I was a little disappointed by this program. If this is supposed to be an educational documentary, they could at least take the time to learn how to correctly pronounce the names of places and people.
It would certainly add credibility to the program.
I enjoyed the show. What really raised a red flag for me was the comment about how China will need another earth for just their resource consumption. It was only casually mentioned in the show (probably because the focus was more on the people and changing society). But, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that it is going to be a major problem in the not to distant future...
That is indeed a valid concern, especially when you throw India into the picture.b
If it weren't for the fact hat I speak Chinese and have spent a great deal of time studying the history, I probably would not have picked up on the mispronunciations; I'm sure few others outside of China noticed.
China has a long and amazing history, but unless it begins an aggressive movement to protect its environment, China's future will be bleak.
I enjoyed the show as well and thought it was nicely done for the most parts.
While there is no doubt about the great potential of this country in the coming years, the claim by the program that it will achieve superpower stature in twenty years is a little far fetched. It will be a while before that happens as there are various problems (economic stability, political, military.. etc) that it will have to face before achieving that status.
Excellent program! I am watching it now and I will tape it and re-watch it again and again. I just love learning about our fellow humans; we seem so different yet you can see many similarities. They sure seem more fit than us!
I'm from america, I used to fly for a US carrier. After 9/11, there was work in emerging Asia. I started to fly to China. I have been to Shanghai, Urumqi, Shenzhen, and many other China cities. I spend usually 3 weeks over there every month. The people treat me with more respect than any place I ever have seen in the United States. They are very polite. The food, mostly vegetables are amazing. I have dated many chinese girls and they are super humble. I see China becoming a super power unless other super power countries want to butt heads with them. I pray to God that this does not happen because I can see it happening..... I have made many new chinese friends and they speak fairly good english. I cannot believe how ignorant many of my friends here in the US are of China and it culture and still don't even care. Very bad. I hope that the US can embrace their growth. Also, I only hope the bad parts of western culture don't infiltrate china too much.... In general, the program was pretty good.
Looking forward to probably moving to China for good. blessings, B-747 Captain
I think the program is very impressive and it serves a great purpose. It does an amazing job of showing current shots of China throughout the country while presenting the viewer with facts and history concerning the country.
I had no clue that someone who trained with monks could go out and play video games on the weekends. I also did not know about the martial arts schools. It was a very interesting look at China that was both educational and disturbing.
Learning about all of this stuff is awesome, however, learning about all the hardships that people have to go through their made my stomach turn a little and also made me a little mad.
The little girl who did gymnastics made me the maddest. She was thrown into that life when she was 2-years-old and that is disgusting. If she isn't accepted by the national team then what is she supposed to do with the rest of her life? She will start puberty years after she was supposed to, as well as have no education whatsoever. Hopefully, she cooked in her dwellings and knows how to do simple things around the house.
I also think that the superpower statement is a little far fetched as well. There are so many factors that threaten the structure of China that I doubt they will become the booming, scary country that everyone thinks they will become.
Alot of people do not know how much china consumes and i believe that the comment about their consumption was an appropriate one. Most people see the EU and America as the biggest consumers and forget about the rest of the world.
First off - Wars start because people "fear" the unknown. Why does Chinas have to be scary? It is scary to someone who think that they are the big man on campus.
Second - Anyone who has done any research on China's government has see that they have not treated their people in the past very good. However this is not its citizens fault. In general the people are super hard working and very respectable.
I am not trying to upset anyone on this board, just trying to enlighten.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: kim g,
There is a public debate in China about the sports training system. Precisely for the same reason you mentioned.
It is also her parents' decision to let her join the school or not, or quit anytime. She said in the interview in Chinese that her father is actually the only one thought she should join the training program while all the other relatives thought it was too tough for a little girl. So her father should be held equally responsible.
Lots of parents in China who spent their youth before the reform put pressure on their only child to achieve because they felt their kids are lucky to live in a time like this and should take full advantage of it. Not all of them though.
Considering the diversity and the complex nature of China, the program did touch on a main theme that best describes the current China: constant changing. Although some popular ideas among westerners about China left a lot to be desired . Like Culture Revolution and One Child policy. Considering the time constraint, it is a fairly good job. I do have one complaint though. I noticed some of what the people said in Chinese in the film is not translated.
I will simply say this, China WILL be a Superpower in the very near future and given the credibility of the Power Transition Theory, I'd say we can look forward to China and the US butting heads militarily because that is exactly what happens when another power grows strong enough to challenge the other.
The reason there has been relative peace (excluding regional conflicts) in the world for the last 50 years is because the US has maintained hegemony over the rest of the countries and when the Soviet Union fell there was nobody strong enough left to challenge us, but that is quickly changing.
I have lived in China, I speak the language and I have studied the history. That's not to say that I'm an expert on all things about China, but I do have more of an understanding on China than %90 of Americans who've never been there and only speak the English language. The only thing keeping China from Superpower status at the moment is its inability to project military force beyond its borders, but that too is quickly changing (just as fast as China is).
Second, some of you need to stop viewing China through your western perspectives. So what if the little girls father put her into a gymnastic school at the age of two? There are 1.3 billion people in China and resources are scarce. Millions and millions of children in China compete every year for the chance to get into a university because it's not like in the US where anyone can go to college if they have the money. If those kids can't pass the entrance exams, there's little future for them outside of working in restaurants or some other low-paying service job. That little girls father was giving her a better chance at a better future than she probably would have had going to school and if you don't believe me, then go spend some time teaching in the public schools over there as I have.
Just remember, it wasn't all that long ago that the US didn't have such things as Child Labor Laws and it wasn't uncommon at all to find small children working in factories instead of going to school because that was the only way their parents could put enough food on the table to feed their families.
I feel programs like Discovery/Atlas: China Revealed are beneficial to Westerners and encourages everyone to read books on China, visit Chinese Websites and begin learning Mandarin now. My wife is from DongBei ( that's EastNorth near Harbin) where we were married and visit every year to see the family. I just Produced "China Empire" for The History Channel which premieres November 13th. It covers many historical engineering feats and explains emperors, dynasties, and the Middle Kingdom's past view of the world. Today China's economy booms but at the expense of the environment and workers. This is only temporary as the Chinese are now concerned with depleting resources and balancing growth/environment. Sure I have personal reasons for seeing a successful China but everyone should because the global economy, population, environment and our future are all interdependant now. Xie xie.-dsross007 www.iChinese.tv
I understand the reason why you felt disturbing. That's because you don't understand the culture and Chinese society. There is an old Soviet Union type of sports system in China. However, this documentary doesn't show the full image. Many children are picked at an early age. But they can decide if they want to participate in training. In the documentary, clearly that is her father's will to do that. However, the words from the little girl didn't translate into English, so viewers could mistake that the government is forcing children to train. To westerners, the little girl's father may seem crude to her daughter. But Chinese parents usually are strict to their kids. This is a culture difference. The children, who are in sports training programs in China, are also in school, too. They are in special schools which provide regular education, and, at the same time, these schools emphasize on sports training. So even if the little girl fails, she will join other students in classroom as a normal child. People from every country should be proud of their culture like Chinese do. Hope you will feel less disturbing if you can understand other culture.
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Originally posted by coyoteb: I think the program is very impressive and it serves a great purpose. It does an amazing job of showing current shots of China throughout the country while presenting the viewer with facts and history concerning the country.
I had no clue that someone who trained with monks could go out and play video games on the weekends. I also did not know about the martial arts schools. It was a very interesting look at China that was both educational and disturbing.
Learning about all of this stuff is awesome, however, learning about all the hardships that people have to go through their made my stomach turn a little and also made me a little mad.
The little girl who did gymnastics made me the maddest. She was thrown into that life when she was 2-years-old and that is disgusting. If she isn't accepted by the national team then what is she supposed to do with the rest of her life? She will start puberty years after she was supposed to, as well as have no education whatsoever. Hopefully, she cooked in her dwellings and knows how to do simple things around the house.
I also think that the superpower statement is a little far fetched as well. There are so many factors that threaten the structure of China that I doubt they will become the booming, scary country that everyone thinks they will become.
Alot of people do not know how much china consumes and i believe that the comment about their consumption was an appropriate one. Most people see the EU and America as the biggest consumers and forget about the rest of the world.
I am a native Chinese. Born in the north east of China and raised up in Beijing. I had studied in the U.S. for three years and here is my thought on foreign conception of Chinese people and culture.
Many westerners think “Chinese are different”. That indeed is true in many ways. China has 5000 years of history. The country has a really rich culture and its culture reflect on Chinese people. Even in the ancient times, there were not great cultures around China. So at that time, the Chinese culture got little influence from outside. In the recent 400 years, the ancient Chinese empire decided to close his country’s door to the rest of the world. The separation may be the reason why Chinese have a strange custom and traditions to outsiders. During the 400 years, Chinese do not have much contact with the rest of the world. Nowadays, if you look at the different culture around the world, more or less, many cultures were influenced by western culture since many countries were colonies of the western countries in the late 19s century. The one culture that is well preserved is the Chinese. I believe that’s why the Chinese culture is seemed unique.
I have heard comment saying that Chinese are “rude”. And I truly believe there are many people in the states don’t like Chinese people. I don’t agree with Chinese people are rude. If you think about what “rude” is in a culture context. For example, Chinese culture doesn’t have something like “lady first” in their culture. So in China, you will very rarely see a man holding door for women. But this can’t be interpreted as rude since that not a Chinese custom and tradition. People don’t have the any idea of what “lady first” is… Actually, many people do not understand the Chinese because they never had a Chinese friend or visited the country. I really believe Chinese are most peaceful and down-to-earth people. Young Chinese student like me who studied in U.S. colleges usually find people here are fake, aggressive and self-centered. While one time I was bag packing in rural area of China with several of my American classmates, they were surprised that how friendly Chinese people are. We are strangers to villagers. But they offered us to stay in their house and cooked a big dinner (we were embarrassed to accept the dinner because the family looks really poor.)
The most interesting thing about Chinese culture is its diversity and unification. For thousands of years, 56 different people lived together in a single country is an amazing thing. Chinese are proud of themselves while they have a open mind for others. In china, Chinese are friendly to different group of people inside their country or outside. The race segregation didn’t not happen in China like in the U.S. simply because China is a complex country and unlike European countries (U.S. ancestors) where people were one race in the old time. Chinese have live in a country with diversities for centuries.
Unification is another importance in the Chinese culture. There are 56 different groups of people living in China speaking hundreds of dialects. Even as Han (Chinese majority), the Han in north of China are greatly different from Han in south of China. What keeps them together is the Chinese culture. All the people lived in this culture believe the concept of “China” is far more important than the concept of “separate group of people”. China has a fascinating culture. It is a culture brings people together…That’s something special about this country.
I loved the show. It was very well done and informative. The presentation in HD was stunning. The colors and the sounds were amazing!!! I really enjoyed how it showed the individuals from various areas of the country as well as gave the general information about groups of people. The part about the Mongolians was fascinating and it reminded me of the Going Tribal episode in which Bruce Perry went to Mongolia.
Also, I thought that James Spader was a great narrator. I hope he appears in the other episodes.
I realy enjoyed the China program since I will be going there next week. I will be in China for several weeks. I did find the show very fascinating too.
I thought it was a superb documentry. Well done to the producers. With regards to Jin Yang, the gymnast. It was good to see her father show pride and support of her achievements. People have got to remember that Chinese culture have traditionally favour boys heavily over girls. This preference has created a huge inbalance between the male to female ratio. Hence it was refreshing to see Jin Yang's dad showed that some progress has been made in that area and that Chinese girls are now getting the recognition they deserve.
