Loads To Talk About

Being an English tutor, I am able to discuss an array of interesting topics with all types of professionals - university professors, lawyers, scientists, bankers, computer engineers. And it is through these conversations that I collect a great deal of information concerning the rationale and thought processes of those who benefited under Deng Xiaoping's reforms. Only in the last couple of decades have Chinese started feeling comfortable enough to express their own opinions about sensitive issues. Of course, I won't see any of them acting on these feelings nor openly debating them on the subway, but ever since China stopped holding denouncement sessions, labelling people as rightists, and throwing low-profile citizens under suspicion in jail or into labor camps, the people have felt a new sense of freedom.


Yesterday alone I had lively conversations about space exploration, bisexuals, snake eating, state vs. private employees, evolution vs. religion, mutual funds, and how Chinese drink alcohol.

I have already cross checked these views with other references, and this is what I've gathered: A good portion of the intellectual population questions whether the US actually landed on the moon. Homosexuality and bisexuality are considered a "mental disease" and "disgusting" and bisexuals do not possess infidelity because they play on both teams. Guangdong people will eat anything including snakes. Many parents working in state-run enterprises and institutions hope their children end up in the private sector. Chinese schools teach evolution and believe religion is a distraction to scientific discovery. Mutual funds are probably a better bet than real estate, since many predict the bubble will burst after the Olympics. And Chinese men usually only drink beer and baijiu (strong rice vodka) and they drink at a restaurant, not a bar.

These discoveries often lead to more questions and eventually a very comprehensive discussion on what is taking place in China and in the minds of the Chinese. One of the reasons I started a blog was to record and share some of these findings. I may be extremely busy in the coming weeks, but I'll try to be as diligent as possible - I have no doubt that every time I sit down in front of the computer, I will have loads to talk about.