You cant silence me.

Good news is on the way

Fortune Tellers.

They sit together on a corner near the park.

The man with the woman at the top looks guilty that he got busted with his palm out.

Brutal Dictator

Seafood is a huge part of everyones diet here. Even though all the waters in and surrounding china are polluted bad.

Dog Bite Fever

Dogs are everywhere here. There are estimated to be around 200 million dogs in China. The dogs are most abundant in rural areas. The rural population of China is poor. They cannot afford to have thier pets vaccinated. They cannot afford to go to a hospital after a dog bite. Last year 3000 people in China died of rabies. 98% of all cases are from dog bites. Earlier this year a spike in rabies cases in a town in southwest China spurred the slaughter of 50,000 dogs. Picture a pile of 50,000 dead dogs. What would Bob Barker say?

Dog Meat

Pig, goat and dog are the three original beasts bred for meat in China. Peixian is known in China for thier dog meat. It is the towns only export. Restaurants in China serve 'Peixian Dog Meat', I am told. The meat is expensive and only consumed on 'special' occasions. Some people think the meat has medicinal purposes also. Dog is usually served boiled. The cooks generaly let the animals keep thier original shape. So you get the whole or front half of a boiled dog garnished in a dish. You tear off chunks with your chopsticks. Its a stringy, potent, chewy red meat. You dont gorge yourself on it. In some places you get to choose your dog. They dont let you kill it yourself though........not that I tried. Here in this little town they are very proud of thier dog meat.

Cult of Personality

Mao Zedong

Founded PRC on OCT. 1st 1949
100 flowers campaign

Great leap forward

Cultural Revolution

Chairman Mao is still a very respected figure in mainland China. He was a communist revolutionary who founded the Peoples Republic of China. He was believer in Marxism and a supporter of Stalin who developed his own ideas into Maoism. He taught Marxism to peasent workers which led to him leading an uprising and over throwing the government. Thats when things get a little sketchy. He may be directly responsible for 100s of thousands of executed chinese philosophers and intellectuals(100flowers), and indirectly or directly starving millions of peasents(Greatleap). He started the Cultural Revolution sometime after both of those incidents to regain some of the power he had lost. He brought the country to near civil war, a million more died.

It depends on how you look at it. Sacrifices are made in all revolutions. He helped China begin down the path they are currently on. He is never mentioned now in Chinese politics because of his controversial status. They have never officially repudiated his tactics. His body is on display in Tiananmen square. He was a revolutionary who was corrupted after gaining power.

As far as I can see he is still part of modern China. His photo is everywhere and everyone knows he is the founder of modern China. His face is on every denomination of paper money. However you want to look at it, he is an interesting figure in Chinese and world history. I wish I could talk to some of the old retired people who spend thier days sitting in the sun. I think they know the truth.

RED ARMY POSE

The Chinese have the largest standing army in the world. No one knows how much thier nation annualy spends on military. They hide the true ammount.
Much of the money is being spent on the Navy. Within 10-20 years the Chinese will have a Navy that will easily rival the US Navy. That combined with thier ground force will lead the Chinese to propose another sort of Monroe Doctrine, forcing US military out of Asia entirely. This is all assuming DPRK doesnt collapse and send waves of refugees flooding into China, collapsing thier fragile economy. It is in Chinas best interest to remain on good terms with North Korea while the US would like to see the government fall apart. Both sides claim its for the safety of the world.

Every child in the chinese public education system experiences military training. 1 week of intense drilling where they learn general military commands and formations.
They believe thier duty is to family and country, not self. They love China.

It was hard for me to watch these kids drill without breaks for hours in the sun. Not because it was taxing on thier bodies but because they seemed to love it so much. They felt shame when they collapsed from exaustion.

Confusionism vs. Classic Greek teachings. One preaches power of the people one teaches power of the individual.