Questions and Comments

Things I hope to ponder, peruse, explore while I'm here:

1. How Communist is current China? From what I can tell, there is tons of free enterprise and glorification of capitalism. So what aspects of modern-day China are still Communist?

2. Does the country's age-old preference for male children affect females (infanticide, childhood, psyche, social conditioning) in urban centers, or mostly just rural areas? How did the role of women change during Communism? After Communism? Now?

3. What do people my age think of Mao? The Cultural Revolution? The government?

4. How dangerous is it to talk about politics? How dangerous is it to speak out against the government? The China I'm currently living in feels pretty safe and open. However, this is a country with countless people in prison for political reasons; people who may never see a trial. According to Amnesty International, in 2008, there were 37 people executed in the United States under the death penalty. In China, at least 1,718 were executed, and that's a conservative estimate.

If anyone has any thoughts, I'd welcome them. I'm woefully ignorant on a lot of these issues, despite taking a great class with this dude my junior year. Lastly: I'd like to thank you all for reading my blog. I really enjoy writing it and I love being able to update everyone on my mini-adventures, thoughts, and experiences. So: xie xie!