(life) one child policy weakening?

[karenstanleyma-3]

While the author of this article seems to have gotten one or two things wrong

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/25/world/asia/25shanghai.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

it does seem that in Shanghai, the government is encouraging some families to have more than one child.

I did send him an email questioning his assertion that the reason rural Han Chinese families were allowed to have another child if the first were a girl was that --> THEY FOLLOWED THE TRADITION OF PREFERRING A MALE HEIR.

Nonetheless, his information that "A couple made up of two parents who have no siblings themselves can now have a second child." seems to be correct.

Karen

[Don williamson-2]

Interesting and just for chit-chat purposes; the day before I left China (June 27th) I ministered-participated in two of my best young friends' formal wedding. Our other young friend did the M.Cing and translating. Actually they had already legally married five weeks earlier simply by applying and paying a modest license-registration fee. As an aside, divorce may be achived the same way assuming no arguments over property/Children. My two young Han-city bred friends have no siblings and both come from affluent families. It is their serious intent to have a boy (named after me) and a girl (with a Christian given name) named after our other M.C. friend. I asked about the 'one child' policy and they said..."not a problem." It will be especially interesting for me if all this comes about. Time will tell...Ohh, the boy would be 'Donald Wang' or, I suppose, if tradition is followed it would be Wang Don. Has a certain ring to it... donchya think.

Don


--- karen stanley wrote:
... his information that "A couple made up of two parents who have no siblings themselves can now have a second child." seems to be correct.



     

[M. Davis]

I don't understand, Karen, because everyone I know here in China assumes that, too -- re: the reason the govt. allows farm families a second child if the first is a girl.  (I speak of students, mostly.) They don't agree w/ it, or say they don't, though their behavior certainly denies their saying that girls are equal.

Mary Ann Davis

--- "karenstanleyma" wrote:
>
>
> I did send him an email questioning his assertion that the reason rural Han Chinese families were allowed to have another child if the first were a girl was that --> THEY FOLLOWED THE TRADITION OF PREFERRING A MALE HEIR.
>

[karenstanleyma-3]

"karenstanleyma" wrote:

> > I did send him an email questioning his assertion that the reason rural Han Chinese families were allowed to have another child if the first were a girl was that --> THEY FOLLOWED THE TRADITION OF PREFERRING A MALE HEIR.
>

"M. Davis" wrote:
>
> I don't understand, Karen, because everyone I know here in China assumes that, too -- re: the reason the govt. allows farm families a second child if the first is a girl.  (I speak of students, mostly.) They don't agree w/ it, or say they don't, though their behavior certainly denies their saying that girls are equal.
>

I thought that the reason farmers were granted an exception was because farming (particularly low-tech farming) includes jobs that require male strength, not simply because farmers want to follow a tradition.

I say this because my understanding is that it has been prevalent in both urban and rural areas to follow the tradition of preferring a male heir, so that that alone would not seem to be enough of a reason to grant rural areas a privilege denied to urban areas.

I am certainly no expert, so would be glad to hear from those who are.

Karen

[Tim Cleary]

This has been a subject of interest to me during my time in China. Here in Changchun, there are a noticeable number of urban couples who have two children. I have not been able to get an explanation from my Chinese friends (who have only one child each) of how this can be.

As far as I know farmers (nongmin) have been exempt from the single child policy and have always been allowed two (more?) children. Since these people work damn hard, I can certainly see why physical strength in an offspring would be preferable.

This is beside the point, it is my understanding that ethnic minorities are totally exempt from population control policies applying to the Han majority.

Tim
Changchun





     

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[Charlotte Edwards]

My husband tells me that, as with many things, connections and money can get around this.  I have recently noticed more people in our urban community with two kids; one family I know of has three (they kept going til they got a boy).  I don't know any of these families to know if they are minorities or not, but certainly not farmers.
 
Charlotte

[Tim Cleary]

I met a man recently (apparently quite wealthy) who has three kids, two boys and a girl. So much for trying till you get a boy. I wish I knew the story behind this one.

Tim

[sewbirdchina]

--- In TEFLChinaLife@..., Charlotte Edwards <knitter82@...> wrote:
 I have recently noticed more people in our urban community with two kids; one family I know of has three (they kept going til they got a boy). 

It was also explained to me that if a child is born abroad, another can be legally born and registered in China. I know of young educated couples doing Masters or Post Doc studies abroad with these family plans in place.

Nancy, US

[Alan Simpson-2]

My 30 day cycling trip around Taiwan last summer holiday.

 
I was not very enthusiastic about visiting Taiwan, I did not expect there to be much difference to the mainland, I also did not know much about the island.

But what a very pleasant surprise, it's been great.
The people very helpful, friendly & so different to mainlanders.
Chinese are a group culture, whereas Taiwanese are far more like foreigners - more individualists. They are adventurous & willing to try new things.
The media is very strong & I can access all overseas news channels.
The food is also more international, offering a lot of western food both in restaurants & in supermarkets. The food is also of a high quality, with many vegetables & fruit I have not seen before. I love mangos & they are so good here.
The island is kept very clean, with everybody concerned about the environment. Many Taiwanese carry their own metal chop sticks so disposable ones are not used. Lots of picnic spots with good facilities provided & very clean.
Banking, transportation, shopping, etc is all handled very efficiently. Changing RMB to Taiwanese dollars is so easy & quick.
The people are VERY law abiding, traffic is not at all chaotic with everybody staying on the proper side of the road for the direction they are travelling in, so I don't have to worry about people travelling on the wrong side of the road & nobody crosses a red light.
The scenery is breathtaking, a stunning coastline & incredible mountains. The sky & sea is so blue, the rivers so clear, the trees so green. When you are on the top of a mountain you can see everything so clearly as no pollution (this is on the eastern side of the island).
 
Taiwan is the perfect cycling destination, everything is great. Taiwanese are really into cycling in a big way. Everyday I see 100's of Taiwanese cyclists going the opposite direction, about 30% being female. They all look like bank robbers with their faces totally covered up, only sunglasses showing. They all wear cycling clothing & wear helmets. They don't worry that it's 30 - 38 degrees, they just get out & explore their island.
Every town has a 7-11 shop which is open 24 hours a day, that's the cyclists meeting place. Giant bike shops everywhere, even hotels for cyclist. All police stations offer toilets, washing facilities, water & a compressor for pumping tyres.  
Cycling is the latest fashion & whole families are on the road, all masked up. Everybody waves & motorists are careful. Nobody breaks the traffic rules.
 
They have home stays called Ming Su, that are cheaper than hotels but very clean.
 
So much cycling gear & gadgets for sale.
 
I could happily come back here again & strongly recommend a cycling trip to Taiwan
 
I cycled from Nanning to Guiyang. The mountain scenery is very good, better than Guilin but very tiring. As soon as I managed to cross a mountain, there's another one waiting for me. Some roads were atrocious, dirt, rocks & just too steep to cycle. I didn't meet another cyclist (which is normal on the mainland).
Strangely from arriving in Nanning to Guiyang I have seen no foreigners & found very little English spoken in Guizhou, which is very polluted.
 
Hotels are very good & so cheap (some not so good in Guizhou).

Alan Simpson

 

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