Entries: Lauren Thorbjornsen

Chinese Universities: Applying pressure

The other day, my Beijing translator, Hang, and I were trying to track down some sociology professors for my story. While we waited outside offices, we got into a discussion about the competition for students applying to Chinese Universities. Hang told me about the entrance exam which is similar to the SAT/ACT but with an additional English language/fluency portion. If we thought the competition in the US was intense, from what I learned from Hang, it doesn’t even compare to what Chinese students have to deal with. One of the best universities in the country (second best actually) is Peking University, where Hang attends. From Hang’s province, over 300,000 students sat for the university entrance exam and only 26 were accepted to Peking. Many students at Peking go to class most days of the week—Hang has classes on Saturday AND Sunday. After admittance, the pressure doesn’t let up, particularly considering I haven’t met one student who has stopped their education with a bachelor’s degree. Almost all students have said they are going for a masters and/or PhD. Hang also told me that last year, 5 students from her school committed suicide from the pressure.

On another interesting note… Hang told me that China has its own version of affirmative action. On the entrance exams, minority students receive 5-10 extra points added to their scores. 

Greetings from The Bund

Ten journalism students from the University of Illinois are visiting China as part of an international reporting class.  On May 18, in Shanghai, student reporter Lauren Thorbjornsen interviewed classmate Elizabeth Murray as they stood on The Bund.  The Bund is a pedestrian walkway along the Huangpu River, just across from the famous Pudong district of Shanghai.  Behind Lauren and Liz, you’ll see the famous Pudong skyline that features the 1,500 foot tall Oriental Pearl TV and radio tower, third tallest TV tower in the world. 

Understanding China...

Today was our first full day in Shanghai and now that the day is winding down, I think we are all anxiously awaiting a good night’s sleep… But first a recap of today:

I spent the morning doing some administrative things, i.e. exchanging money and buying bottled water. This, of course, was after a breakfast that offered a melange of things such as cold french fries, a variation of scrambled eggs, sausage wrapped in dough, and an assortment of other foods. I opted for toast and a bite of the sausage.

In the afternoon, we had a group excursion to SORSA, which stands for the Shanghai Overseas Returned Scholars Association (basically, people who have studied abroad), where we were able to talk with and interview some Shanghai professors and business people.  They each had different insights into many of our story topics as well as their ideas about China. Some interesting facts I learned:

- China constitutes 22% of the world’s population, but has only 7% of the world’s farmland.

- Farmers still make up a large majority of the Chinese population—almost 60%.

One of the speakers said something that got me thinking about our trip and Western views of China. He commented that all of our stories are interesting topics about China but he emphasized that we should not judge from an American point of view. He also said that the United States is lucky, luxurious, and wealthy and that China does not have the ability to live the same way, particularly due to population restraints. This struck me because I think some of us came into the trip with a premature idea of what China is. Americans easily judge Chinese policies but maybe these judgments and preconceptions are too harsh. For example, we think its cruel to have the one child policy and it is difficult for us to believe that it is a necessary policy for cities with enormous populations. But If the Chinese don’t regulate population in some way, how could they support their citizens? His comments made me think that I came in with a mold that I was making China fit, instead of allowing China to mold itself.  Even though it will be impossible to completely separate myself from my American point of view, I want to try to see China from the Chinese perspective.

My first test will be tomorrow when I head out to track down migrant workers with my translator, Sophie. Fortunately, there is a construction site (where migrant workers are usually employed) right next to our hotel (see picture) so I will be camped out there tomorrow morning trying to stalk workers and understanding the CHINESE view of migrant workers. Keep you posted on the successes of my stalking tomorrow evening. 

Over 24 hours later, we've landed...

Ni hao! (sounds like Knee-how)

We have finally arrived in Shanghai—a city of 18 million people!! It was dark outside so we couldn’t see too much of the city… but my first impressions are that Shanghai is a mix of the US, Europe, and what I would have described as"Chinese." The architecture varied upon each block we drove past. We’ll see how it all looks in the daylight tomorrow…