Make a Smilebox photobook

Hope for China

As a Westerner, I am expressing my opinion from a far different perspective than my classmates. I have done much research to make sure that I am learning first before expressing my thoughts. If I were to blindly express my opinions on the way that China's government makes decisions then I would probably have nothing good to say about Communism, seeing as I am an American who believes strongly in freedoms of speech and the press. However, from my research I have gained a much better understanding for why China is the way it is today.

In my country we take pride in our freedoms. Personally, I come from a Christian family and our lives reflect the way that God discerns us through his word written in the Holy Bible. This means we live unashamedly, passionately pursuing his command to share the Gospel (福音) to others. Given my personal background, I may have an ethnocentric opinion. At the same time, I admire China very much. Their deep history shows how deserving they are to show their own patriotism. This patriotism was proven to me not only in the Beijing Olympics, but also in the recent 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

I would like to focus on state governance and how it relates to society today. Since Chairman Mao caught China's vision of becoming a utopia, the Chinese Communist Party has striven to bring the nation together in hopes of becoming modernized. It may be more than hope, but rather intent because China's sheer determination has proven to let there be no distractions or choice for ignoring its progressivism. A good example of this would be through the development of communes. Before the development of the communes, the state had much more social control. This, in my opinion, is because China was and still is extremely economically driven. They soon realized that embedding the work unit into the social body was not an effective tool for social control. This social control seems to be a strategy to get focused on Mao's vision of becoming modernized.

Reforming the danwei system by giving the people more autonomy was good for the people, but still not what they really needed in my opinion. This is just one of the many examples of how China has rapidly advanced it's society in the past 60 years. Although they started in coastal areas, the inland area is now already catching up. It's very impressive to see China, as Mao hoped, regain their wealth and power, dignity, international respect, and territorial integrity. Don't get me wrong - the CCP is legit and the majority of the Chinese have proven their loyalty to the party. Their massively industrialized cities such as Shenzhen are evidence of these strategies working quite well. According to TIME magazine's article "China at 60: The Road to Prosperity, China is the world's most populous and industrious nation, is the world's third largest economy and trading nation, has become a global innovator in science and technology, and is building a world-class university system. It has an increasingly modern military and commands diplomatic respect. It is at peace with its neighbors and all major powers."

I think China's government needs to cool down a little bit. Being mostly capitalist, their world view is continually progressing and beginning to reason. However, technological advancement is their main reasoning for how to make China a better place. When this becomes your main focus, people begin to face an identity crisis. Living for the market and not considering human rights denotes the value of human life. People living in China can't express their own individual opinions on how to make China a better place because they have to stay focused on the task at hand: "become modernized". China has yet to recognize the problems of market economy and capitalism and the importance of governing the people in respect to their freedoms of the press and speech. I really dislike the Chinese government censoring.

Living in Hong Kong for the past few months and visiting Tokyo a couple years ago has revealed to me how materialism can impact a society's livelihood. Chinese author K.K. Yeo in his recently published Chairman Mao meets the Apostle Paul states, "University students, Christian and non-Christian alike, have repeatedly told me of their fear that the pragmatism of capitalism, technological advancement, and economic modernization will lead to the neglect and robbing of China's ethical, spiritual, and relational wholeness." With the lack of nostalgia coming from Mao's visionary leadership, Chinese people can begin to question their purpose in life in regards to the fact that they seem to have already achieved modernization. Of course, I am mainly referring to those living in developed areas. The result can be depression or even suicide. Without a sense of meaning or an end goal, how can China have a healthy society?

I know that the CCP professes Atheism. They have tried and failed to abolish religion, and have now decided to protect the individual’s right to believe in Buddhism, Catholicism, Islam, Taoism, and Protestantism. Article 251 of the Criminal Law states: "State personnel, who unlawfully deprive citizens of their freedom of religious belief and infringe upon the customs and habits of minority ethnic groups, when the circumstances are serious, are to be sentenced to not more than two years of fixed-term imprisonment or criminal detention." Many westerners are unaware of the truth of religious freedom. Some still think that treatment is at the same level as it was during the Cultural Revolution. I, too, before researching thought this way. I am seeing signs of hope in China they are realizing how crucial it is to have religion in order to have a healthy society. However, in my opinion China is still struggling to find how they want to be seen by others. The state and its loyal citizens seem to be very patriotic, but also trying too hard to uphold secularism.

Secularism is not the answer. In my opinion, God is the answer. China can still keep its patriotism, but it needs to realize the imminence of something greater than technological advancement. What is best for the people is personal faith in the One who has all of the answers to life, not personal wealth which infects us with greed and temporarily pleases us inside. Personal faith gives people a sense of purpose. Love is a powerful thing. When someone experiences the love from God, human nature gives them the will power and internal desire to change lives. This love that I am talking about is contagious. If this love would transcend into the hearts of the government leaders, then they too could find individual purpose. Being convinced of eternal hope found in God's gift to the world of salvation through Jesus Christ will truly allow humanity to shine like the Sun. Money and assets, skyscrapers, a strong military, or even a strong leader as Mao cannot bring redemption to this lost world.

Although I try to focus on the big picture, I realize how difficult it would be for this politically run world to have a nation that solely relies on God. Even America, with "In God We Trust" on its dollar bill struggles to let God govern it's people. Because of this, I am reminded how faith in God must be personal. God speaks to us personally and desires to use his people to speak to the world. He doesn't choose to speak to all of China through the Chinese Communist Party. Before I get too off topic, I want to get to the point. China's government may be struggling with an identity crisis, but so is every other government. For that, I come to the conclusion that China is doing a wonderful job in governing its people. I just hope that they can become more receptive to the Gospel as it, too, does a wonderful job in bringing goodwill toward man and assisting us in our pursuit for happiness.

Guilin Adventure 桂林，很多的山！

Yet another amazing adventure! This past Thursday I completed two of my mid-term exams for Cantonese and Mandarin. Feeling rather free from all prior anxieties, I and my friend Jonathan Pager from Arizona decided to plan a weekend trip to Guilin (桂林）. This was a rather ambitious decision that was made rather abruptly, but we were so excited about traveling to Mainland China. We both have great interest in living in China, and so we set off with little hesitation.


Guilin is a 12 hour bus ride away from Shenzhen, which is the first city across the border from Hong Kong into the Mainland China. It was only 130RMB (~20USD) to take our bus. This isn't an ordinary bus because it actually only travels overnight and all passengers have their own bed. They are surprisingly comfortable, however not completely horizontal and the foot space was very cramped. Other than that, not too shabby for 20 bucks!

Allow me to explain what happened first. We didn't actually know that the bus was going to be this cheap. We were intending on taking the train via China's Railway System. However, the desk didn't speak English. I was able to speak in Chinese well enough to explain where we were going and when we would need to return in Chinese, but wow was it difficult! Especially when tons of Chinese speaking only people are looking at you amazed with the fact that I am a foreigner speaking an ounce of Chinese. It was a cool feeling, however you must know that I am far away from fluency. But at least I was able to say "liang ge pian dao guili. women xingqitian hui lai zhe'r ,hao ma?" This meaning we want two tickets to Guilin and would like to return Sunday. She understood me! I looked up to the heavens and thanked God for the fact that she understood me, then was disappointed when she said, "meiyou". This meaning they didn't have any tickets left. Lesson learned: their are many people in China. Always book in advance. Especially on weekends.


At that moment, we had to decide on whether we should just go next weekend, or take a bus. Realizing that next week I would have to study for another exam, we decided to take the bus. On our way to look for the bus, this man with one arm comes up to us asking for money. This is common in Mainland, so we have learned to just walk away and smile because if not you may get swarmed. Especially in Guilin. This guy was really bugging us though. A younger Chinese man comes up and tells the man to leave us alone and then starts speaking in English with us. We told him we were looking for the bus station to go to Guilin, and then he asked if we needed a translator. Barely knowing the guy, I questioned whether or not this was a good idea. But he came across to be very helpful and because I was with Jonathan we both agreed it would be good to have him with us.

Next thing you know, he has taken us to this local travel agency and we end up getting tickets for 20 bucks each. We told him in return for his help we would pay for his ticket. This was the least we could do for him being so helpful. There were a lot of good reasons for us to take the bus. Not only was it cheaper, but it was just as comfortable (besides the bumps) and we got a chance to better understand the road systems in China. Not only were we able to gain this new perspective, but we were able to see what China looks like from the window quite clearly. I can now answer the question, "Is everything made in China?" Almost! It seemed an endless amount of factories where we could see people working inside making various things.

Well, I could write pages about other cultural differences such as how crazy they are at driving! But, let's fast forward 12 hours to where you can find out about Guilin. Guilin is in Guangxi (广西）Province, northwest of Guangzhou (广州）the capital of Guangdong（广东）province. Guangdong is the province just north of Hong Kong. We arrived in this largely populated town/city - hard to say - at around 8am. We had booked a nice hotel online for free, and it was only going to cost us 30USD at the counter (15 a piece!). However, upon arrival we realized that maybe it would be better to do what we came to do - which was to see Li River (漓江）and then take an overnight bus back that same day. This would save us money and still allow us to experience this beautiful place. Wow, the whole city is surrounded by these oddly shaped mountains. They endlessly stretch so it seems. The downtown is in a flat region in between this stretch of mountains, and the river is flowing alongside the eastern part of the city on down south towards the smaller city of Yangshuo (阳朔).


My roommate is the one who recommended us to go here. He even gave informed of us a small village worth visiting and where we could also get on the Li River by boat. The small town to which we were heading to was known as Yangdi (杨堤). So, after practicing my Chinese by ordering fruit in the local market for just nickels and dimes (2元~.20cents), we hopped on the bus that would take us to this village. It was about an hour drive it seemed. Once we hopped off the bus in this remote area, I felt like I had just entered another world! I had never seen such an environment as this. The city had countless people, but here you could count the number of people. Not only that, but there were no tall buildings. The mountains were surrounding the villagers' homes, and everyone seemed to be working strenuously on various projects that obviously needed to be done to upkeep their shelters and crops.

Many of the villagers were older than 40 it seemed. Our guide, who by the way is from Fujian (福建) and named "Mr. Lu" (卢先生), informed us that most people his age leave there homes to find jobs in the city. He explained how he also did this and went to find work in Shenzhen. However, it is hard to find work if you don't have a good education. It is hard to get into good schools in China because it is very competitive. Anyways, you could see that many of these hard-working villagers made no money whatsoever. Instead, they grow their food and tend to their shelters on their own. It was difficult for me to get a picture of the villagers. In fact, I didn't even get one picture in the small village unfortunately. This is because we were swarmed by older ladies holding bags of oranges chanting "2 kuai, 2 kuai". As they continued to pursue us, they would look us in the eye and smile, knowing that we had more than enough money to buy. I was overwhelmed at first, but then I finally bought a bag from one of the ladies. She was the oldest of the group, and would not leave me alone. I ended up giving her 5 kuai and told her "meiguanxi" when she asked me if I needed change. I was glad to let her keep the rest. She looked at me and gave me a sweet, wrinkled smile that I will not soon forget.

Soon after, Mr. Lu was helping us bargain for the cheapest boat. The first guy offered us a very cheap deal, but he was older and Mr. Lu thought we should have someone younger lead us. Just in case you are unaware, everything is in Chinese - there is no English at all. I can read some characters, but not enough to get around. So, it was a blessing to have met Mr. Lu. He was no doubt a Godsend. Finally, we decided to let the older man take us because he was offering us a much cheaper price than the others. Now here is where I let my pictures do the talking:






Yea, so that was what we came to see. Although it would be nice to have more days to hike to even more spectacular views, we knew we wouldn't have the time or energy to do more than the boat ride. Still, this was a great experience. However, I am extremely adventurous and was craving to explore more. Especially into the caves. Supposedly, the mountains have a number of caves - two of which I was able to get pictures of from the boat.

We got back on to land and the older man kindly asked us if we were hungry. He wanted to take us to eat some food in a nearby village, which he said would also be where we could take a bus back out of the mountains to Guilin. Such a nice gesture! I told him "fei chang gan xie ni" meaning thank you so much. He said "bu ke qi". The villagers are very down-to-earth and friendly. Their kind nature and hard work ethic makes me want to consider living as a villager!

This took up most of our day, but we did have time for a late supper before our bus would leave for Shenzhen at 7pm. So, we being typical Americans, went to Pizza Hut. I know, I was upset to give in to the western food, but you wouldn't believe how nice Pizza Hut's are in China and Hong Kong! Luxurious, but still rather cheap as well (cheap for foreigners). Plus I just wanted some pizza! It had been a long day of crackers and bananas and oranges - now it was time for a meal.

Now, I will Fast forward again to the end of the trip when we arrived back in Shenzhen. Mr. Lu asked the question that Jonathan and I knew was coming, "how much money will you give me?". Knowing he was going to expect us to pay him, I offered him 120RMB, which is about ~20USD. He said he wanted 300RMB, but we came to an agreement. Jonathan really needed help with Mandarin, and Mr. Lu really needed to make some money. So Jonathan and him made a deal to meet once a week for Mandarin lessons. We couldn't have done the trip without his help, so I was more than willing to give him the money - even though it was a bit out of my budget!


Overall, I am glad to have experienced this diverse area in China, and hope it has better prepared me for my time in Yunnan. I say this because Yunnan will be even more ethnic than Guilin I am sure. As I continue to learn more and more each day, I am continuing to be thankful for the opportunity I have had to be here. Next stop: ? We will see...

道风山 "Life After College" Retreat

This past weekend, I went with Kowloon International Baptist Church (KIBC) on their university and 20-somethings first retreat. This has been a great church for me. I have really come to know a lot of solid Christians and am always meeting new people. Our weekly fellowship time after church is the best. We gather together for lunch and a bible study, which really starts my week off right.

The past two weeks I have been unable to attend church, which made me really look forward to this retreat. I really didn't know what to expect. I knew the plan for this retreat was to stay the night somewhere and just have guest speakers come and help us better understand the idea of life after college.

As all of the group of around 30 hopped on the bus, we headed to Sha Tin. This is my favorite place in all of Hong Kong. It's not super busy because it's in the New Territories north of Kowloon. At the same time, there is beautiful mountain views, tall buildings, and a river flowing through. Simply perfect environment. Even better, the retreat was going to be held in a Lutheran Seminary up on the mountainside. Gorgeous, with every building being traditional Chinese style roofs. All overlooking Sha Tin.


The theme verse was Matthew 14:24 where Jesus says to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Michael W. Smith's song "Oh God, you are my God" was our theme song.

"Oh God, You are my God,
And I will ever praise You,
Oh God, You are my God,
And I will ever praise You,
I will seek you in the morning,
And I will learn to walk in Your ways,
And step by step You'll lead me,
And I will follow You all of my days."

Our guest speakers consisted of three Christians who are working in secular fields in Hong Kong. The first, was the one whom I connected with the most. He was a father of two sons, who grew up poorer than most. He worked hard in school so that he could climb up the status ladder. He ended up making a lot of money as a real estate agent. He was very successful, until one day he lost 5 million dollars due to the economy. Everything gone, and on top of that, his mother died. His mother had good morals, and raised him well. Now that he was gone, he began to seek out God's will for his life. He realized that he needed to do something different with his life because he wasn't using God's gifts and living a passionate lifestyle.

This is what I really connected with him in relation to how I want to decide on my career. I, like him, clearly see how important it is to make sure you are using your gifts to serve God - no matter what your career is. To make sure you are where you are supposed to be, then you must have a passion. After starting over from losing everything, he chose to pursue his passion for teaching by starting a learning center. With his gift of teaching and administrating, he has changed the lives of many students and parents through this learning center. He has written a book that consists of all of the letters that he has written to parents over the past 5 years. He really seems to enjoy being a light to the student's parents as a school administrator. I really could see in his eyes how much he loved what he was doing now. He is an active member in the church and said his challenge now is trying to raise his two sons so that they can pursue their passions in life and not get off track.


As for me, I am constantly thinking about the future. Although I know I must, according to God's word, live for today and not worry about tomorrow. At the same time, I feel that God is presently equipping for that which he has planned for me in the future. Knowing this, I can't help but be curious to know what exactly he has planned for me. As far as my passions, I love stepping into the unknown and making a difference in the lives of those around me. I think this passion has been formed because of the number of times that I have moved in my life. Starting over is something I am accustomed to. When I was younger it was tough, but now I am glad for this because I know it has given me the strength to overcome the adversity of adapting to a new environment.

I see all of this as God's way of using me to bring Him glory to people in China. I really have a gift to connect with the Chinese, even though I can't yet speak their language. Many Chinese students know English, but not well enough to communicate as we do with each other in the States. Our social environment here is limited, due to this language barrier. This barrier seems to be something that I feel gifted in breaking. By my great desire to learn Chinese and their extraordinary history and culture, I am able to listen and comfortably have a conversation with them. Even better, some of them have offered to have conversations where I speak Chinese and they speak English so that we can both practice!

My ultimate desire is to be like Christ. If that means I live in China and being a light to them by just showing them kindness and God's love each day, then so be it. Is there life after college? Yes, without a doubt - and with the immense joy that comes in glorifying God, I look forward to what he has in store for me.