Traveling in China at the wrong—or maybe the right—time

January 8, 2014

If you haven’t had the opportunity to experience an overpopulated world, it’s easy to discover what that feels like.  Just travel to China during its Lunar New Year. For 2014, that day will be January 31, the year of the horse.

CNN.com reported: Hundreds of millions of Chinese travel home to celebrate the Lunar New Year. It’s the largest human migration on earth—and it stretches the country’s transportation system to the limit.

My sister and her youngest daughter traveled with us to China in 2008 during the Lunar New Year—both are evangelical Christians and they didn’t believe in China’s one-child policy or abortion rights for women anywhere.

Then they arrived in China and experienced the largest annual migration in history. That’s when they stopped preaching about the one-child policy and abortion. But they didn’t offer any support for abortion either. There was just a shocked silence

It was so crowded at times it felt as if we were swimming in a sea of people, and I decided that my next trip to China will not be near the end of January or early in February. The old rail system in China barely managed to move the 220 million people who traveled home that year to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year with family.

To deal with this migration, China’s high-speed rail system will become the largest, fastest, and most technologically advanced high-speed rail system in the world by 2020. The plans are to build 50,000 km of high-speed rail with trains reaching speeds of 180 miles per hour. About 18,000 kilometers of high-speed rail have already been completed for a project that started five years ago. In 2014, China’s high-speed rail network will be able to carry 54 million people a month.

If you’re ready to visit China, hurry and book your flight now to arrive a few days before the Lunar New Year.

Discover Harbin’s Winter Wonderland

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

His latest novel is the multiple-award winning Running with the Enemy.

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China’s Holistic Historical Timeline

4 Comments | China, Chinese Culture, cultural differences, tourism | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Understanding the importance of harmony in China

January 7, 2014

Most Chinese do not like anarchy—but who does except the libertarian anarchist.

The Chinese have had their fill of anarchy. Every time a dynasty collapsed, decades or centuries of anarchy would be ushered in and chaos ruled. For instance, when Mao died in 1976, Deng Xiaoping put a stop to the madness of the Cultural Revolution and ushered in an era of harmony and prosperity that continues to this day.

In fact, Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism all place a heavy emphasis on harmony and because of this, harmony is probably the most cherished ideal in Chinese culture from the leader to the poorest peasant.

While some claim that Confucianism is promoted by the Chinese Communist Party as a way to maintain order, these same critics often miss the Taoist message of living in harmony with the Tao. The term Tao means “way”, “path” or “principle” and may also be found in Chinese philosophies and religions other than Taoism. 

Taoism in general tends to emphasize wu-wie—action through non-action—and the Three Treasures: compassion, moderation, and humility. In addition, Buddhism, for instance, has six rules of harmony taught by the Buddha to his followers in order to bring about unity and harmony.

And that explains why most Chinese—even today—do not like talking about the “white elephant” in the family or country to strangers.

With that in mind, it should not be surprising that when Google was complaining about being hacked by China’s government and refused to censor their search engine in China (eventually they did so they could keep doing business there), many Chinese turned to Baidu, which operates China’s most popular Internet search engine.

Because of Google’s behavior in 2010, Baidu now controls 65.74% [up more than 20% from 2010] of China’s search engine market compared to Google’s 3% share. Source: Search Engine Watch.com

It would seem that Google became the “white elephant” in the room by complaining publicly. It is also a mistake to think that because China cracks down on the few democracy advocates who speak out publicly criticizing the CCP, that most Chinese citizens support these advocates who often end up living in the United States after China kicks them out. The truth is that most Chinese probably think these outspoken few are fools.

In China, instead of shouting “give me liberty or death”, most Chinese would say, “Give me harmony and life,” because of several thousand years of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism that are all much older and maybe much wiser than Christianity or Islam.

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

His latest novel is the multiple-award winning Running with the Enemy.

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China’s Holistic Historical Timeline

4 Comments | Buddhism, China, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, Christianity, Communism, Confucianism, cultural differences, democracy, Islam, Taoism | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

The Home Song Stories: a movie review

January 1, 2014

The Home Song Stories, based on a true story, stars Joan Chen as Rose. Joan Chen was born into a family of doctors and educated in China during the Mao era; she is considered the Elizabeth Taylor of China and delivers a powerful performance in this film, which won a slew of foreign awards.  Rose is a lost soul with two children who moves to Australia after marrying an Australian sailor she meets in Hong Kong.

In 2007, the film won awards from the Australian Film Institute; awards from the Golden Horse Film Festival; the Hawaii International Film Festival; the Torino International Festival of Young Cinema, and in 2008, it won the Film Critics Circle of Australia Award.

The film is set in the late 1960s, and the Australian sailor turns out to be an admirable character. See the film to discover why.

Later in the film, it is revealed that at sixteen Rose was sold to become a concubine to an older man, but she fell in love with her master’s younger brother, an artist, and they run off. A few years later, the love of Rose’s life dies from tuberculosis. To survive, Rose becomes a night-club singer who takes a string of lovers. The story is told from her young son’s point of view. Rose’s daughter is a teenager for most of the film.

Discover Not One Less, a film produced in China that went on to win eighteen international film awards. At the Venice Film Festival, it won the Golden Lion Award, the highest prize given to a film at this festival.

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

His latest novel is the multiple-award winning Running with the Enemy.

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China’s Holistic Historical Timeline

3 Comments | China, Chinese arts and music, Chinese Culture, Chinese women, cultural differences, family values, media | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Is it possible to gain more freedom in China through Confucianism?

December 31, 2013

It is obvious that the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] had been moving cautiously and slowly toward implementing a participatory form of government but slower than they have done to build the highly successful market economy that is driving China’s prosperity today.

I read Moving China Toward Democracy: A Confucian Framework written by Kyle Baxter.  It is a thoughtful piece. It is still to be determined if Baxter’s ideas will work, but evidence suggests that the CCP is moving in that direction.

What has been historically the cornerstone of most Chinese governments has been a legal system known as Legalism that comes with harsh punishments. Recent signs of movement away from Legalism toward more freedoms and transparency might be seen in the open and televised trial of Bo Xilai, a popular and powerful figure in the CCP.

If Confucianism were to be the bedrock of a representative government in China, China’s critics in the West would have less to complain about.

China has never really adopted Confucian principles for political rule. Since Confucianism values individual rights along with family values, this transition would pave the way for China to retain its cultural identity and join the world as a country with more freedoms for its people—but not necessarily a democracy by definition.

Some evidence that this is happening may be seen in the next video about China easing the one-child policy and ending labor camps.

Under Confucianism, Baxter says, “Government, then, becomes an institution to protect the people, and not to control them; to encourage them toward a proper way of life, and not a totalitarian state. … Confucianism is a viable framework for a constitutional democracy, and uniquely positions China for success as a modern nation.”

Deng Xiaoping said it best, “It doesn’t matter if a cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice.”

Discover the Influence of Confucius

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

His latest novel is the multiple-award winning Running with the Enemy.

Subscribe to “iLook China”!
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About iLook China

China’s Holistic Historical Timeline

4 Comments | China, Chinese Culture, Confucianism, cultural differences, democracy, government, human rights, politics | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

China’s Authoritarian Cyber Crackdown versus America’s Democratic Culture of Complaint

December 24, 2013

Although I think it is impossible to totally control bullies in any culture, ABC News reports that China’s “government has declared victory in cleaning up what it considers rumors, negativity and unruliness from online discourse, while critics say the moves have suppressed criticism of the government and ruling Communist Party.”

But what if China’s critics are wrong and—in this case—are really bullies wearing the clothing of democracy activists attempting to get their troll mojo back on?

After all, bullies exist in China too. China Daily reports: “In China, cyber-bullying is still perceived by many parents and educators as a problem that involves physical contact. However, as cell phones and laptops are becoming common equipment for adolescents, social interactions have increasingly moved from personal contact to virtual contact. Cyber-bullying is spreading faster than expected.”

So here is China’s government claiming they have now tamed the wild west atmosphere of cyber space—something that would be impossible to attempt in the United States because of the 1st Amendment that protects the rights to freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference that has led to a “Culture of Complaint: The Fraying of America,” as Publisher’s Weekly.com reports, “Euphemism, evasion and propaganda are woven into the fabric of American public discourse, declares Time art critic Hughes.”

In addition, Connie Cass writing for the Associated Press says: “In God we trust, maybe, but not each other. … For four decades, a gut-level ingredient of democracy—trust in the other fellow—has been quietly draining away [as] hackers and viruses and hateful posts eat away at trust.”

What is a civil form of freedom of expression? Democracy Web.org says that “The essence of freedom of expression, of course, is not the right to insult the beliefs of others, but rather the freedom to report or convey facts, opinions, philosophies, and worldviews in an effective manner, using both objective and subjective means. Freedom of expression empowers citizens through knowledge, opinion, and the possibility to gain their own voice.”

Is it possible that China’s benevolent authoritarian government working hard to censor “rumors, negativity and unruliness” will prevail while too much freedom of expression in the United States will lead to anarchy and the end of democracy?

The answer to that question might already have been answered by one of America’s Founding Fathers. John Adams, a signer of the Declaration of Independence [and the 2nd President of the United States], who championed the new Constitution in his state precisely because it would not create a democracy. “Democracy never lasts long,” Adams said. “It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself.” He insisted: “There was never a democracy that ‘did not commit suicide.'” Source: What the Founding Fathers really thought about democracy

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

His latest novel is the multiple-award winning Running with the Enemy.

Subscribe to “iLook China”!
Sign up for an E-mail Subscription at the top of this page, or click on the “Following” tab in the WordPress toolbar at the top of the screen.

About iLook China

China’s Holistic Historical Timeline

2 Comments | America, American culture, China, Chinese Culture, Communism, cultural differences, democracy, family values, government, politics, propaganda | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

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