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appearance art Baoding Beijing opera boarding china China Ju Li Group Chinese medicine communist party education exercise fate hebei university irony jianzi Kung fu Mao Parks Politics qi reform shuttlecock skin solar power stony brook university student students study study abroad superstition tai chi western medicine youthAbout this project
In June 2012, a group of seven students from Stony Brook University set out on a reportorial tour of China.
They visited two areas: first, Baoding, which is about 90 miles south of Beijing in Hebei Province; second, Guizhou Province, which is located in southwest China and is the poorest, most rural area in the country. The students’ goal was to capture modern China - from big city to countryside, warts and all - in word, picture and sound. Their effort is recorded here on this web site.
Lead by Associate Professor Charles Haddad and Study Abroad Advisor Yilin Wang, the June trip was part of the school’s annual study abroad program called Journalism Without Walls.
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The Retired Play in Baoding Riverside Park

Photo by Jenifer Chiodo
In China, retired people exercise and recreate in the country’s many beautiful parks. They do everything from group fan dances to spinning tops with whips to lifting weights on outdoor equipment. Continue reading
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Ancient Art of Chinese Medicine Lives on

Photo by Dan Catinella
Hebei University Professors demonstrate the ancient art of traditional Chinese medicine on curious Stony Brook students, including the use of acupuncture to relieve stomach problems and migraines. Continue reading
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This Guiyang Village Preserves Ancient Paper-Making

Photo by Andy Mai Continue reading
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A Life Lived Outdoors

Photo by Dan Catinella
Given their love of nature, the Chinese love their many magnificent parks. Take Qian Ling Park in the Southwestern city of Guiyang. Here residents do everything from sing Beijing Opera to play Mah Jongg to write poetry with a water brush on brick walkways. Continue reading
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University Students Compete in Kong Fu

Photo by Sheena Rubino & Dan Catinella Continue reading
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Aspiring Beijing Opera Stars

Photo by Dan Catinella Continue reading
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“A to Z Spells USA”

Photo by Jing Zhang & Dan Catinella
In China, a good command of American English is a sign of both prestige and upward social mobility. Pictured below is a typical high school English class in Baoding. On a raised platform at the front of a crowded class, the teacher leads students in reciting English passages and calls on individual students to answer questions about the recitation. Continue reading
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Chinese Students Endure

Photo by Andy Mai & Jing Zhang
Chinese college students endure without complaint hardships that their American counterparts would find intolerable. Take Hebei University, which is 90 miles south of Beijing. Its students live up to eight in a room, share communal washrooms and air dry their clothes. Neither dorms nor classrooms are equipped with air conditioning and temperatures typically soar to the 90s during the last month of the spring semester Continue reading
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Chinese Workers Strive to Improve Skills

Photo by Jing Zhang
Whether training to be a chef or a mechanic, Chinese workers endure grueling sessions of instruction and practice. This vocational school in Baoding is representative. In classrooms without air conditioning on a 90-degree day, aspiring chefs, auto mechanics and hair dressers practiced their crafts. Everyday, their performance is ranked and publicly posted on a school chalkboard. Continue reading
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The Many Faces of Chinese Children

Photo by Briana Neuberger & Dan Catinella Continue reading
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