1. Contemporary China
(1)
(2)
Smithtown High School West
Christina Cone
2007

2. DO NOW:
(3)
(6)
Which of these
pictures were
taken in China?
A (8)
(4) D
(7)
F
B (9)
(5)
C E G

3. True or False?
1. All Chinese people speak the same language.
2. Mao unified China.
3. China has sovereignty over Taiwan. (10)
4. Deng Xiaoping intended to implement democracy.
(11)
(13)
(12)
5. The Great Wall is a man-made object visible from space.
6. Over 20 percent of the world's population are Chinese.
7. Only Beijing and Shanghai represent the current China.
8. China is backward and poor.
9. The one child policy works.
10. China is a communist country.
(17)
(14)
(15)
(19)
(16)
(18)

4. Examining
Contemporary China
• Society
• Population
• Ethnic Diversity
• One Child Policy
• Politics
(20) (21)
• Economics
• Development
• Beijing Olympics
• Environmental Impact

5. Population
With just over 1.3 billion people, China is the world's most populous country. As the
_________
world's population is approximately 6.5 billion, China represents a full 20% of the world's
population so one in every five people on the planet is a resident of China.
 One third of the population today is under
14, two-thirds are under 30.
 About three-quarters of the people live in
rural areas. However, urban centers are
growing rapidly.
TASK:
Half of the class: Explain why a large population is a positive for a country.
Half of the class: Explain why a large population is a negative for a country.

6. (23) Ethnic Minorities (24)
The Han Chinese make up 92% of the population of China. Then, there are fifty-
six extremely diverse ethnic minorities in China. Some of the minorities, including
the Hui and the Zhuang, are very similar to the Han; others are very different, for
instance, the Turkic peoples of the west such as the Uighurs or Kazakhs, or the
Iranian Tajiks. The minority nationalities occupy about 60 percent of China's
territory, including, above all, the vast western areas.
(25)
QUESTION: Think about China’s geography. Is it an advantage or a disadvantage
to live in the western region? Why?

7. (26)

8. Chinese Nationalities and Their Populations
Minorities Shown Left to Right Descending by Population
Minority Population Minority Population Minority Population Minority Population
Han 1,136,703,824 Zhuang 15,555,800 Manchu 8,846,800 Hui 8,612,000
Miao 7,383,600 Uygur 7,207,000 Yi 6,578,500 Tujia 5,725,000
Mongolian 4,802,400 Tibetan 4,593,100 Bouyei 2,548,300 Dong 2,506,800
Yao 2,137,000 Korean 1,923,400 Bai 1,598,100 Hani 1,254,800
Li 1,112,500 Kazakh 1,110,800 Dai 1,025,400 She 634,700
Lisu 574,600 Gelao 438,200 Lahu 411,500 Dongxiang 373,700
Wa 352,000 Shui 347,100 Naxi 277,800 Qiang 198,600
Du 192,600 Xibe 172,900 Mulam 160,600 Kirgiz 143,500
Daur 121,500 Jingp 119,300 Salar 87,500 Bulang 82,400
Maonan 72,400 Tajik 33,200 Pumi 29,700 Achang 27,700
Nu 27,200 Ewenki 26,400 Jing 18,700 Jino 18,000
De'ang 15,500 Uzbek 14,800 Russian 13,500 Yugur 12,300
Bonan 11,700 Menba 7,500 Oroqin 7,000 Drung 5,800
Tatar 5,100 Hezhen 4,300 Gaoshan 2.900 Lhoba 2,300 (27)

9. (43)
(44)
Giant pandas are black-and-white Chinese bears that are on the verge of extinction. There
are about 1500 pandas in the world. The Chinese people call the panda "Da xiong mao,"
which means "giant bear cat" in Chinese. The panda is a symbol of peace in China.
The Red Panda is native to the Himalayas in Nepal and southern China. The word panda is
derived from Nepalese word "ponya" which means bamboo and plants eating animals in
Nepal.

10. Population Under Mao (28)
The failure of the Great Leap was partly blamed on Mao's idea of "the more people, the
stronger we are" and the rampant overpopulation which resulted.
In 1962 a Birth Control Campaign was launched. However, during the Cultural Revolution
birth control was denounced as a bourgeois concept. As the Cultural Revolution ebbed,
birth control again received official backing.
Zhou Enlai declared that "one child is ideal, two are enough, three are too many."
However in the late 70s it became clear that keeping family size down to 2 children was
inadequate. China was faced by a population growth that threatened its progress.

11. One-Child Policy
China's one child policy was established by Chinese leader _______________ in 1979
Deng Xiaoping
to limit communist China's population growth. The policy limits couples to one child.
QUESTION: What do you
think happens if a couple has
more than one child?
Additional children will result in large
fines. The families are required to pay
economic penalties, and might be denied
bonuses at their workplace.
(29)

12. QUESTION: What commonalities can you notice in these images?
(30-33)

13. Exceptions to the
One-Child Policy Rule
• In most rural areas, families are allowed to have two children, if the first child is
female, or disabled.
• If a couple is composed of two people without siblings, they may have two children.
• The one-child policy is mostly restricted to ethnic Han Chinese, not the minority
populations.
• Children born in overseas countries are not counted into the policy if they do not
obtain Chinese citizenship. Chinese returned from overseas can have a second
child.
(34)

14. PROS AND CONS:
TASK: Brainstorm with a partner the pros and cons of the
one-child policy.
Pros Cons
Slows population growth Violation of human rights
Good for the environment Government control over individuals
Good for the economy Increasing hardships in caring for elderly
Lack of sibling relationships
(35)
Gender discrimination/imbalance
Age imbalance
Increased pressure on only
children
Spoiled/Little Emperor syndrome
(37)
(36)

15. Confucianism and the
One-Child Policy
QUESTIONS:
1. In what ways might Confucian beliefs help
support the one-child policy?
2. In what ways might Confucian beliefs lead to
discontent with the one-child policy?
(38)

16. Effects of the One-Child Policy
1. Estimated to have reduced population growth. The fertility rate has
fallen to 1.7 births per woman.
(39)
2. Gender imbalance - the ratio is now 114 males for every 100 females.
(40)
3. Ethnic minorities have had their proportion in China grow.
(41)

17. (42)

18. DO NOW:
“Corruption is the virus that has eroded the healthy body of the party
and the state. If we lower our guard and let it run wild, our party will
be ruined, the people’s power will be lost, and the great cause of
socialist modernization will be forced off track. Our party, our
cadres, and our people will never allow such consequences.
-Jiang Zemin, Communist Party general secretary, August 1993
1. What are the goals of the speaker?
2. Why do you think the speaker is so concerned with corruption?
3. Is there bias in this quote? Explain.
Source: James A.R. Miles, The Legacy of Tiananmen, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1996, p. 147.

19. Politics of the People’s
Republic of China (PRC)
China's leader vows to uphold one-party rule
International Herald Tribune:Asia-Pacific
By Joseph Kahn, Published: June 27, 2007
BEIJING: President Hu Jintao said attempts to
modernize China's political system must not jeopardize
one-party rule…Hu, who is also the Communist Party
chief,…embraced greater "political participation" by
ordinary people but ruled out steps toward Western-style
democracy. Such changes should… preserve the
Communist Party's monopoly on political power, he said.
(45)

20. Economic Development
 China is one of the world's top exporters and is attracting record amounts
of foreign investment. In turn, it is investing billions of dollars abroad.
 China is the largest oil consumer after the US, and the world's biggest
producer and consumer of coal.
 There has been a massive investment in hydro-power, including the $25
billion Three Gorges Dam project.
(46)

21. Beijing Olympics
(48)
(47)
“For many people in China, the Olympics symbolized that China has regained a
prominent position in the world after almost 150 years of wars, political upheaval, and
periods of relative isolation.
The Olympics spurred a campaign to clean up environmental problems, renovate
monuments to Chinese history and culture, and teach millions of people to speak
English. China expected to receive about a half a million visitors for the Olympics, a
benefit to its economy.”
- Mary Cingcade, Associate Director, East Asia Resource Center,
University of Washington
(50)
(49)

22. Olympic Emblems,
Symbols, Slogans
EMBLEM
The Color System:
The Chinese Red
The Glaze Yellow
The Chinese Scholar-tree Green
"Chinese Seal,
The Blue and White Porcelain Blue
Dancing Beijing"
The Great Wall Grey
The Jade White
SLOGAN
Beijing Olympic Cultural Festival Environmental Symbol of Beijing Volunteers Symbol of Beijing
Symbol Olympics -'Green Olympics' Olympics
All images from http://en.beijing2008.cn/62/67/column211716762.shtm

23. (51)
Like the Five Olympic Rings from which they draw their color and inspiration, Fuwa will serve as the
Official Mascots of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, carrying a message of friendship and peace to
children all over the world. Fuwa also embody the natural characteristics of four of China's most popular
animals -- the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow -- and the Olympic Flame.
Each of Fuwa has a rhyming two-syllable name -- a traditional way of expressing affection for children
in China. Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the
Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow.
When you put their names together -- Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni -- they say "Welcome to Beijing," offering a
warm invitation that reflects the mission of Fuwa as young ambassadors for the Olympic Games.

24. Displacement of People
“For thousands of Beijing's residents, this "urban makeover" came at an
incredible cost. According to UNESCO, in the past three years a third of
the 62km squared area that makes up the central part of the old city has
now been destroyed. This has displaced close to 580,000 people – one
and a half times the total population of Washington D.C.”
- Sean Gallagher, Open Democracy, Ltd.
(52)

25. Rural Versus Urban
(53) (56)
The economic disparity between urban China and the
rural areas is among the largest in the world. Many
impoverished rural dwellers are flocking to the
country's eastern cities, which are enjoying a
construction boom.
(54)
Social discontent manifests itself in protests by
farmers and workers. There were 87,000 protests, or
"mass incidents," in 2005, according to official figures.
VIDEO CLIP:
How would you describe life for the
migrant workers in the cities?
(55)
http://www5.unitedstreaming.com/index.cfm China Rises: Getting Rich Migrant Workers (5:49) 0-3:25

26. A Migrant’s Lament
A young woman from Sichuan, who died in a tragic workplace fire at her factory in
Shenzen…, had copied these words to a song in her diary.
From Sichuan to Canton
Thru’ Ou-yang to Shenzhen
Home is lone gone
Mom and dad had to leave
Your words forever in my heart.
They say Canton streets are made of gold
It’s been over three years
I wish my family were near
But my pockets are still bare….
A day feels like a year
It ain’t so easy to be away from home
No cash, no salt, no oil, no grain
To live is agony.
Source: Anita Chan, China’s Workers Under Assault, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2001, pp. 113-114

27. Building a Harmonious Society
Goal of President Hu and China's prime minister, Wen Jiabao, to reduce the gap
between China's wealthy elite and a vast majority of its working population.
Methods:
 Abolished agricultural tax
 Expanded subsidies for education in rural areas
 New retirement, unemployment, health care systems
(57)
 Growing concern with the environment
QUESTIONS:
2. How does this idea resonate with Confucianism?
3. Do you think this will be successful? Why or why not?

28. In Chinese culture, 8 is the luckiest number and 4 is the
unluckiest number. The number 4, or si, also means death
in Chinese. And the number 8, or ba, rhymes with fa the
Chinese character for wealth. Having a license plate with
an 8 or hopefully many 8's is suppose to bring you good
fortune and wealth.

29. Other Issues/Problems
• Human rights campaigners criticize China for executing hundreds of people every year
• Chinese rule over Tibet is controversial. Some accuse the authorities of destruction of
Tibetan Buddhist culture and the persecution of monks loyal to the Dalai Lama
• Beijing says the island of Taiwan is a part of Chinese territory that must be reunited
with the mainland, by force if necessary. It has threatened to invade should Taiwan
declare independence.
•The authorities have targeted the Falun Gong spiritual movement
• Corruption
• Growing rate of HIV infection
• Environmental degradation - China is home to many of the world's most-polluted cities
58-61

30. Environmental Issues
(64)
(62)
(67)
(65)
(63)
(68)
(66)

31. (69) (70)

32. Prediction
VIDEO CLIP: “China Rises: Getting Rich” – Introduction (1:12)
The narrator asks, “Can China keep moving forward, or will the
forces of change tear it apart?” How would you respond?
(73)
(71)
(72)