my 语伴 and the college application process in China

My language partner and I would often compare our respective educations, and I learned alot about the Chinese college application process that I would probably forget if I didn't post it here for posterity, so here goes.

According to my yuban, and to parts of our textbook (thank you 高考 lesson) the only thing that matters in a Chinese high school student's application to college is their score on one test, the gaokao. Let me be clear here: nothing else is factored in except for their score. After taking the test, students can apply to one A level college, with a few other lower level colleges as backup. The top colleges in Beijing (Beida and Qinghua) take the students with highest combined scores on the test, stopping admission after the quota of top scores has been reached. If you are a point too low, you try to enter your safety school in another round but often the quotas have already been filled and you are out of luck. Some people are forced or choose to wait another year and take the gaokao again. While the Chinese compare the test to the SAT, it is much more comprehensive, testing student's English skills as well as higher level math and other subjects (I don't remember anything on the SAT that we didn't learn in middle school) so these students all take that time to review. However a few don't get a satisfactory score even on the second time and end up waiting another year or two to make a good score.

The gaokao doesn't only decide where you go to college. Once you get into a school, your scores on the gaokao determine your major. You can write a list of your top major choices, but if your combined score is too low compared to your peers, the quota for the major could be filled before you are chosen and you could end up in something different. For instance my language partner was placed into the German major by his scores (the test itself has no German).

As an American, I initially thought that this method was ethically questionable for not allowing students to totally follow their interests, both by having quotas for a major and by only weighing the gaokao during the college process (thereby discouraging students' participation in extracurricular activities and in non-gaokao-related classes). However despite its problems, it is certainly an efficient strategy for China. With such a huge population and a comparably small network of high-level learning institutions, this method is a simple way to single out traditionally "smart" people and get the highest scoring students into the best institutions. Major quotas also ensure that each job sector always have educated people willing to work in it. (My yuban explained it to me this way: if students could choose here, everyone would take economics because making money is socially the most important thing.) There are of course plenty of negatives to the method, but in general its outcomes seems to fit with and perpetuate the current pattern of efficiency and rapid progress in China.

Well thats all I really can think to say about this now. Always willing to talk though...

西安－－Chang Hen Ger

The other most memorable part of the trip to 西安 was one of the night's entertainment, a performance of Chinese opera. I'll apologize in advance here for not having any pictures of the experience (we were told not to bring cameras in), but they would have definitely been inadequate.
Chang hen ger is a piece of Chinese epic poetry written by one of China's most famous ancient poets during the Tang dynasty. Many look on this time as China's ancient golden age, and the opulence of the costumes and scenery definitely fit with that notion. The story is set in the Tang court, where the emperor is introduced to the love of his life. As a matter of fact, The two fall so deeply in love that the emperor totally neglects his duties, leading to all sorts of problems (I won't spoil the plot-if you are ever in Xi'an, you must go watch for yourself).
I keep getting sidetracked here talking about all of the elements of the production, but in the end what I really just need to talk about the special effects, the most over the top that I have ever come into contact with. The whole show was situated at an amphitheater in front of a lake. The lake appeared normal to a casual view, but after the show started we discovered that it was more machine than water, full of hydraulic platforms, fountains, and lights. Behind all of this was the extremely ornate palace, and behind that was a (real) mountain. The entire audience experienced a huge shock when the opera's "night" arrived and rather than just dimming the lights, the mountainside was lit up with countless "stars," lights that had been placed across the entire mountainside. After that point, a giant mechanical moon rose over the mountain's peak. Really? Really?

PS--I was so impressed with the opera that I almost forgot to mention that there was no actual singing and that all of the music was recorded. :P

西安－－the wall

Xi'an as a city was clearly an ancient place. Nothing could have made this fact clearer than the ancient city wall, which stretched around a the parts of the city built before about 1400. On our first day in the city, we traveled to the city wall, with the plan to bike around it. As we climbed to the top, I was once again hit by the seemingly excessive architectural proclivities of the ancient Chinese: This thing could probably fit a 4 lane highway on top of it.


Besides sheer width, the wall encircled a massive area. The teachers told us that we wouldn't have time to bike around the wall during our visit, but of course a few of us ignored them and decided to try to bike the wall in our limited time (about 45 minutes). Turned out it took us a little over an hour of extremely vigorous biking to make it all the way around. Granted we did run into problems when my roommate's bike started losing parts:


but a few of us did make it all the way along the wall, running into an unexplained army of inflatable animals but afterwards making it back to a mildly-irritated group. The day was 特别闷热，so a few guys relaxed using the signature style of middle-aged, overheating Chinese men: the shirt roll. Ahh, looks comfortable.

Time to Play Some Catch-up

Alright, I'll admit it. For awhile China seems to have gotten the best of me. I've fallen behind on the blog that I really started to like writing over the first few weeks of the program. But this doesn't mean I've had nothing to write about...on the contrary I may have had too much. But now that I'm home, and finally have a little bit of spare 精神，I can't think of a better time to condense all my memories before moving on to the new year of school. So, without further ado, on with the new posts.

西安（Xi'an）--the train

With our first 4 week "semester" of 2nd year Chinese over, the DSIC students split into two groups to go to either Datong, a small mountain area with giant Buddhas carved into mountain faces, or Xi'an, the ancient capital of China that, among other things houses the first Qin emperor's terra cotta army. Those of us that chose to go to Xi'an boarded a sleeper train at about 9:30pm on Friday and got underway. Up to that point I had never been on a train for more than a few hours, so I had no idea what I would think of the experience. Turns out that riding 软卧(soft bunk) is pretty comfortable and much more social of an experience than flying. On the way to Xi'an I rode with one other DSIC student as well as a retired Chinese high school teacher and a police officer. Living in close quarters with them for the night definitely forced me to explore the boundaries of my Chinese speaking capability for a few hours (there was nothing else to do heh).



As my cabinmates got tired, I decided that I couldn't yet call it a night and so headed out into the narrow hallway to check out the train. I thought that walking up and down the train might be interesting. For the most part the train was exactly what I expected: there were cabins full of mostly Chinese people either speaking, playing cards, or starting to head to sleep. The one surprise for me came in the form of some people sleeping on the floor of the compartments joining each car. I discovered that unlike in other areas, in China you can buy a train ticket that simply reserves you space on the train, without any cabin or designated area. This solution seemed at once elegant but at the same time stepping over sleeping people to enter different traincars reminded me that I was definitely in a developing country. After this exploration I played cards in a friend's cabin and pretty quickly after, crept back into my room to sleep. The next few days were going to take all the energy I could save up.

The 图书馆（library）

I've already touched on this a little, but to be blunt the diligence of Chinese students freaks me out. There is no better example of this than in the library here. By far the most populated building of campus from its opening at 8 to its closing time at 10pm, it is an enormous at least 5 story structure (I've never had to go past the 4th) that houses mostly study space for UIBE students, oh and maybe some books too I guess. Our classes start every weekday at 8, and the building is close to the library. So, every day at 7:50am I see students lined up to enter the library. These students aren't a few nerdy outliers, they're the norm(there are hundreds of them). Even if they have class soon after, they come so early to claim a seat, leaving a book or papers there so that even at the most crowded points they can have an insured place to do work. Occasionally I will head over to the library to memorize my characters, etc after dinner (standard I think for an American student), and after searching for a few floors to find a vacant seat, will start studying. After sitting down and starting to study, my I am always shocked by the silence. Generally speaking I am no stranger to libraries, but after growing up in a culture where everyone has just a little ADD, it is shocking to sit across from someone who does nothing except stare at their paper and/or write for 3 hours straight with no distractions of any kind. At home students more often than not have music to listen to, or a friend to whisper with occasionally, but not here. Unsettling...but I think I envy the drive at least in some ways.
Probably the most interesting time to be in the library is closing time. At 9:45 on the dot, loudspeakers break the silence with some unexpected extremely smooth jazz. From that time until 10, students pour out of the library's front doors in astounding numbers. The feeling I get is vaguely similar to that of being at the circus and seeing too many clowns climb out of a tiny Volkswagon. With the same song in background every night, students turn off their studying side and get social. They meet up with other friends coming out of the library and talk (presumably about the day's study topics). Below is a picture that I took of the first wave of students exiting:

Thoughts on 肯德基

Since the beginning of DSIC, one of the main topics of our tests/classes/conversations with teachers has been the differences between Chinese and American culture (文化). So, naturally I think about the topic a fair amount (because the bulk of my new vocabulary deals with it ;) ) I've touched on it in my last post, but lately I've been noticing specifically American influence through the medium of 快餐 (fast food). Before I get into it, I ought to first say that if you want to eat Chinese food in Beijing you generally have three options, cook it yourself, eat in a sit-down restaurant, or grab some quick dumplings from a somewhat sketchy street cart. So far I love it: the last two are for me and I choose between them based on how much work I have or if I want to get some time in with my friends. But many students here actually cook for themselves. In the US, this is unthought of: at college its generally either meal plan or ramen noodles. But, people here often manage to cook multiple elaborate dishes to eat with their friends on a normal weeknight. Its the cheapest, and I might be speaking too early but it also looks the most delicious.
While fast food is not the same here as it is in the US (I have yet to see a drive-through and the food is actually comparably expensive), it seems to be spreading pretty widely across the country. McDonalds is pretty common but the most ubiquitous and successful chain is clearly Kentucky Fried Chicken. In Beijing it seems impossible to go for more than a half mile without seeing the smiling face of Colonel Sanders. Having been in the country since 1987, the longest of any foreign-based food chain, KFC rules the market here, which seems a little strange from an American perspective because I can't think of very many KFCs in my vicinity in Atlanta, and I don't think I've ever seen one in New Haven. Indeed after looking at a few articles I discovered that KFC, that by 2003 in China was building over 250 new locations a year, has stagnating sales in the US. How to reconcile this? The KFC in China is a different animal entirely. After visiting KFC a few times for some late night "research," my friends and I found a menu unlike the US version: the menu focused on chicken sandwiches(all made from dark meat, a Chinese preference) and sides were geared much more toward local vegetables rather than slaw, macaroni, and various fried sundries. And while it is popular for its novel taste, it does not have the same problem as in the US: it isn't cheap, so low income Chinese actually end up eating healthier, cheaper options.
After seeing this, I felt immediately that the question of undue negative American cultural influence through fast food ought to be dismissed as out of hand. Of course many elements of culure show up here and everywhere else, but the closer you look when you visit, the more superficial the resemblance is. If I had a little bit more time right now (and if my parents weren't reading this), the fast food topic dovetails into a few others, one of the most interesting being the general sense of sexuality here. On the surface everyone dresses and acts western, but if you ask them about their opinions you'll hear a whole different story based on deeply held cultural traditions that don't seem to be going away any time soon.
more later,
Alex