Wednesday, January 19, 2011

What I already know about China, thanks to the media:

• China is located in the Eastern part of Asia and is HUMONGOUS!
• It has the largest population of people in the world with over a billion people.
•The main languages spoken are Mandarin and Cantonese and some other derivatives of those.
• They have panda bears.
• China is rising up in the economy.
• Communists
Yao-Ming
• Most of our clothing and products are made in China
• There is a huge gap between the rich and poor citizens
• They use a lot of old; ancient tools in some areas and more developed areas use high tech equipment.
• Chinese medicine has been around for 1000s of years
• The best green tea comes from China
• They follow the one-child policy
• They have yummy looking food. The Chinese food in America is not the Chinese food you would often find on the streets of China. In an episode of Andrew Zimmern’s Bizzare Foods, Zimmern travels to Beijing where he experiences all of the street foods and what not. I can’t wait to try all of the different street foods; I’m pretty adventurous when it comes to food. Something not on the tasty side, I specifically remember Zimmern’s going to a restaurant that specializes in the male anatomy-with over 30 different creatures. People go there to eat for sport- and you can get seal, donkey to yak penis—not exactly my cup of tea and the place looks uber expensive, but according to Zimmern’s, it’s really good. Peep the video:


So when I was younger I used to watch these Chinese Khmer dubbed movies. My favorite one was Journey to the West, it’s only slightly corny but I only liked it because it had a monkey and pig in it, but aside from that, what I saw in the movie when I was 7 I had always thought China to be like that. The film was shot in China so a lot of the imagery is correct, but it’s meant to represent old China. Here is a clip of from the movie:

you can laugh if you want.

My knowledge of China has come from the media, whether it has been books, TV programs, movies, etc. I had a couple of Chinese friends too, which at the time I wasn’t really into listening about China. I remember she was obsessed with violin and Hello Kitty. Hello Kitty is something that has become so popular over the years, you can find it anywhere and on anything, don’t get me wrong it’s very cute but it’s driving me crazy! Look they’re even making Hello Kitty facemasks!
[photo: www.kittyhell.com]

I’m curious to find out more about Chinese Buddhism (big fat, rub my belly for good luck Buddha) and how it differs from Khmer Buddhism (Theravada Buddhism). They’re probably not that different from one another, but I think it would be interesting to learn more about it.

I can’t wait for China!