and the country started to open her door to the outside. To her shock, China found a different world outside: in developed countries, people work for themselves and enjoy a wealthy life.

Advanced, rich, modern Western countries aroused China. Smart Chinese, who’d been too proud of their great ancient science, art, long history, and rich cultures to bother learning from other nations, now longed for advanced technology & management.

For a long time, the Chinese government kept arguing about “Socialism or Capitalism?” Finally, Deng Xiao Ping’s famous “cat theory” (“Black cat or white cat, the one that catches mice is a good cat”) led China into today’s economic reform and prosperity, called “socialism China-style.”

Report from year 2002

China’s “booming economy” and “weak foundation of laws” have caused lots of bad phenomena: corruption, bribery, smuggling, robbery, and prostitution have become serious problems.

Corruption In the 1970’s, a mayor made not much more money than a factory worker. An official who embezzled 1000 yuan (one U.S. dollar equals about 8 yuan) was considered to have committed a big crime and would face severe punishment. But now corruption cases appear in Chinese news websites every day, some involving millions or tens of millions of yuan. A few high officials were sentenced to death for big corruption, but even the death penalty seems unable to stop corruption.

Prostitution After 1949, the Chinese government prohibited prostitution, and for decades it was dead. The only case I remember seeing was in 1985, when a middle-aged countrywoman was sentenced to death for the crime of “underground organizer of prostitution.”

But the new fast-growing economy has brought prostitution back to life. Though it’s still prohibited, it flourishes in some nightclubs, salons, inns, and streets.

Second wife Another strange phenomenon is “er nai,” meaning “second wife.” A small number of men with money or power secretly live with an illegal “second wife” in a second home, even having a kid.

In the old days (1940’s or earlier), some wealthy Chinese men married 2 wives or even more. Now some newly rich men ignore the law and try to follow their forefathers. They get a lot of criticism and will have legal trouble.

Sex China used to be very conservative. Up through the 1970’s, I think most people married the first person they dated. A girl who dated more than 3 men usually got a bad reputation. In those horrible “class struggle” years, anybody having extramarital affairs or adultery was treated like a “class enemy” or criminal — and thereafter lived a shamed life, if not in jail.

Now nobody feels strange about seeing a man & woman live together before or without marriage. Changing boyfriends or girlfriends constantly is normal. Many movies are XXX. TV talk shows discuss sex. TV ads claim to make breasts bigger.

Report from year 2003

China doesn’t look like a communist or socialist country anymore.

5 years ago, the government still insisted it was trying “socialism China-style,” but now it’s stopped mentioning that. Instead, materialism dominates the whole country. One Chinese commentator said, “Beijing’s streets are full of people dreaming of getting rich.”

Privatized From 1949 (when the Communist party came to power) until 1976 (the Cultural Revolution’s end), China had no private business. After 1976, small private businesses appeared. Now most businesses are owned privately (except a few big government-owned enterprises).

New buildings are built by private builders. Many factories, stores, restaurants, and hotels are owned privately. Real estate is priced 5 times higher than 5 years ago.

Gap The gap between the rich & poor keeps growing. Many people earn just 10,000 yuan per year (1 U.S. dollar equals about 8 Chinese yuan); some rich people earn several million.

Many people in their late 40’s or early 50’s got laid off with a pension of between 2000 and 8000 yuan per year. 2000 yuan isn’t enough for even a simple rural life; 8000 is barely enough to live in a small city.

People in the countryside have no pension. Some country areas are still very poor and get limited help from the government.

A few of the super “newly rich” enjoy the rich lifestyles they never dreamed of: some travel around the world, play golf, ride horses, drive Benz cars, have parties in fancy restaurants & nightclubs, live in fancy houses in different cities, have maids for housework, send their kids to the best schools overseas, and even buy millions of dollars’ worth of houses overseas, paying cash.

Back in the 1970’s, Deng Xiao Ping proclaimed, “Let some people get rich first.” Now most Chinese folks cynically call the newly rich the “Rich First” and call themselves the “Rich Later,” to kid they themselves might get rich later according to Deng Xiao Ping’s proclamation. If they get rich soon, China will be the best country in the world.

 

Most Chinese people think they live much better than 20 years ago, so the reformation’s good. But some think it’s worse because, in “Mao’s time,” you all worked for the country or the public; you felt and were called “masters of the country,” especially the working class; but now you suddenly must work for a person who used to be your fellow worker or someone who was no better than you except for luck. He becomes a big boss and gets rich, while you become his worker and stay poor.

The original idea of Communist society was:

That would be the ideal world to live in if it could come true. Unfortunately, when Communist parties came to power in the Soviet Union & China, instead of focusing on economic development they kept fighting “class struggle.” Meanwhile, since those who worked hard got paid about the same as those who worked less, there was no incentive to work hard. Moreover, some intellectuals were named “class enemies” and lost opportunities to contribute their knowledge; others had to use “half the heart” worrying whether class struggles would crush them. As a result of all that, the economy crashed, and the country plunged into poverty.

The Chinese people and their government were smart enough to change that situation before it was too late. Now they’re doing well — better than anyone expected. The recent success of sending an astronaut into the space and having him return shows Chinese technology’s great potential!

Report from year 2004

Russ & I went to China on January 19^th. It had been 6 years since my last personal visit. It was Russ’s first time to go. Both of us were excited.

Russ said he was looking forward to the long flight, so he could finally sleep without interruption. Poor guy!

Travel through China Our first surprise was the airports in Beijing & Chengdu: must be brand-new! They’re very modern & beautiful, like the great ones in the U.S.

Then we took a bus through Chengdu. The city wasn’t familiar to me anymore! Workers had constructed tall buildings & huge billboards, all new to me. So many cars, bicycles, pedestrians.… The city looked busy, lively, prosperous.

On the way to Jiangyou (2 hours north of Chengdu), we saw about 35 broken cars, all lined up on the highway and facing Chengdu, apparent victims of a chain-reaction car accident.

Condo My family welcomed us with a grand meal and brand-new condo!

Living it up Basic life is wonderfully inexpensive in Jiangyou and even in Chengdu. Every other day, my brothers and sister took us out for dinner. Then Russ wanted to treat my whole family:

Jiangyou is still a paradise of bargains for consumers like us, though fancy restaurants & hotels in Beijing and Shanghai can get as expensive as in the U.S.

But even in Jiangyou & Chengdu, a few stores are expensive. A shirt can cost $200 in some foreign-influenced clothing stores & department stores, which are so beautifully modern I thought I was in America.

Street scenes Traffic was a mess. Every time I took a taxi, I was scared to see that the driver constantly drove across the yellow center line to pass other cars.

Some streets weren’t clean. Trees, flowers, and plants were covered with dust. You’d just have a desire to grab a hose and spray water on them.

In front of our building was a huge new park inside a traffic rotary, about the size of a football field.

Retiring I have some “retired” relatives & friends who used to be teachers, accountants, and officials.

They look too young to have anything to do with retiring. They’re smart, professional, full of experience & energy. But they were “early retired” from organizations that downsized.

Every morning, they get up late. Some take a walk, then breakfast. After breakfast, they shop for lunch groceries, then cook lunch. Playing mahjong (a popular 4-person gambling game resembling poker) becomes their major activity.

They don’t feel good about themselves. They envy me because I work and I’m still “useful.”

Happy farmer Sichuan has a new kind of eatery, called a happy farmer.

Is China poor? I visited a happy-farmer eatery with my former colleagues, who were teachers. We talked about America & China. While playing mahjong, one retired teacher complained, “An unemployed person in America must get more money than me.” I laughed and replied, “Look, you’re wearing nice clothes and own a nice condo. You have pork, chicken, fish, rice, bread, vegetables, milk, and eggs on your table. You have health insurance. And you don’t have to work at age 55!”

Some Chinese think everybody in America is rich, and some Americans think all Chinese are poor.

Some regions of China are still very poor. Many people who got laid off are still poor.

Today the gap between the rich & poor is very big, among the biggest in the world. China needs to work on it. That’s what I bothered me most on this trip.

Report from year 2006

In August 2006, I returned to China for another 2-month vacation. I’d normally gone in winters, to catch the Chinese New Year holiday season; but my mom suggested I return in autumn instead, for a change, so we’d have more outdoor activities. So I went in August, even though I own a restaurant in New Hampshire and it was the restaurant’s busy season.

I was surprised to see American culture has crept more and more into Chinese daily life.

Pricey drinks I already knew China was changing daily, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if I’d seen a naked body-artist in the street. But what really surprised me was a Beijing outdoor pub selling a tiny glass (maybe 6 ounces) of mixed drink for 100 yuan ($13). My New Hampshire restaurant sells a 14-ounce mixed well liquor for just $4. Is China always as cheap as it’s famed to be?

Those Beijing pubs, over a hundred of them, sit along the beautiful royal lake in Beijing’s center. When we were there around midnight on a weekday, the pubs were packed and bands were loud, reminding me of New Orleans’ French Quarter.

3 of us each ordered a drink, totaling 300 yuan. I never drink alcohol, so I couldn’t tell whether the drink was good, but I was surprised at the fancy American-sounding names and tiny portions!

Pricey housing In Beijing in 2006, a normal person makes between 2000 and 5000 yuan a month ($260-$650), but a 3-bedroom condo costs between 1,000,000 and 2,000,000 yuan.

In China, houses are sold by the square meter. 10 years ago, Beijing’s houses were about 2000 yuan a square meter. They started going up to 3000, 4000, 5000 yuan.

But now no house in Beijing is under 10,000 yuan a square meter!

Millions of homeowners who bought earlier become millionaires! But now people complain that even if they’d saved money for 100 years, they still couldn’t afford a place in Beijing.

Shanghai is even more expensive. But the high prices aren’t just in big cities like Beijing & Shanghai. In the city where I grew up (Chengdu) and other medium and small cities, house prices all went up dramatically.

Pricey department stores Shopping in China’s department stores can be extremely expensive. American and European upscale brands such as Nike, Adidas, Lancôme, Maybelline, and L.A. Bag cost more in China than in America.

You’ll see a young guy who makes 2000 yuan a month spend 700 yuan for a pair of Nike shoes. Girls often use a month’s salary to buy expensive facial stuff.

Department stores look like those in the U.S., even fancier.

American intrusion American culture is intruding in every corner of China’s city life.

The first 3 days in Beijing, I felt sad, wondering how regular people could afford Beijing living. But I gradually discovered, to my relief, there were still some stores, supermarkets and restaurants that are less expensive.

Teaching English In China, English has been hot for the last 15 years. It’s getting even hotter.

Many native English speakers from the U.S., Britain, Canada, and Australia have gone to China to teach English. 5 years ago, they were making about 7000 yuan a month, while a Chinese college graduate would make only about 1000 yuan.

Recently, more and more foreigners have come to China to teach English. Now they make just 4000 or 5000 yuan a month, even less in small cities. They still make a bit more than regular Chinese people, since English is still hot.

Of course, Americans teach English in China not for the money but for a thrilling experience.

In Chengdu, I met two young college graduates from California, Mike and Cathy.

Many retired folks teach English in China. The only requirement is to be a “native English speaker.”

Teaching Japanese Some Japanese people teach in China, too. My daughter studies Japanese from a retired Japanese couple living in Beijing and says they’re very nice, don’t even charge her tuition.

American-global culture Most students in China’s colleges, high schools, and even middle schools are familiar with Michael Jordan, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts (nicknamed the “big-mouth beauty”), the Clinton couple, George Bush, Condi Rice, the Red Sox, the New York Yankees… Teenagers wear belly-baring jeans and wide, long T-shirts. They sing rap songs. Many people worry that China’s 5000-year culture will gradually fade away.

Though the U.S. hasn’t existed for even 300 years yet, it has a strong holiday culture, mostly borrowed from older European countries. No holiday can compare to Christmas, which overwhelms you completely with the holiday season’s atmosphere for a whole month, with so many songs and music to make your heart tender and peaceful. America’s stores, public places, and even homes seem always decorated for the next holiday. That idea’s been picked up now by China’s businesses & commercials, though Chinese New Year’s Day is still decorated with red lanterns, red-door “duilian” (like poems and calligraphy), and red carved pictures on the windows, accompanied by plenty of food and lion dances.

Living in a global village, each family borrows someone else’s ideas. The more you learn from others, the smarter & stronger you’ll become. That’s the case with today’s China.

Report from year 2008

In April 2008, I went to China to visit my mom for 2 months.

The airline lost my luggage. When I arrived at my mom’s home in Jiangyou, my relatives told me she’d suddenly died.

A few days later, China’s biggest earthquake hit:

My husband tried to cheer me up by saying God had treated me to a camping trip.

Not a pleasant trip! Friends died. I don’t want to talk more about it. It was a trip to forget.

Report from year 2011

In April 2011, I returned to China again. This time, the trip was uneventful, which means successful! I stayed 10 weeks.

I began by visiting my daughter Mimi in Beijing. She recently married a Chinese guy who calls himself “Simon” to honor the singer Paul Simon.

I’ve always thought of Mimi as my little girl who needed my care, but now she took care of me! During the 3 weeks I was with her, she & Simon piled as many nice treats as possible on me.

They got me 2 dental appointments and a health checkup. They took me to the theater and to play badminton. They took me to 798, which is the most famous art gallery district, converted from an abandoned factory; there she bought me a beautiful artistic shawl. We went to see a movie, from America, about a panda (Kung Fu Panda 2). She got me a perm & facial.

Hot pot China is famous for its hot-pot restaurants, where a waitress brings you a pot of spiced water to boil at your table. Then you submerge meats, fish, and vegetables: just dip the goodies in the pot, wait for them to heat, then pull them up to eat.

Pricey tiny China’s restaurant portions used to be big, as in the U.S., but now they’re so tiny they look like they’re from France. And of course, prices have soared.

In China, is eating cheap? Not anymore. Restaurant bargains are history.

Japanese in China Mimi & Simon took me to a nice Japanese restaurant in Beijing.

Mimi said that in Japan, where she worked a year, the food tastes really good, even in a small restaurant, but looks simpler. Here in Beijing the presentation is fancier.

Orchard Restaurant We visited the Orchard Restaurant, on the outskirts of Beijing.

Clothes Sadly, the Chinese in-crowd doesn’t like Chinese-branded clothes. They prefer foreign brands: European, American, Japanese, and Korean.

Housing On days when we didn’t go out for dinner, Mimi & Simon took me for walks in their walled-off, gated community, which featured a scenic garden with streams, waterfalls, bridges, and all sorts of trees & flowers.

People tell this joke:

That’s because the U.S. will give you a “green card” if you invest $500,000 in the U.S.

Beijing’s housing is expensive, advertised at 30,000 to 40,000 yuan per square meter ($430 to $575 per square foot). When I walk down the streets, I see real-estate-office windows advertising homes for 2,000,000-7,000,000 yuan ($300,000-$1,100,000). The closer to Beijing’s center, the higher the price.

Everyone who’s bought a home is thrilled at the investment. Two years ago, my sister bought a condo in the Sichuan city of Chengdu, and its value has already doubled. Mimi bought in Beijing, and hers doubled also, in a year and a half.

But folks who haven’t bought housing yet face a huge burden. The housing market is tough for youngsters who want to marry. People say:

The government’s tried many times to stop real-estate speculators. For example, China now has a law that if you buy real estate you must keep it at least 5 years before selling it. To buy housing in Beijing, you must prove you’ve lived & worked in Beijing for 5 years and paid your income taxes. But government’s restrictions are too late, since prices have already soared to the top.

In Beijing, people have built more net worth from housing bought a year ago than from a whole lifetime of earnings from hard work.

My brother has a friend who worked in Beijing for 25 years. When housing there cost 2,000 yuan per square meter many years ago, he thought it was “expensive.” Then he watched it go up fast and said, “No, no, no!” Now housing is up to 40,000 yuan per square meter, 20 times as high. He gave up on Beijing and turned back to Chengdu, where he got a nicer, bigger place for less money. I guess he feels sorry he missed the big chance to get rich.

2 years ago, when Beijing’s housing prices dipped briefly then started to rise again, Mimi thought of buying a 1-bedroom condo. I suggested 2 bedrooms instead. While she was looking, she discovered prices were soaring every day, so she took the 1-bedroom condo and said the delay cost her a car, because the price had gone up that much in just 2 weeks. But she still wound up happy, because her condo’s value doubled afterwards.

Chengdu You might already know these famous sayings about Chengdu (Sichuan’s capital):

Chengdu is like a beautiful lady: warm, charming, elegant, relaxing.

Chengdu’s won 2 awards:

In Chengdu no season’s bad for outdoor activity. Sure, summer is hot and winter is cold, but not extreme.

Sit outside? Impossible in Beijing’s freezing, windy winter! But Chengdu is okay: if you wear a coat, you can sit outside playing checkers & mahjong and sip tea at an outdoor teahouse, and you can do all sorts of exercise outdoors.

In Chengdu you can live luxuriously; but if you have less money, you can still lead a colorful life.

On Chengdu’s outskirts, many small towns have turned themselves into scenic spots. They’ve fixed up ancient buildings, to create quaint “ancient towns”.

Downtown Chengdu’s restaurants can be very fancy & expensive, but you can pay less by visiting smaller restaurants that are cheaper.

Clothes for me My brother Guangdi & his wife took me to a nice department store in Beijing to buy me clothes.

When I went to Chengdu I bought some clothes for just 150-550 yuan ($23-$85) but still very good quality & beautiful. I feel a lot more comfortable buying in Chengdu.

Relationships My trip consisted of too much social life.

My trip’s main pleasure was seeing that my daughter Mimi, after she married, grew up.

Touching devotion I want to talk about the woman who touched me most this time.

Her name is Xiao Shü. Back in 1994, she married Xiao Pei, who had a son from a previous marriage. That son had lived with his mother but moved in with Xiao Pei when he was 10 years old. At that time, the son, named Wei, was a rebellious boy who listened to nobody, gave a lot of back talk, wasn’t respectful, and didn’t care for school or anything else.

Xiao Pei’s friends asked, “What’s your son doing?” He fibs, “I don’t know. Maybe he’s a security guard somewhere.”

Xiao Pei’s a light-hearted, relaxed guy. His ancestors had been a prestigious family. His grandfather was a Sichuan high official. The family lived very richly before 1949, so Xiao Pei’s mom lived in high style when she was a kid. You can see some old rich family traits in Xiao Pei.

After the Communist Party came to power in 1949, the family’s wealth was confiscated, so the family suffered a poor life for many years.

Xiao Pei’s sister moved to the USA and told me, “The family is too luxurious! I must phone them to say hey, you guys gotta watch your health, don’t eat so much!” Here in the U.S. she’s adopted a simpler life.

Xiao Pei (whose son is in Switzerland) inherited his mother’s noble side and relaxed attitude about life. He loves to joke. He philosophizes, “Relax, don’t worry about a thing! Enjoy life! No matter how rich or poor, just enjoy life!”

His wife Xiao Shü loves him so much. She says, “When I come home, I see all the in-laws helping run his mother’s teahouse, so I just roll up my sleeves and pitch in. Everybody’s happy, so why should I complain? I do things happily too! I come to enjoy the family. I help with his mother’s housework; I clean & cook. It doesn’t bother me.”

So visiting her mother-in-law means lots of work, but she enjoys it.

Sometimes she complains to her husband Xiao Pei about things, but Xiao Pei doesn’t lose his temper or talk back. “What can you do if he doesn’t join the battle?” she sighed. But I see happiness written on her face. She’s proud of son Wei and carries his picture in her wallet. She showed me his picture: “My son, isn’t he handsome, like a movie star?”

Xiao Pei is my relative. When I visited his big family, they all talked about Xiao Shü. I feel she’s a hero. She’s smart and kind, and Xiao Pei is smart too, to marry her. She touched my heart.

Report from year 2013

In January 2013, I went back to China and stayed 6 months.

I became a grandma

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My daughter Mimi was pregnant. I arrived just 40 days before her expected delivery. I’d always hoped to go sooner to take care of her; but she always replied, “I’m all right. Don’t worry.”

My own baby, Mimi, had grown up and was going to have her own baby! Time flies!

Mimi, like most others in her generation, is an only child, part of China’s 1-child generation. An “only child” is usually considered more fragile than the parents, who were strengthened by learning to master more hardships in their lives. Nowadays, some pregnant Chinese women even quit their jobs soon after getting pregnant and stay home. But not Mimi, who kept working. To my surprise, she didn’t throw up during her pregnancy, which I guess was good for the baby. Whenever I asked Mimi “How are you feeling?” she always replied “I’m okay.”

Mimi would deliver by Caesarean section. I was worried and nervous. I asked “Are you nervous?” She said no.

When I was waiting for her to give birth, my palms were sweaty. I prayed silently, “God bless us. Keep safe both mother and baby, beautiful baby.” I repeated that prayer again and again and again, hoping God heard me and wouldn’t think I asked too much. Mimi’s husband said, “Don’t be nervous. They’ll be alright.”

Thank God, they were both alright! A nice cart was pushed toward me by 2 smiling nurses. In it was a beautiful baby! With the nurses’ “wow!” and “oh!” I saw, for the first time, a little baby wrapped in a pink baby blanket with a tiny pink face, closed eyes, and thick black hair! I’m a grandma now! I was thrilled this new little thing from now on would be an important part of my life and the tenderest part of my heart!

First month of life Traditionally, the first month after birth is the most important period for the new baby & mother. We call it zuo yuezi, meaning post-delivery 30-day care.

According to traditional zuo yuezi, the mother is supposed to:

That will help her recovery and prevent pains when she grows old.

Years ago, when most people were short of food and money, a new mother would take that month of fine food as a big treat. Alas, at the end of month, she’d find herself twice as fat.

During those 30 days, the baby’s not supposed to be carried outside. The baby’s wrapped in a little blanket, with legs & arms straight down so the baby can grow straight, shaped well.

Modern ideas have changed that tradition a bit: the 30 days can be shortened to just 2 weeks, depending on the woman’s health, assistants, and finances. People still do the zuo yuezi month care but often obey the old rules just halfway.

In Western countries (such as the U.S.), a new mother can leave her bed and care for the baby on the 3^rd day, drive a car on the 7^th day, and take the baby out to a restaurant or party; but Chinese women aren’t so brave: they think Western women might be stronger physically. It’s unthinkable to take a Chinese baby out by the 7^th day. The most a Chinese mother will do at that time is walk around the room and help the baby a little, while a grandmother and other relatives normally come to help. Sometimes a yue shao (professional first-month nanny) is hired.

Mimi got out of the bed on the 3^rd day, as ordered by her doctor. She walked, with difficulty, in her hospital room, to do little exercises. She acted much braver & stronger than I expected. We came back home on the 5^th day.

Mimi hired a yue shao nanny to help her through the important first month.

Our yue shao was a 49-year-old woman from a rural area 100 miles from Beijing. We called her “Sister Ma”. She’d done
yue shao work for 10 years. She proudly showed us dozens of photos of babies she’d taken care of.

She turned out to be very good. My granddaughter Mia stopped crying as soon as in Sister Ma’s arms. She took care of the baby (with feeding & washing) and cooked some of Mimi’s food. Everything went great.

Mimi bought a miniature swimming pool. Mia was put into the water, with a float around her neck, when she was just 2-weeks old!

I thought I’d be a big help to Mimi during this period. I was ready to do anything to help. But since Sister Ma did most of the work, I had an easy time and lots of fun admiring the baby. I guess Mimi just didn’t want me to work too hard.

Sister Ma was an excellent cook. She was proudly told us how she used to own a small restaurant, where she & her husband worked hard for 10 years, making some money but not much. When she found the opportunity to become a yue shao nanny, they closed the restaurant. After training for several months in classes, she became a yue shao nanny. She was proud she was now making a lot more money than a regular maid and more money than her husband, who was working for another restaurant.

The couple has 2 daughters: the older graduated from college, got a good job, and would marry happily soon; the younger was still in college. Sister Ma hoped her daughters would be professionals and have better lives than hers.

Sister Ma and I had lots of fun together taking care of my granddaughter. We also had a good time cooking and discussing how to make their North China food.

At the end of the month (actually 26 days), Sister Ma left us for her next job. She was reserved for 6 babies coming in the next 6 months.

Nanny Zhang When Sister Ma left us, Mimi hired another nanny, a pretty 38-year-old woman named Zhang.

Most nannies are from rural areas, but Zhang was from a city (in Hubei Province). Unlike a typical maid, Zhang was dressed in modern city style, and she’s pretty. She said she’d done different jobs in her life: her last job before coming to Beijing was running a small clothing store.

To our surprise and disappointment, she didn’t know how to cook. She didn’t even know how to cook rice! So I decided to do all the cooking, while she mainly took care of the baby.

When she had time, she came to the kitchen and watched me cook.

Every day, she & I took Mia out to the yard for a walk.

Zhang had a 12-year-old son living with his grandma back home.

Hunt for money Nowadays, many Chinese have gone crazy about making money. They think nothing’s more important than making money: having lived in poverty for decades, now’s the time to end it!

Parents from rural & poor areas come to big cities (such as Beijing), leave their young kids behind with grandparents, and return home just for the Chinese New Year, if at all.

So many rural kids live with their grandparents and don’t see their parents except a few days each year!

3 stages of life I often heard this saying:

I don’t know if that saying is by Chinese or Americans. By contrast, people say:

Why the difference?

Are Chinese kids thrown into a battleground as soon as they enter kindergarten?

As for Chinese old folks, are they living in a heaven? That depends on what you think a heaven is, and of course it’s not for everybody. A good thing in China is that people retire earlier — women at 50 or 55, men at 55 or 60 — so they get 6 to 16 more years than Americans to enjoy retired life.

Americans are more independent in their lives.

When Chinese retire, even though some are just 50 years old and look so young and so good, they want to find ways to spend time together, enjoy life, be healthy and feel good.

That’s why you see, in all Chinese cities, big and small, in all their public parks, squares, and other nice spaces, old people are doing all sorts of exercises in the early morning. Some are doing air tai chi, some are doing kung fu, some are dancing, some just walk around stretching arms & legs. After finishing the exercises, they scatter into markets then home to do housework. In the evening, dance parties are everywhere, joined by more people, even middle-aged ones.

Chengdu entertainment One evening when I was in a bus in Chengdu (Sichuan’s capital), I saw many groups of women dancing in front of big department stores, since the stores have big spaces in front. One group had about 50 people, waving big beautiful Chinese fans (made of pink silk) and shaking to the beat of beautiful Chinese folk-dance music. I wished I could jump off the bus to watch.

Chengdu’s old people are more “crazy” about entertainment than people in other cities. Chengdu is famous for its relaxing lifestyle.

I’d often heard about the entertainment in Chengdu People’s Park.

Beijing entertainment Back in Beijing, I was impressed by some retired people’s singing groups.

Every other morning, I went to a big market for fresh vegetables, fruits and other stuff. That market’s behind a subway station, which in turn was behind a huge square with a fountain, statues, and flower gardens.

Nearby was a long line of small exercise devices for people to work on their legs, arms, backs, and waists. Next you saw small karaoke groups, musical-instrument players, and one or two small dancing groups. Young people were roller skating. Kids with grandparents were flying kites.

But the most attractive group was a big chorus group, over 100 people, with a conductor and small band practicing old songs.

One Sunday afternoon, I went to the famous “Zizhu yuan” Park to meet my brother’s family.

Traveling oldsters Besides musical entertainment, old folks like to travel.

More and more retired people get together to go to famous places they hadn’t seen yet. To do so, they don’t have to be rich, just lucky enough to have good health and not be poor. Each year, they can explore a different place, to enjoy their many years of retirement.

Report from year 2016

In 2016, I saw China’s shiny WeChat future and the ghost of John Chen from China’s painful past.

WeChat: diamond or disaster? If you ask me what’s hot in China today, I’d say WeChat. From 3-year-olds to 90-year-olds, everyone seems to have things to do with it.

WeChat’s a social network that I feel combines functions of Facebook, Twitter, Facetime, Skype, Weibo, blogs, cameras, camcorders, phone-text messages, answering machines, and free phone calls through Wi-Fi. Friends pass around news, videos, movies, shows, jokes, photos, articles, chicken-soup-for-the-soul tales, health tips, and so on.

In WeChat, you have individual contacts and all sorts of groups, each with from 3 members to 300 or more. Some groups are so big that most people in it don’t even know each other. Plus, you have a biggest friend circle automatically with all your individual contacts. When you publish or forward something to that circle, all your individual contacts can see it, and you can see their responses.

It seems everyone in China (plus every overseas Chinese, like me) is heavily involved in WeChat. Every morning, I wake up to grab my phone, and every night I fall sleep with my phone still in my hand.

Now there are warnings:

The critics called WeChat a “new opiate” that will hurt China more than the old one, which caused the Opium Wars over 100 years ago. They warn people: put down your phone and pick up your books!

A cartoon says:

But people are just so hopelessly addicted to it. Old folks who never saw their kids & grandkids now can see them and talk face-to-face over WeChat. For old folks, lonely & lost, retired life becomes more fun.

That’s WeChat! Good or bad, it entered and changed Chinese-speaking people’s lives, in China and all over the world.

My teacher: John Chen Recently an old classmate wrote an article to memorialize John Chen, our phys-ed teacher in middle school almost 50 years ago. The article caused a sensation among the old schoolmates. More articles, comments, sighs, and tears followed. Before my eyes, Mr. Chen’s suntanned face, Sichuan-accent voice, and winking smiles came alive.

In 1966, when I was in middle school, the
“Cultural Revolution” started. Suddenly all schools, from elementary to colleges, all over the country, stopped normal classes. The Big Connection started:

Beijing’s students went out to different places to stir up the revolution’s fire, and so the exciting & fanatical revolution storm was spread to every corner of China.

All school authorities were knocked down. Teachers & professors were vulnerable. Those who were outstanding in the academy, born in a rich family, associated with the ousted GMD Party or government, were targets of this revolution.

In 1968, the Working Class — China’s leading class — entered schools nationwide to help control the mess & riots in schools. Ordinary factory workers became the heads of schools & colleges. So it was in my school.

One sunny morning in September 1968 in my school’s small playground, the whole school was having a meeting. Suddenly the loudspeaker yelled “Grab out the anti-revolutionary, the flying devil J. Chen!” Suddenly a group of tough-looking working men, like sweeping thunder & lightning, grabbed one of the teachers at the back of the meeting, as if grabbing a chicken. Everyone looked back. Chen — his arms twisted & yanked behind him, his head pushed low — was rushed down the aisle, like a rumbling typhoon, up to the stage in a few seconds, while the loudspeaker was yelling “Down with the anti-revolutionary
J. Chen! Down with the flying devil J. Chen!”

On the stage, Chen was grabbed by 2 guys into a “jet plane” (they typical way in those years, pushing a person’s head very low and raised the person’s arms back high, as if a jet plane). A paper dunce cap, tall & pointed, was put atop his head. A big wooden board with a red X on his name and marked “anti-revolutionary” and “flying devil” was hung on his bent neck.

Whenever I thought of that moment, I wondered how Teacher Chen was feeling, if he could feel at all. Hearing those shouting “down with” and “grab out” with his own name, did he feel thunderstruck shocked, or heartbroken grief, or liver-cracking frightened, or drowning in despair? What was like to fall into an “18-floor-deep hell” in just in one second?

The middle-school teenagers soon recovered from the first shock, telling themselves: it’s great to ferret out a hidden enemy from the revolutionary stronghold. As this was not the first “class enemy” ferreted out from the school, they got used to it immediately. They joined in the deafening slogan-yelling. The crime Chen committed was announced: he was a pilot in the GMD air force during the anti-Japanese War. (The GuoMinDang government was led by Chiang Kai-shek but overthrown and fled to Taiwan in 1949.)

After accusing him of all sorts of “crimes” at the meeting, a parade started.

After that day, he was put into the “Monster’s Room”, a small dark room, together with other “Monsters” ferreted out before him: 1 was the headmaster, plus 2 teachers and a quartermaster.

Occasionally they were taken to a meeting to be tortured, either as the main target or just to accompany someone else. Sometimes one of them was chosen by a group of “revolutionary little fighters,” just to practice revolutionary struggle. Once I saw Chen was surrounded by a group, pushed around and whipped with a belt in the cafeteria. Some of those “revolutionary little fighters” were my classmates!

Often we saw the “Monsters” run around the small playground while chanting “Down with anti-revolutionary ___,” inserting their own names. Students, having no classes those days, stood around or stuck their heads out from surrounding classrooms, to watch. Day after day, neither the “Monsters” nor the watchers felt shame or unease anymore. Everybody got used to it.

Most days, things were not too bad: the “Monsters” did just physical labor, but I guess they’d rather do that. They did the entire school’s farmer work, which had been done by us students. They did all repairs & construction jobs, which also had been student jobs. So it was the first time students got off easy, fooling around.

If Chen could get through a few more years, he’d have gotten out of that dark hell and come back to the sunny world. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see that. He chose to give up his hopeless, endless, dark, humiliated life. He hung himself in his room.

Chen’s oldest son was notified to come deal with the “aftermath issue.”

Teacher Chen had been a young army man in the famous Expedition Army air force during the World War 2.

Today everything there is quiet and peaceful, that part of bloody history gone forever with the wind.

My classmate’s article brought me back to those days. In my mind, I saw Teacher Chen playing basketball, doing the horizontal bar, marching our teams, blowing a whistle at sports meet... and the scene where he was beaten and made a “jet plane.”

I hope, I pray: the Cultural Revolution will never happen again. Never!!!

Report from year 2020

The novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic makes the world a disaster hell, plus makes the U.S. the horrible enemy of a big portion of Chinese people again!

The Korean war (1950-1953) and Vietnam war (1955-1975) made the U.S. be China’s enemy. China’s Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) also made the U.S. scared of China. But in 1969, leaders of China and the U.S. both expressed a desire to get friendly and get out of Vietnam. In 1972, President Nixon visited Mao; they and their assistants had friendly chats. When Deng Xiaoping became China’s leader in December 1978, he started reforming the economy and opening the door. In 1979, formal diplomatic relations began between the U.S. and China, and they opened embassies in each other’s country. Then the 2 countries became friendly. For the first time since 1949 (when Mao founded the People’s Republic of China), the Chinese could go abroad!

Discovering the world When the first group of Chinese “stepped out of the door,” they discovered the world was different than expected. When I was growing up in China, school taught us ⅔ of the world lives in “deep water and hot fire” and our task is to liberate those people when we grow up. But then “rumors” came back that Americans live in beautiful, fancy, single houses with backyard swimming pools, and everybody has a car!

Then the Chinese fell in love with Michael Jackson, Michael Jorden, Hollywood movies & stars, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, bikinis, and disco. Young people became more familiar with Michael Jackson than with Confucius.

Learning English became hot! So did English songs.

America was admired and longed for! America became our friend.

People tried every way to find opportunities to get into the U.S. Students, officials, and entrepreneurs came to the U.S. to learn many things, especially how Americans run businesses.

Even my mother was surprised to see everybody pushing carts in supermarket aisles, when she visited me here in New Hampshire in 2000. But when she went back to China one year later, she found supermarkets were everywhere in big & small cities, with customers pushing the same shopping carts in stores.

It’s been 40 years since China opened its door. The desire to go to the U.S. hasn’t decreased, though more and more students return to China after graduation. Yes, Chinese parents still dream of sending their kids to the U.S. to study, even though that costs some parents a whole lifetime of savings! For parents who are rich, no problem!

Now Americans seem more tolerant of non-democratic China. Some Chinese joke the Sino-American relationship is like a pair of lovers, who can’t be without each other and can’t be with.

What went wrong In 2020, things changed. Now China seems to have a big stormy anti-U.S. feeling, spreading through WeChat (the world’s most-used social media, with more users than Facebook & Twitter combined).

Almost everyone in China, from teenagers to 90-year-olds, uses WeChat and joins some sorts of WeChat groups. The groups come in all sizes, from 3 people to over 500. Groups have different social circles, some for families, friends, colleagues, management groups, school or classmates, teacher-parent groups, merchant-customer groups, former army men, hobby friends, and travelers. News & opinions spread like lightning! Videos, pictures, shows, movies, music, and jokes — everything can be passed around.

The coronavirus pandemic was one such story, which caused hatred against the U.S., because China and the U.S. blame each other for starting the virus.

Publicizing the virus On December 30, 2019, eye doctor Li Wenliang posted a warning (to his former medical schoolmates’ WeChat group), saying several people in Wuhan (a big city of 11 million residents) were diagnosed with a SARS-virus kind of disease. The next day, he was forced to go to the local police station, where he got criticized for creating a rumor and had to sign a paper promising to stop rumoring. The next day, the hospital talked to him and 7 other doctors, telling them all to stop.

Those 8 doctors were criticized on CCTV (China’s biggest TV network), which said the disease was not spreading and those doctors created a false rumor.

Around Chinese New Year’s Day (January 25, 2020), Wuhan held many parties, including a 100-family banquet and a big Chinese New Year Show. Then the virus spread quickly.

Dr. Zhong Nanshan, a top medical academician of China, came to Wuhan to investigate. CCTV announced his investigation’s result: this is indeed an extremely dangerous virus spreading among humans. Then Wuhan was sealed off: no traffic was permitted, and no vehicles, trains, or airplanes were allowed in or out. No people were allowed in the street.

That was explosive news! The whole country and whole world were talking about Wuhan. WeChat talked of nothing but the virus.

FangFang’s diary Among all those reports, one online diary has attracted tens of millions of eyes. That diary was written by FangFang, a 63-year-old woman who heads the professional writers’ association of Hubei Province. She wrote about her daily life in Wuhan during the 60 days when Wuhan was sealed off. She also wrote about people’s fears, despair, and death. She wrote about what she heard from her families, doctor friends, and other friends.

To her and everybody’s surprise, Fangfang’s diaries (written on the Weibo blog) were passed around like a gust of wind through WeChat to every corner of the country. People started to know what was going on in Wuhan.

Her diaries had tens of millions of readers. For many people, the first thing to do every day was searching for her diary on the Internet. People loved reading its entries and felt those stories sounded true.

Gradually, things changed. The Chinese government sent 6000 medical personnel to Wuhan. In 10 days, 2 huge temporary hospitals were built; all people suspected of having the virus were taken in and treated. All Chinese cities were ordered stay-at-home. In short time, Wuhan’s situation was controlled; the turning point appeared. In a little more than two months, the pandemic had ended throughout the whole country!

From initial anger, people’s feelings turned to be excited and proud!

But people looking again at FangFang’s diaries began to criticize them a lot, and the criticisms became stronger every day.

Some said:

When they heard Fangfang’s dairy would be translated to many languages and published in many countries including U.S., more severe attacks came. I’ll explain why, but first take a peek at the diary yourself!

Here’s part of her diary’s first day (January 25, 2020, Chinese New Year’s Day):

Here’s part of her diary’s entry on January 29:

The 60-day diary’s other pages are in the same style, taking about more people dead, more daily bad news, then some good news, anger at bad officials, and praise for the medical staff & volunteers coming from all China & around the world.

Left versus right FangFang faced many curses and then even threats to her life. When her diary was to be published in the U.S., a big battle started! “For or against Fangfang” became a dividing line. Is FangFang a sunlight or a witch? That’s a big question among friends, classmates, acquaintances and family members. It rips social harmony apart. WeChat and Webo became battle ground.

Leftists think:

Rightists reply:

 

Leftists think:

Rightists reply:

Leftists complain:

Rightists reply:

Leftists think:

Rightists reply:

When Western countries talk about having China compensate their virus losses, leftists concentrate their anger on FangFang. They emphasize she’s a big traitor, bringing huge loss to China. One artist wants to make a statue of her kneeling down to apologize to the whole country, in a public park. One kung-fu leader openly suggests kung-fu guys give her a beat-up lesson whenever they see her. She even got death threats. But rightists reply:

Leftists think:

Rightists reply:

Leftists are angry. They think:

Both leftists & rightists tried hard to prove:

Leftists think:

Rightists reply:

China has over 1.4 billion people. Now it seems more than half are leftist.

Be thankful I think all Chinese people realize:

The 1.4 billion Chinese people now have enough food on their tables. Compared to 50 years ago, when people were half-starved, now people eat well and feel that, every day, they can eat like on a holiday.

Clothing used to just keep us warm. Now it’s to look nice, fashionable, and beautiful.

In the past 30 years, 600 million people got out of poverty, though a few million stragglers are trying to catch up. In recent years, the government’s been sending its employees, even schoolteachers, to impoverished regions to help families improve their lives, by giving them government subsidies, helping them grow crops or start small businesses. “Assisting the poor” has become an important task at all government levels. No another country has ever done that so much.

High-speed railways & highways are all over the country.

In cities, most families have cars. 40 years ago, hardly any families did.

Big cities have changed into advanced modern international cities. Medium & small towns have become comfortable & attractive, with local, stylish, beautiful, scenic places.

People have money in their pockets and banks. “Young-looking” retired people enjoy their colorful lives of traveling, partying, singing, and dancing. Chinese tourists are all over the world!

In the countryside, farmers are spared from taxation. For the first time in thousands of years, farmers or peasants pay no tax.

China’s economy has grown; it’s become the second biggest in the whole world.

When the virus suddenly destroyed the happy life, the Chinese government had the strong hand to end the virus fast.

People learned to trust their government, as strongly as ever! China’s government should be proud of that! People trust the government so much that they don’t want to hear any criticism. They’re so proud of their country, they can’t bear any threats from outside. Then the U.S. has become the worst enemy. And Fangfang was called the shameful minion helping destroy that success; her supporters are called “anti-government separatists.”

Some extreme leftists go so far as to say the 10-year
Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) was necessary, even though the Chinese Communist party already declared 40 years ago that the Cultural Revolution was a disaster to China.

People would never forget those miserable, scary, red-horrible 10 years! Some people say those extreme leftists would have been those same bad people in those times.

Many intellectuals, professors, writers, and highly educated people say money’s not everything! How about corruption at all levels and everywhere, cheating & dishonesty in all ranks and all corners? How about democracy, equality, and freedom, including freedom of speech? Do we need to rise to a higher level of a better society? They remind us: Americans have been China’s friends. The U.S. has been the most helpful country to China, in all time. We 2 big countries need each other to create a better future for both of us and for the world.

Do we need to make the U.S. our worst enemy?

 

Americans are warm and helpful.

Bleeding bicyclist

Recently, I read a revealing news item on a Chinese website: A girl on a bicycle was knocked down by a bus in a Chinese city. While a shocked crowd stared at her and didn’t know what to do, a blonde girl rushed in and told a bystander in English to call 119 (like 911 here). Then the blonde sent the bleeding bicyclist to a nearby hospital and waited there until the bicyclist was taken good care of.

Later it was discovered that the blonde was an American teaching English in a college in that city. When a reporter eventually asked some witnesses why they didn’t help, they said they thought the 2 girls must have known each other.

But that’s something a typical American would do anytime anywhere.

Banker’s bathroom

The first time I received an American helping hand was about going to the bathroom. When I first came to the U.S. and was walking in a Kansas town, I felt a pain in my belly. I needed to go to a ladies’ room right away.

I looked around anxiously. Just a bank building was nearby. I hesitated and went in.

It was a beautiful bank. A very professionally dressed woman stood up, smiled at me, and asked how she could help. Embarrassed, I asked if the bank had a ladies’ room.

She said “sure” cheerfully, without losing her smile. She pointed in the direction and said something I didn’t quite catch. She saw my puzzled look and said, “I’ll show you.” She left her desk and led me across the hallway, turned, and walked all the way to the door of the ladies’ room.

My heart was touched. It was a small thing, but you couldn’t expect such a “small thing” to happen in China. A beautiful professional lady walks a stranger, a non-customer, to a bathroom!

Gradually I found “being helpful” is Americans’ spirit. Many times when I asked somebody for directions, I found myself in the center of several people discussing and showing me the way.

Baggage

The first time I went to New York City, the bus arrived about 1:00AM. Getting off with 3 big cases and 2 small ones, I didn’t know what to do. I dragged the cases step by step, one at a time.

A black guy passing by offered to help. He carried 2 cases and walked in front. I followed, my heart beating fast. At that time of night, with New York City’s fame, I was scared.

We walked a long way out to the street.

He stopped a taxi; said “Good luck,” and walked away. Before I said thanks, he disappeared into the darkness.

Everywhere

Americans can’t bear breakdowns, bullying, and broken lives.

Americans can’t bear watching cars stuck along the highway in the snow: they jump to help. Americans can’t bear watching one nation bully another: they try to stop it. Americans can’t bear watching African skin-and-bone kids go hungry: they donate money for food and school education.

Americans’ helping hands are everywhere. They’re the best thing about this country.

Chinese is hard to learn — and so is English.

English is the easiest language to speak poorly

I’ve been the Queen of Poor English.

What’s in that egg roll? When I worked in a Chinese restaurant some years ago, a customer asked me what was in the egg roll.

Another time, I thought I remarked to a customer, “Americans like to go to restaurant.”

The long road to English I learned most of my English in China. When I first came to the U.S., people thought I must have been here 10 years.

But later, after I’d actually been here 10 years, I still made all sorts of mistakes when speaking English. Even worse, I still had a hard time understanding TV and movies. I couldn’t enjoy TV shows, good movies, or news on the radio. That made my boring life even more boring. I was frustrated.

English is difficult. I know many Chinese people who’ve lived here over 20 years, worked in Chinese restaurant kitchens all that time, and can hardly speak any English. Even those who got master’s degrees or doctorates in the U.S and lived here many years still occasionally say “he” when meaning “she.”

The Chinese language is much easier.

In China, students start taking English courses in the 7^th grade — now some schools start from the 3^rd grade, some even from kindergarten — and continue all the way through college. But they learn English mainly by reading books, with little chance of listening and speaking to native English speakers. That was also my way of learning English.

Listening comprehension is even harder than speaking.

I asked Russ why I could understand him perfectly but not TV or radio. Russ said he slowed down a bit when talking to me. But that’s almost not true! We’ve talked about everything, every topic, though sometimes he had to repeat what he said.

 

Speak like a snake Russ decided to improve my English.

Russ felt amused at my created sentences, like “I’m so eager to sleep.” (He told me to say just “I’m so sleepy.”)

Russ said instead of my English getting better, his English was getting worse. He found himself sometimes using strange words, and he picked up some of my accent, like “So nice!” and
“So fast!” and “So beautiful!”

Peanuts or penis? Once, I was supposed to sell peanut M&M’s to raise money for the Special Olympics. I told Russ I was scared to say “peanuts,” for fear of being misunderstood as “penis.” Russ burst into laughter and pronounced the 2 words for me. I couldn’t tell much difference. He pronounced again.

Then he tested me.

Improving, bit by bit Eventually, Russ rented movies and trained me by explaining them to me. He stopped every few minutes and asked if I understood. Though I hated too much interruption, I enjoyed some very good movies and felt I understood better.

My English was improving, bit by bit. One day, after talking a long time without being interrupted by Russ’s correction, I said proudly, “Hey, Russ, have you noticed I made less mistakes recently?”

Russ said, “Y-y-y-yes. But… it should be ‘fewer mistakes,’ dear.”

American clichés

Some everyday dialogues are so familiar to our ears that we don’t have to think twice when we talk. They become verbal form letters.

It’s amazing! Everywhere in the U.S., you hear the same dialogues, even with the same accents — to my ears:

Maybe I’m the only person who pays attention to those everyday simple conversations. The reason is: you can’t find the same situation in China.

Chinese dialects

People in one Chinese province might not understand a single word from people in another province, though all Chinese people use the same written language. People from different provinces can communicate just if they both agree to speak Mandarin.

There are 5 main dialects in China’s 29 provinces:

All 5 of those dialects are used by China’s majority “Han” nationality. There are still 53 other minorities (such as Tibetan, Hui, and Uyghur), who have their own languages; some even have their own written languages!

Even in Northern provinces, people speak Mandarin with all sorts of provincial accents. Beijing’s Mandarin is considered the basic Mandarin.

I’m from Szechuan province. Szechuan dialect belongs to the Northern dialect, close to Mandarin but still different. I can speak Mandarin. I understand very little Cantonese and Shanghai dialect. I understand no other dialects at all.

China’s only cliché?

Maybe there’s just one old common everyday cliché in China: “Have you eaten?” That’s because China has a well-known saying: “For common people, food is heaven.”

 

Here’s how my Chinese girlfriends succeeded when they came to America. (To protect their privacy, I’ve altered their names here.)

Restaurant owner

My friend “Ying” came from my Sichuan hometown 10 years ago when she was 25 years old. She was so sweet and beautiful that she immediately attracted the men in the New York City restaurant where she worked as a busgirl. The restaurant was busy. It was a totally different life from China, where she’d been a magazine editor. All the restaurant guys, from the owner to the dishwasher, were very friendly and helpful. Everybody tried to do some part of her job, which made that first American job easier and less stressful.

 

Finding a husband Her mom told her to find a good guy in America and get married, so she started getting to know some guys: restaurant workers, owners, a businessman with properties in Long Island, a writer and magazine publisher, a European student from the same English school she went to, and a Ph.D. student; but she hated those who tried to touch her when first meeting in a restaurant.

Finally, her future husband showed up: a handsome guy, 2 years younger, happy and confident. He worked in a Chinese restaurant as a cook and delivery guy. He was very nice but had no green card. I told her to think twice: without a green card, you can’t visit China, because you’re not allowed to come back. One day shortly after they met, she phoned me and said “I got married.” I thought she was joking. “To whom?” “Who else do you think it could be?”

Later, she told me the guy had never dared to touch her hand for a whole month, even alone with her in a car or walking her home at night after work. He was so respectful and sincere, he touched her heart. (Her mother later joked that he was the smartest suitor.)

Newlyweds When they were first married, they lived in a basement in the New York City’s Flushing section (which is part of Queens). After the first baby was born, they moved to an apartment with shared kitchen and bathroom; even the living room was occupied by somebody. When the baby girl was 8 months old, she was sent back to China to be taken care of by her grandparents.

Owning a restaurant Ying borrowed 80,000 U.S. dollars from her rich parents in China and bought a Chinese restaurant in New Jersey. That was in 1999; ever since, she and her husband have worked 7 days a week, 10 to 12 hours a day — except she had another two babies, both sent back to China.

She worked as a hostess and cashier. She also took phone orders, bussed tables, and packed takeout orders. I suggested that on slow days, she should take time off; but she just couldn’t. Even when she went out shopping, she had to rush back, for fear that something would happen while she was away.

After 2 or 3 years, she felt tired. She started to complain that she felt like she was in a jail. She griped, “Even if you were to make over a million dollars in 10 years, would anybody be willing to stay in jail for 10 years for a million dollars?” She felt it wasn’t worth it. She missed China badly.

Fortunately, the business has been improving, up 30%, up 40%, doubled, more than doubled! She started to enjoy working and knowing customers. She started to get use to it.

Buying houses They bought their first townhouse, big and brand new with hardwood floor. They bought beautiful, fancy furniture. They had a beautiful fence built. Later, they bought a second house to rent out. With $15,000 a month income, they plan to buy more houses.

Happy reunion Recently their three kids (ages 9, 7, and 3) came back from China. The family is reunited.

Ying says she’s doesn’t miss China any more. “I might not find a nice job there and make so much money. I’m better off realizing my American dream here!”

Nurse

My friend “Hui” is in her late 40’s. She’s been in America for about 20 years.

Jobs She’s a registered-nurse supervisor. Like most Chinese students in America then, she’d worked in America’s Chinese restaurants. Even after she became an RN, she still kept a part-time waitress job and lived in a cheap rented room.

Singing She sings well. She was the soloist in a Chinese singing group in Boston. They performed even in the theaters of Harvard and M.I.T.

Finding a husband When she was almost 40 years old, she married a medical guy. He’d been a medical doctor in China but couldn’t work as a doctor here in America, so he became a medical technician.

Investments The couple bought a small condo in Boston for about $90,000. Soon after, they also bought a 2-family house: they lived in one unit and rented out the other. They also rented out the condo. They used the rent to pay the mortgage, so they lived somewhat free.

A couple of years later, house prices in Boston soared. They sold their condo and made over $270,000 dollars profit! Then they bought more property in Florida.

At the same time, they invested in a 401-K plan, whole-life insurance, and a mutual fund. She says they’ve been very lucky. Their mutual fund’s been doing great. Their money doubled in 5 years; maybe it will double every 5 years. The couple made about a $100,000 total salary a year, and they were lucky investing money. When they reach retirement age, 15 years from now, they’ll have more than $2,000,000 worth of property and money, she estimated.

Family life Recently, I visited her home: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, not fancy, but comfortable. Their 7-year-old son practices piano and, like a typical Chinese kid, also goes to Chinese-language school on Sundays, art class on Saturdays, swimming class, and so on.

The family looks just average and living paycheck-to-paycheck, but actually they’re doing great! They feel good about it.

5 principles

Seeing those girlfriends and many other Chinese-American friends, I figure that the Chinese way to succeed is follow these 5 principles:

But not all successful Chinese-Americans did those good things. Some Chinese don’t care much about regulations or laws: they take big advantage of Uncle Sam and get rich fast. That’s a different issue, which I’ll discuss in future editions.