Entries: John Paul

Teaching Journalism in China

We got a first hand look at journalism instruction at China’s best and most prestigious university, Tsinghua, Friday morning.  We attended Professor Li Xuguang’s class.  There were about 70 students, all second year college students, in this class, learning how to write.  The class is taught in Chinese and English.  The students started class critiquing stories from the New York Times and CCTV’s 7pm newscast.  Like many US college journalism classes, there were more women students.  Professor Li teaches journalism much like that taught in America.  Today he told them to be sure to prepare for interviews by doing as much research as possible, to avoid making up quotes and facts, to balance their stories and to be accurate without their opinion in the copy.  He assigned them to go to Beijing’s Hutong district, the oldest part of this capital city, to develop a story about the changing history of Beijing.  He wants them to build a story about Beijing’s heritage and changes.  The students will have to interview long time residents of Hutong.  This class ran slightly more than two hours.  The students get two ten minute breaks.  When Professor Li needs his students attention, or to get them to calm down, he rings a bell. 

Sophomore journalism students at China's Tsinghua University

UIUC graduate student John Paul with Tsinghua University journalism grad student Ling Yun. Tsinghua's Great Hall is in the background, designed to look like Foellinger Auditorium by a UIUC architecture graduate

Beijing Gets Ready for Olympics

Get ready to meet Huanhuan, one of the cute, cuddly symbols of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.  University of Illinois journalism students reporting in China Thursday visited the headquarters of the Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee to learn about the games to be held here next summer.  We met with Zhang Yong, a member of the staff at the Beijing Olympics.  Among other things, we learned that air quality is a big concern for olympic organizers.  Olympic organizers say air pollution in Beijing has been improving but they say it is unrealistic to believe that it will be gone.  They’re urging greater use of public transportation to reduce pollution.  Some polluted plants in downtown have also been moved out of the city.  Organizers are also concerned about traffic in this capital city.  They’ve started a campaign for better, safer, more civilized driving, especially by the city’s notorious taxi drivers.  Beijing is holding test events this summer to try out how the Olympic games will fare at some of the 31 venues in Beijing.  They also believe the Games of the XXIX Olympiad will project a freer, more open and prosperous China. 

Huanhuan, the child of fire, symbolizing the Olympic Flame

Illinois Business Growing in China

The number of Illinois based companies doing business in China has nearly tripled in the last five years.  The head of the Illinois Trade office in Shanghai, Zachary Zhao, told me there are now 300 Illinois companies operating in China.  In 2002, that number was slightly more than 100.  Zhao says it’s more than low labor cost that entices Illinois companies to move to China.  He says the opportunity to market their product to China’s 1.3 billion population is hard to pass up. 

One of those companies operating in China is Littelfuse, based in Des Plaines.  I visited Littelfuse’s biggest and first Chinese facility in Suzhou this week and spoke with the head of Asian Operations.  Dan Onken is a UIUC graduate who grew up in Piper City.  Littelfuse makes a variety of circuit protection products in Suzhou, west of Shanghai.  The fuses go into cars, trucks, consumer electronics, cell phones, and just about everything electronic.  Littelfuse makes one billion fuses a year in Suzhou.  Plant manager Galen Song says there are more than 10,000 western companies with facilities in the Suzhou area alone. 

Peoria-based Caterpillar is another company that’s been in China since the middle 1970s.  CAT has 18 facilities in China and just broke ground on a new one in Wuxi.  CAT’s CEO says China and its other Asian facilities are an important component in the company’s ability to produce profits.  China now accounts for about 2.5% of the company’s total sales.  By 2010, the head of CAT’s Asian operations says China will make up 10% of corporate sales.  CAT’s domestic sales have been sluggish lately.  China’s fast growing economy—at an average 10% GDP per year—and improvements in infrastructure have increased demand for Caterpillar’s earth moving equipment and diesel engines.  CAT is so big on China, it moved its Asian headquarters from Tokyo to Beijing this past fall. 

Caterpillar Building in downtown Shanghai

Not in Shanghai Anymore

We’ve quickly realized that Beijing is not Shanghai.  So far, we’ve spotted very few western signs in this capital city.  Shanghai had many English signs and more western faces on the streets.  We haven’t see much of that so far. Our hotel is located in the Haidian district of northwest Beijing.  There are several universities in the vicinity—Beijing University, Tsinghua University and Beijing Institute of Technology.  Our bus trip from the Beijing Railway station took us past Tiananmen Square were some of us snapped photos of the Gate to the Forbidden City. 

All Aboard to Beijing

We trained from Shanghai to Beijing overnight Tuesday.  We departed from the Shanghai Railway station about 7:45pm and rode all night, arriving in a rainy, moist and humid Beijing right on time at 7:15am.  The twelve of us shared three four-bunk berths on the Beijing bound train, which rocked many of us to sleep Tuesday night.  To some extent, it was like sharing three neighboring dorm rooms.

Arrival at rainy Beijing's Railway Station early Wednesday morning

Christine and Maria in one of the train berths