Visiting Xian

February 19, 2010

I’m taking a quick trip to Xian (in pictures that is). Xian was China’s ancient capital for more than a thousand years before being moved to what is called Beijing.

Xian’s City wall is centuries old

After landing in Xian in 2008 (our third trip to the city since 1999), we found a great driver. He was honest and knowledgeable. Here’s the cell phone number he had at the time (136-0916-251). If you visit Xian, I recommend you book him for the entire stay. He also introduced us to some experiences we’d never had on previous trips.

Traffic in downtown Xian

The Famous Terra Cotta warriors were created to guard China’s first emperor Qin Shi Huangdi (221-204 B.C.). Qin Shi Huangdi made Xian China’s first capital until Kublai Khan moved the capital to Beijing where he ruled his Khanbalik Empire, from 1264 to 1267.

These warriors were created to guard China’s first emperor after death.

Discover The First Emperor: The Man Who Made China

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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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Leave a Comment » | China, Chinese Culture, education, government, tourism | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Men’s “Face” – Part 3/4

February 18, 2010

Face is why the Chinese businessman will take great risks or take only a few risks and if given a chance may steal another person blind—that is if they believe they can get away with it.  If they are caught and it is against the law, that is a loss of face—one reason for suicide. Most Chinese men will wait until they are successful before they let others know. If they fail, it’s possible no one will hear about it beyond the family unit.

Face is why Chinese men often work twelve to sixteen hour days, seven days a week earning small but saving big. The Chinese will do without luxuries and save to pay for their child’s university education. Chinese women will work just as hard.

Regaining face may be one reason why Mao reoccupied Tibet for China in 1950. The other reason may have been tactical—to control the high ground like Israel controls the Golan Heights.  Having control over that plateau was one of the tactical reasons Britain convinced the Dalai Lama to declare freedom from China in 1912.

Some of China's Seventy Million Leaders

Face may be why China’s leaders get so angry over Taiwan. As long as Taiwan is out there and not ruled by the mainland, it may be seen as a loss of face. It’s why the Chinese want to walk on the moon and reach the other planets before anyone else. In China, “face” is universal to the entire population and different for each person.

Continued at Gambling for “Face” – Part 4 or discover The Power of Public Debate in China

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

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Growing Great Honor in One Lunar Leap

February 17, 2010

It looks like China’s space program will fuel humanity’s next trip to the moon and beyond. The Middle Kingdom has everything needed to succeed. China is turning out more engineers from its universities than the United States is, and China has the technology and industry to support an active, growing space program.

It helps that seven of China’s nine-man Politburo Standing Committee, the country’s top ruling body, are engineers instead of lawyers or businessmen like in America. In addition, China has trillions of dollars to spend and no national debt.

In the last few years, China has sent men into space and conducted space walks. There is a strong chance that in a few more years, there will be Chinese space stations orbiting the earth with footprints on the moon that were not made by Americans.

We were in China when the space walks took place, and it was big news filling TV screens and splashing headlines across newspapers. The excitement was equal to the time Americans walked on the moon decades ago. Now, America’s space program is limping along—almost a cripple.

The honor China lost during the 19th and early 20th centuries to the bully tactics of aggressive Western powers and Japan during World War II is being reclaimed. For more than two thousand years, China was a regional super power.  It seems they have achieved that status again.

Discover Mao’s War Against Illegal Drugs

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

1 Comment | America, China, economy, government, politics | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

In a Dark Mirror Without Reflection

February 16, 2010

In the previous post, we saw how native minorities in America and the Philippines have been treated by the United States. When I brought this up in an e-mail conversation with a conservative friend, he said these acts do not count today.  I disagree. History always counts. After Christ said, “Let he who has no sin, cast the first stone”, he said, “Go and sin no more”, and investigations in Iraq revealed that under President George W. Bush, the CIA was torturing terrorist suspects.

If Americans are going to tortue terrorists, at least don’t lie about it or attempt to hide it.

Most of us have heard about Tibet and the demands by Tibetans in exile that Tibet be free from China to rule itself.  We hear claims of brutal human rights violations taking place without much evidence to support the claims, and people who have been brainwashed to fear and hate Communism (the word not the reality) will believe anything.

The American media recently revealed that tens of thousands of illegal aliens in America (some seeking political asylum) were locked up in detention centers and were not getting proper medical care and were dying because of it.

Discover After Mao

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. 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.

To subscribe to “iLook China”, sign up for an E-mail Subscription at the top right-hand side of this page and then follow directions.

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An American Shadow Over the Philippines

February 16, 2010

After the Spanish American War, America took possession of the Philippine islands and waged war against the native people killing more than two hundred thousand. This went on until World War II.

An American flag flying over Fort Santiago in Manila, Phillippines-c1920s

In fact, the treatment of American Indians hasn’t changed much.  The United States government might not wage brutal war against Native American Indians today as they did in the past, but in recent times billions of dollars slated to support Native American Indian tribes on reservations went missing, and no one seems to know where all that money went or care, except the Indians. It would appear that the era of lies and broken treaties has not ended.

If you want to learn more about American Indians, I suggest you read what the New York Times said about the work written by Vine Deloria Jr., and check out Native American Literature worth reading. It’s best to stay away from Hollywood if you want to get closer to the truth.

It is always good to have the facts before passing judgment, and history does count.

Discover In a Dark Mirror Without Reflection

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. 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.

To subscribe to “iLook China”, look for the “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar, click on it then follow directions.

5 Comments | America, American culture, China, Chinese Culture, Christianity, government, media, politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
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