1.     The Beijing National Stadium also known as the “Birds Nest” was built explicitly for the 2008 Olympics. The Opening and closing ceremonies were held in the stadium, which has the capacity to house an audience 91,000. Herzog & de Meuron; a Swiss architecture firm came up with the design for this $423 million dollar stadium.

2.     The Beijing National Aquatic Center most commonly referred to as the “Water Cube” was used for all of the swimming, diving and other water sports events of the Beijing Olympics. This magnificent structure was conceived by one Australian firm, and two Chinese firms working diligently together and it cost them 940 million Yuan to bring this concept to life.

3.     The Ling Long Pagoda was the center for international broadcasting for the Olympic games. It stands 128 meters tall and has seven floors that France, Great Britain, The United States, and several other nations used to relay major news back to their citizens during the games.

4.     The Olympic Village that is used to house all of the athletes during their time at the games consists of a total of 42 buildings, 20 of these buildings are 9 stories tall and the remaining 22 buildings are 6 stories tall.

5.     Okay here is a fun fact that is only related to the Beijing Olympic Park just enough that I can get away with using it. The number 8 is associated with prosperity in Chinese culture, and the opening ceremony was held on August 8^th, 2008 at 8:00PM. So is this a coincidence or just the Chinese being superstitious; that I do not know.

6.     There were five mascots for the Beijing Olympics Beibei the Fish, Jingjing the Panda, Huanhaun the Olympic Flame, Yingying the Tibetan Antelope, and Nini the Swallow. They were designed to represent different elements of nature as     well as the five Olympic rings.

    7.     The Water Cube underwent a $20 million renovation after the Olympics and was turned into a rather extravagant water park. It looks as if someone took the water park from six flags ran the lazy river from water country through it and added some transparent coloring to it.

8.     The kayaking course, rowing course, and beach volleyball courts have all been left just sitting in the elements unused and slowly deteriorating. Often buildings and stadiums built for the Olympics are repurposed or sold off after the games; however in Beijing many have just been left sitting there, and are not used very frequently. http://www.businessweek.com/videos/2012-07-27/then-and-now-the-ghost-of-beijings-olympic-glory

9.     China won the most gold medals I the 2008 Olympics, winning 51 in total followed by the United States with 36 and Russia with 23 gold medals. In total medals the United States finished first with 110 medals followed by China with 100 and Russia with73 medals.

10. China saw their hosting of the 2008 Summer Olympics as a way of saying hey look at us we are a developed country with a strong economy and it is very clear that they wanted to show off to the world a little bit. They spent nearly half a billion dollars on the Birds Nest a lone not to mention the Water Cube, various other large arenas and course as well as the cost of knocking down the old hutong villages and relocating their residents to essentially renovate the downtown area of Beijing entirely.

Chapter# 8

1. The new apartments that residents of the hutongs were encouraged to move into were not even remotely close to downtown Beijing and were modern high-rises that it seems many people did not really want to move into.

2. The way that the book describes the location of the new apartments reminds me of suburbs in the 50s here in the U.S., however they seem to have the exact opposite appeal. Here people wanted to move out of the city and the hustle and bustle that encompassed it where as the people of Beijing would seemingly much rather stay in the city.

3. Most people moved into suburbs of Beijing because they could no longer afford to pay the rising rent prices in the downtown area of Beijing.

Chapter#9

1.Unlike in the U.S. the Chinese government owns the land so when it came to fighting against the destruction of the hutongs and other buildings there was practically nothing that citizens could do to fight it.

2. The way that the author describes the closing down of business and hutongs makes me think about how I feel like this couldn’t happen in the us and in a way it makes it hard to grasp how little could be done to fight it and how rapidly things were disappearing.

3. I found it interesting that the people referred to the people putting up the symbol for destruction as “the hand” almost as if they were adding an extra element of mystery and power to who was behind the paintings.

Chapter#10

1.I was surprised to here that there were Walmarts in China, let alone that China was so welcoming to Walmart.

2. The fact that the air pollution reached the equivalent of smoking 70 cigarettes a day is kind of a terrifying thought.

3. The promise that dust storms would not happen during the Olympics seemed outrageous to me. I understand that the Chinese government is powerful but I still do not think they can speak for Mother Nature.

Chapter#11

1.Cities like Beijing are constantly growing and being renovated to keep up with the population and economy as they both expand rapidly.

2. The planning of a city often had something to do with its Feng Shui, which I find to be an interesting concept.

3. There was a line about Americans invading and treating the people of China so well that they were begged to stay, I’m not sure if that makes our troops friendly or their government very strict and unforgiving.

Chapter#12

1.There was an expectation that Beijing would grow to its population at a certain rate, but looking back at those predictions now we can see that it has grown far more rapidly than expected.

2. The emphasis on the Olympics in school was tremendous and it almost seems like it was being pushed on students as one of the most important thing that was going to happen in their lifetime.

3. I find it interesting that people who lived in hutongs would raised pigeons while here in the U.S. most people want nothing to do with pigeons.

Chapter#13

1.Feng did an enormous amount of writing to preserve history, and culture, however because he was so frightened of being caught and what would happen he had to hid his writings.

2. It is interesting to me that most city officials came from outside the area that they were put in charge of; possibly in an attempt to keep emotions out of decisions and make it more likely that they would follow any orders they were given.

3. There was a point where he wrote about replacing historical buildings with building s of similar style. He goes on to say that it destroys the history that went along with that specific are and I agree with him, however it is better than replacing the buildings with modern looking ones.

Chapter#14

1.The lack of knowledge about the relocation of people living in hutongs that people who did not live in them have was astounding. They thought that they were being given enough money to go move wherever they wanted to which, as we know was not the case.

2. Natives of Beijing do not necessarily like migrant workers or tourist because they do not quite fit in or speak Chinese in the same dialect or accent; they also see many of the migrant workers as dirty.

3. They also see outsiders as the cause of their problems and blame them for messing up Beijing, I’m not sure if they actually believe this or if it is just a way of blaming their problems on others.

Chapter#15

1.It is interesting just how much the Chinese emphasize their heritage and victories against others in the past, but at the same time it is a very ideological history that children are taught.

2. In redesigning and restructuring the city of Beijing the government is eliminating so much of the heritage that they appear to be so proud of.

3. Students were very excited to host the Olympics and share their culture while experiencing the cultures of other countries.

The Last Days of Old Beijing: Chapters 1-7

Chapter#1

            The old woman who lived in the hutong for nearly 80 years talks about how she does not want to leave and how she has no interest in the compensation they are offering or the high-rise apartments that suggest that you move into.

            The author speaks about how he had a refrigerator but it would overload the circuits of the hutong so now he uses it to store his clothing.

            He then goes on to describe the area he is living in and how it is made up of narrow ally ways and compact one story hutong courtyards; this is the type of are that he would consider old Beijing.

Chapter#2

            There is a quote on page 11; actually it is the entire second paragraph, which is why I’m not typing it but it explains his vantage point on the growth of cities and his background on the topic.

            He writes about how he was a volunteer in China for a decade, and how during that time he taught at a school in the country.

            He writes about his time as a volunteer and how he only made $100 a month and how far that money could go. He said that there was not much to spend money on except food and beer, and that life there was different; he mentions that he stopped wearing a watch and counted time by the school year and season.

Chapter#3

            In this chapter he writes about our ideas of what the educational system and classes in a Chinese schools look like. He comments that while there are very strict and rigid schools the children in his English class where much like American students talking to each other and shouting out the wrong answer from time to time.

            I thought it was interesting that they kept statistics about the children’s high weight and oral health as well as other things, and at one point he mentions that the children who are overweight almost always have a better English grade.

            I did not like the fact that there were students assigned to tell on other students for misbehaving or not doing homework as well as other things.

Chapter#4

            In this chapter he gets into detail about how the government and developers are knocking down and developing hutongs and the inadequate compensation that they offer residents.

            He also speaks to officer Lui, and translates a holiday card from Chinese to English for him and the others officers.

            He also writes about the Olympics and how the government is almost using it as an excuse to tear down the hutongs even thought places were in place before they bid for the right to host the Olympics.

Chapter#5

            He writes about the count down to the Olympics on the board of the classrooms and mentions the inconsistencies of two of the classes.

            He talks about a couple that will not bring their son to live with them because they do not have enough space even though they know that the schools in Beijing are better.

            I enjoyed the part about the kids playing hockey right outside the Forbidden City’s walls.

Chapter#6

            It was interesting that the remains of one of the oldest known human begins was left in the possession of the United States, and on its way to the U.S it disappeared and there are several different stories as to where they ended up.

            On page 79 there is another paragraph long quote that seemed to encompass just how long Beijing has been around and in doing so it reminds us of the roots from which it has risen to be the large and mighty city we see before us today. It is the 4^th paragraph.

            The dialogue between the two students at the very end of the chapter was also entertaining and slightly witty on the girls part.

Chapter#7

            The section on news on the second page where he lists off a few of the reports he has read was somewhat surprising and in some way not really all that shocking or different from our news here in the U.S.

            I found it interesting that they had ads for not only missing pets but in once case for a missing older woman with Alzheimers, which I found interesting because that is more something that you would see on the news in the U.S.

            When he was done with the paper the old woman showed him how to make his windows sparkle by using the paper to wipe them off.

The Di, who are an ethnic group who’s descendents will become the group we call the Han today, first settled the Qinghai Province nearly six thousand years ago. They were farmers in the central plains of Qinghai. In 121 B.C. the western Han Dynasty built a fortress and the Xiping Pavilion in Eastern Qinghai to monitor and control the Yellow and Huangshui rivers. This was the beginning of the Central Plains Feudal Dynasties. This lasted until right around the turn of the 4^th century when the Tuyuhun moved into the area and set up their own empire. The Tubo Dynasty took over in the 7^th century uniting the entire Tibetan Plateau. After that there were a series of different dynasties that took power until the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty took over in the 13^th century. In 1949 the Peoples Republic of China finally got rid of the old feudal system that remained in place since the province way initially taken over by the Han Dynasty.

The Yellow River, which flows across China originates on the Tibetan Plateau in the Qinghai. It travels through many different provinces in an eastern direction all the way to the ocean. It has many valleys basins, and has created some very notable gorges over time such as the Shanxi-Shaanxi Gorge, which is 725 kilometers long making it the longest gorge on the Yellow River.

On July 1^st of 2006 the Qinghai-Tibet Railway was opened to the public for the first time. The railway is 1,215 miles long and it has 45 stations along its path, surprisingly 38 of these stations are not staffed. These unmanned stations are monitored from  a central control station that is located in Xining. I found an interesting fact about the trains themselves. Even though it would seem that everything here in the US is made in China, surprisingly enough GE built all of the locomotives that run on the railway in Pennsylvania.

The Qinghai Lake, which you guessed it is located in North Eastern Qinghai is a major stop along many different bird migrations. This poses a possible threat to Europe and Asia because the lake has so many different types of birds from different regions coming together in one area there is fear of rapid spread of influenza. The name of the lake translates literally to Blue Sea Lake, and it sits 10,515 feet above sea level. The lake has been increasing in size since 2004 and is fed by twenty-three rivers and streams. In 2007 its surface covered 1,733 square miles.

The culture of Qinghai is very unique; the two main religions of the province are Islam and Tibetan Buddhism. The cultural traditions of the province are a cross from Mongol traditions, which come from being ruled by the Mongols early on, and Tibetan culture, which has been absorbed throughout the centuries because Qinghai is located on the Tibetan Plateau. Interestingly enough one common thing you will find in the culture of people from Qinghai is that they use yaks for transportation, and then for their meat once they can no longer be used for transportation. There are not a whole lot of in depth details about culture in this province, and I feel this is because the western provinces of China are more rural and do not have a whole lot of contact with Eastern China.

The main tourist attraction of the province is the Qinghai Lake. The reason it is popular among Chinese and Tibetan tourists is because in the summer months it remains at a reasonable temperature because of its elevation and geographic location. The rolling grasslands that surround the lake are seemingly the only other tourist attraction in the province. The area is considered a national level 5A scenic area, which I can only assume is the equivalent of a nation park here in the US.

There is one major university in the province of Qinghai and it enrolls roughly 5,100 students and offers 33 bachelor degrees and 3 graduate degrees. The degrees range from economics to agriculture to adult education. There are nearly 1000 staff members and half of which teach and do research work around the university. Just incase you haven’t guessed the name of the university at this point it to is named after the province just like the lake and everything else. It is called Qinghai University, what a shocker.

Qinghai has one of the smallest if not the smallest economic contribution to China’s economy. It makes us only .35% of the total economy, and its gross domestic profit for 2011 was only $25.9 billion dollars. Most of this money comes from steel production, which is only done in a relatively small section of the province. The reason that seems to be given for having so little impact on the national economy is that Qinghai is lacking in basic infrastructure, and because of that they are not able to support many factories.

Ethnically Qinghai is made up primarily of three groups; the Han who make up 54.5% of the population, followed by the Hui and Tibetans who collectively make up another 37% of the population of Qinghai. The rest of the population is comprised of 34 different ethnic groups. In total the population of Qinghai is only 5.6 million people.

Qinghai is not the most interesting of places, or at least it does not appear to be from my findings; however it does appear to be a rather scenic province so here is another picture of its beautiful lanscape.

Chapter#18

            Gifford explains that while tourists are attracted to places like Dunhuang, people who are from China strive to get away and move toward a western type of lifestyle.

            He also talks about how well preserved or unchanged some of the historical sites of ancient monuments and temples are, and I found it shocking just how old some of these thing are.

            China is still angry with the British for taking important scriptures from them and still to this day not having returned them to China.

Chapter#19

            This chapter talks about the natural resources that China does have, and he mentions that they are hopeful about finding oil in a few of the desert areas as well.

            I found it really interesting and a bit like something out of 1984 that you get a text or call when you enter a new province saying welcome alongside advertisements.

            Gifford also mentioned that the government closed off a well so that it could have control of the water supply in a certain region.

Chapter#20

            The Chinese language is based on Characters not an alphabet; I have always found this to be intriguing and it makes me happy that I didn’t have to learn the language because it just seems so difficult.

            There were several words that seemed to be funny when they translated like long necked deer for example, which is what the word giraffe translates too.

            It is also important that you pronounce words in the Chinese language with the proper tone otherwise it might come across as the wrong word.

Chapter#21

            The Turpan depression seems to be a really interesting place not only because so many people live there but also because of how far below sea level it lies and how hot it can get.

            There is a fear that the Uighurs will lose their native language because they are entering Han Chinese schools that do not use or teach the language.

            China is still considered a colonial power or the last great empire.

Chapter#22

            Urumqui has become a hub for western China and is still continuing to grow and this is partially because it is so connected to Beijing through the Internet it would seem.

            Because of this the Xinjiang province is experiences economic growth as well as a change from rural areas to a bigger city in Urunqui.

            There is so much propaganda from the communist party that people from eastern china that have never been to western china do not realize that Tibet is not happy with China.

Chapter#23

            Even though the economy is growing rapidly there is still an enormous gap between the rich and pour and it doesn’t not seem to be shrinking with the growth, it actually seems to be widening.

            The phrase the Chinese are not building a country they are building a continent really seems to put into perspective just how massive China itself is and how powerful the Communist party is as well.

            A major point in this chapter that stood out to me is that change is happening all over the place in China everywhere except for within the Communist party it would seem.

Postcards

            Macau has one of the worlds largest casinos and I think it is one of the only places you can go to gamble, and they are more serious about gambling in China than we are in the us, for instance they do not drink as much and it is a quieter place.

            China is becoming a super power in the world and they want recognition and respect for it even though they are considered a fragile super power.

            It also talks about their economy and how it might affect Americans.

            

Chapter #9

            China is compared to the west, with regard to technology, government control and human rights and while it seems that the Chinese are more advanced in some aspects the west has placed more value on human rights.

            China has a far more rigid and competitive educational system then we do here in the United States, education is taken more seriously in China.

            Qin was the first emperor to unify all the different provinces of China, and he also began the construction of the Great Wall of China.

Chapter #10

            He writes about the teachings of Dao and how they were very prominent earlier in Chinese History but have more recently begun to fade into the background.

            The original masters of Daoism are considered gods today; I found it interesting that they would not just be seen as profits but rather as gods.

            There are more people in China today that are business oriented than there are that find it their duty to spread religion, but there are still monasteries and monks that practice religion as a way of life.

Chapter #11

            Today there are 75 million Christians in China, which to me was a big surprise, even though it is only a small percentage of the population.

            The reason that many of the major cities in China are so large and densely populated is because of Chairman Mao and his efforts to industrialize China.

            Its citizens see China as the last great empire, and they are often very proud of the culture and history that got them to where they are today.

Chapter #12

            Lanzhou is one of the world’s most highly populated cities, if not the world’s most highly populated city.

            Some of the western provinces of China do not wish to be a part of China like Tibet, and other provinces.

            It struck me as interesting that at one point someone was saying that they prefer light skin and that they don’t really like dark skin.

Chapter #13

            In the late 1950s Tibet began to fight for political independence, and Mao and the rest of the communist party fought against this.

            This was the reason for the Dalai Lama’s exile and even though he was exiled people still talk about him and his teachings in China.

            In an interview that he had with Ziao it was clear that some of these topics are not ones that the Chinese feel comfortable talking about.

Chapter #14

            The Chinese prefer to be seen as ocean people and do not like it when their history, way of life, or they them selves are referred to as yellow. It is understandable that they would see this as offensive seeing as most cultures to not like to be defined by their skin tone.

            Gifford also writes about peasants and migrant workers are needed to keep China afloat because they supply the cheap labor and vast amount of food needed to keep the economy growing steadily.

            I also found it interesting that the geography of China is so diverse, I knew that there were mountains and plains and some tropical seeming regions but I had no idea that there were desert areas as well.

Chapter #15

            This chapter talks a fair amount about propaganda and rules, the basic feeling is that we know that the Communist party controls the news.

            It also touches on the one child rule and how it can be enforced.

            The public pretty much has to care about what the government cares about, and share the same perspective of the one-sided news papers and stations that they get their information from.

Chapter #16

            Having the newest technology is a big thing to people in Chinese cities that can afford to keep up with the rapidly changing technological goodies.

            Gifford also portrays Chinese people as very entrepreneurial because it seems they are always trying to find a new or better way to make money.

            There was a very strong movement toward western style living, which was lead by people who were in search of a higher standard of living; mostly those who generally could not afford to live so comfortably.

Chapter #17

            Gifford talks about improvements to China and how they are most noticeable along route 312 but after you stray from route 312 it is hard to see much of an improvement in the lifestyle of people in rural areas.

            He also talks about China’s strong borders and how it is hard to pass through them to get in or out of the country, and he refers to China as a still emerging country.

            The subject of censorship comes up again, which is becoming a trend in each chapter I feel like it is mentioned at least once, and it makes me feel like our stereotype of just how censored China is might be right for once.

Postcards

China has the same bad television and style of games shows that we have here in the United States.

Business moves very rapidly in China, and it seems as if it takes less time to make big decisions and implement changes than it does in the US.

Once again it is mentioned that television is censored and controlled by the government, which I still find to be overbearing.

Foxconn has an enormous number of employees and I remember hearing about them when apple went over and tried to get working conditions and wages improved upon because oh just how poor the conditions were previously.

I never really thought about how many cars we have in the US in comparison to other countries around the world but apparently in relation to China we have quite a few more than they do.