Experiencing Urbanization Via Life Story Method

“Beijing lie between longitudes 115°25′E and 117°30′E and between latitude 39°26′N and 41°03′N in North China. Specifically, Beijing is located at the eastern edge of the Eurasian continent and belongs to the Bohai sea rim economic circle, with small plain in the south and mountains in the west and north, covering an area of 16,807.8 km2. The city’s climate is a monsoon-influenced humid continental climate.” (Gengyuan Liu et.al., 2011). As the capital city with full of the long history and Chinese traditional culture and one of three economic-centered cities, which are Beijing, Shanghai, Hongkong respectively, in China Beijing has been regarded as one successful city that has

These two tragic deaths, both filled with dramatic irony, reveal Zhang Yimou’s critique of communist collectivist culture and the class structure and power in revolutionary China. Communist collectivist culture may produce benefits such as communal kitchens and giving poor townspeople a sense of hope. However, the class antagonisms between revolutionaries and counterrevolutions produces an environment where no one challenges authority and where blind patriotism sometimes morphs into hysteria like

“It was not easy to live in Shanghai” (Anyi 137). This line, echoed throughout Wang Anyi 's short piece “The Destination” is the glowing heartbeat of the story. A refrain filled with both longing and sadness, it hints at the many struggles faced by thousands upon thousands trying to get by in the city of Shanghai. One of these lost souls, the protagonist, Chen Xin, was one of the many youths taken from his family and sent to live the in the countryside during the Cultural Revolution. Ten years after the fact, Chen Xin views the repercussions of the Cultural Revolution internally and externally as he processes the changes that both he, and his hometown have over-gone in the past ten years. Devastatingly, he comes to the conclusion that there is no going back to the time of his childhood, and his fond memories of Shanghai exist solely in memory. This is in large part is due to the changes brought on by the Cultural Revolution. These effects of the Cultural Revolution are a central theme to the story; with repercussions seen on a cultural level, as well as a personal one.

In the essay Chinatown: A Contested Urban Space, by Mary Ting Yi Lui, Chinatowns collectively occupy a special place in the collective imagination of American ethnic history and the nation’s contemporary multicultural identity, as evidenced by their serving as the settings for various motion pictures. From coast to coast, Chinatowns remain major tourist draws, and continued immigration from the Chinese diaspora ensures that Chinatown will retain their social and cultural significance for many years to come. Chinese Americans are the oldest and largest Asian ethnic group in the United States, consisting of fourth and fifth-generation Americans of Chinese descent and recent immigrants of languages spoken and points of origin. Chinese immigration

However, in 1981, the US Census noticed that Chinatown in decreasing in population size mainly because successful Chinese Americans have migrated into the suburbs and Virginia. Another reason why Chinatown is decreasing is because Chinatown is facing gentrification as new projects are ‘rolling in for downtown’ (Wang, 2015). In 2010, there was a report that Chinatown only has around 300 residents. Today, the enclave contains 21% Asian Americans where as in the 1990’s, the population was 66% Asian. To see whether it was true, we went down to Washington DC to observe and figure out what was it like to live in Chinatown. For the past few weeks, we discovered that Chinatown is always busy. The noises of the busses were extremely loud and the area was crowded with people from all different backgrounds. The only thing that stood out for us was the fact that

Time of incredible urban communities, populace blast more than half lived in urban zones by 1920. Particular urban society made by ascent of enormous urban communities Heterogeneous populace in urban communities. The possibility of Occupations, riches, fervor had urged numerous to move into the enormous urban communities. New social issues had risen. Destitution, political debasement, personal satisfaction issues. Likewise the expanding predominance of

Urbanization had many positives effects on the cities and the countries as a whole. It allowed citizens to unite together in all of the big cities, which allowed for the factories to get workers since they needed

This book is a harsh criticism China's housing reform system for destroying its own people, written by the author who observes China from liberal's point of view. The author, Qin Shao wrote for those people who want to learn about the large-scale housing revolution in China throughout crucial experiences that citizens have gone through. It criticize the demolition and relocation system, questioning the level of morals. In introduction, he gives concretely negative words of China's abusing housing system and as he explains the historical process in order. For instance, Shao describes the government's policies and its corruption as “crucial,” “distrustful,” and he even calls them as “ugly twins.” There

Initially, the main character, Jing-mei Woo, lived in San Francisco. In contrast, her half-sisters lived in China. This spatial difference fostered Jing-mei’s lack of knowledge of what communist China would be like. This presents a distinct challenge in the story as there could have been over half a billion people in China

In metropolitan urban communities, plagued with economic hardships, social injustice, and violence, rising out of those communities is glorified as the greatest achievement one could earn. In fact, most of my family members and peers congratulated me for being accepted into UNC-Chapel Hill with phrases like, “you made it” and “it’s over.” But, I knew different. I was well aware that attending UNC-Chapel Hill, the first public and most prestigious university in NC would be substantially different than the conditions of my hometown. No longer was I around the likes of my melanin, socioeconomic status, or cultural background, and adjustment proved to be difficult. During my first year a UNC, I endured social isolation, homesickness, academic hardship,

Peter Hessler and a fellow Peace Corp. volunteer were placed in Fuling, and poor town on the Yangtze River in rural China. River Town is more or less a journal of what it was like being in Fuling on a day to day basis. He illustrates his experience through stories of trips he took, people that he became close with, and situations that required an open mind. Peter’s job was teaching English literature at a small college in the town; and through this was able to learn both about the tightly controlled nature of being a foreigner in China, as well as some of the thoughts of the younger generation through various assignments. He was greeted as a “hero” and was lavished upon, but at the same time found it very difficult to be “accepted” by the locals, cadres or not.

Fuling, a small city of about 200,000 people located near the Yangtze River, cuts through the green mountains of the Sichuan Province. Peter Hessler writes with a mellow and lazy pace that works perfectly in creating a visual imagery to a point where the Chinese ‘laobaixing’ or common people become alive. Fuling was a former coal-mining town where the atmosphere is so polluted that Peter sneezes out a black liquid every time he goes for a jog. China of 1996

Life in rural Shandong during the late seventeenth century was unbelievably harsh and demanding. The ordinary day to day experiences for both peasants and landlords was wrought with difficulties as they sought to maintain a semblance of order in trying times. No other place, however, suffered more and exemplified the harshness of the time than the county of T’an-ch’eng. The peasants of T’an-ch’eng bore witness to an innumerable amount of pain and suffering as they were continuously besieged with one disaster and after another. One of the most notable tragedies was when the people of T’an-ch’eng had to endure an overwhelming snowfall that killed many, destroyed houses and prevented crops from growing. Another tragedy was when the snow melted and spring came, locust eggs that had been buried there before had hatched and the people of T’an-ch’eng were once more under duress as they feared starvation

Urbanization can be defined as a rapid shift in population of a group living in a specific area. This typically happens when the society decides that it is more advantageous to settle, rather than migrate. Throughout ancient history, we have seen various groups of civilization to adept different forms of urbanization near river valleys. These cities include the regions near Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Indus valley. Even though their lifestyle might have revolved the valley as a main source of development, their cultures and beliefs differed greatly from each other.

“Dagong” means “working for the boss” or “selling labor,” and illustrates the commodification of labor and the subordinate status of the worker, in contrast to socialist imaginations of work as liberating. “Mei” means little sister, often associated with young, unmarried women in contrast to “jie”, the older, mature sister . Thus, the term dagongmei symbolizes the subordination of female migrants, both as migrant workers under urban factory owners, and as women expected to work long hours, some sacrificing their education, in order to support their families. Pun articulates the very real struggles many dagongmei face, from the 1993 Shenzhen factory fire that killed over 80 migrant workers, all but two female, only then alerting China and the rest of the world of the human costs of China’s rapid development to one woman, Yan, who screams in her sleep after years of work despite being in deep physical and emotional pain. Such pain is unbearable, and to scream out is the only way to survive. Yet as Pun argues, their very survival is of itself a form of resistance. These migrant workers may not be organizing, staging mass strikes or protests against the state or factory owners, but they are resisting. By screaming out, Yan is forcing the world to hear her pain. By telling