China

1
China

• A presentation by Laura Burns

2
Interviewee

• 22 year old female
• Parents moved from China to the U.S. in the mid
  1970s
• Lived in and went to school in Mt. Laurel until
  she went away to college

3
History

• China is actually a geographical region in East
  Asia
• The state of the Peoples Republic of China is
  where the majority of China exists
• The Chinese civilization is over 6,000 years old

4
Important Practices, Traditions, and Experiences

• Religions
• Confucianism and Taoism are the most popular
  religions
• About 8-15 of the population is Buddhist
• Languages
• Mostly everyone speaks Chinese
• Mandarin Chinese in the North
• Cantonese Chinese in the South

5
Immigration to the U.S.

• The first Chinese arrived in the U.S. around 1820
• The major initial wave started around the 1850s
• After the loosening of American immigration laws,
  there was another wave in the late 1960s and
  early 1970s

6
Socioeconomic Data

• 1.3 billion people reside in China
• 20 of worlds population
• One-Child policy in urban areas
• In N.J.
• 115,193 out of 8,444,076 (2003 data profile)
• Education 38 have their BA or higher (natl is
  22)

7
Important Practices, Traditions, and Experiences

• Chinese New Year
• Starts on the first day of the Chinese calendar
• Most important of the traditional Chinese
  holidays
• Lasts for fifteen days
• Red envelopes containing money are passed out
  from married couples to unmarried people, mostly
  children
• The New Year is celebrated with firecrackers,
  dragon dances, and lion dances

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Important Practices, Traditions, and Experiences

• Respect for deceased relatives
• On the birthday or date of which a relative
  passed away the family members bow down to them
• As incense is burning, one at a time they bow
  down to a picture of those relatives
• Opportunity to remember them
• Importance of education
• Sunday school to learn to read and write Chinese

9
General Issues and Concerns

• Society sees Chinese Americans as different
  because of physical appearances
• Unlike other ethnicities Chinese people cannot
  just blend in
• Language barrier-many adults who immigrate over
  never learn English

10
Educational Issues and Concerns

• Language barriers in schools
• ESL is helpful but can be embarrassing for
  children
• Lessons on China always brought attention to the
  Chinese students in class
• Generally teachers are more accepting than
  students because of their education

11
Recommendations

• A study on Asian Culture
• Just because someone is of a certain culture does
  not mean they know everything about that culture
• Children should feel unique about knowing a
  different language
• Be conscious of those who come from different
  backgrounds as it will effect their speech,
  dress, values, etc.

12
Teaching Kit
13
Socioeconomic Data

• 1.3 billion people reside in China
• 20 of worlds population
• One-Child policy in urban areas
• In N.J.
• 115,193 out of 8,444,076 (2003 data profile)
• Education 38 have their BA or higher (natl is
  22)

14
References

• Liou, D. Personal communication. 20 June
  2006. Being Chinese American.
• China. Wikipedia. 19 June 2006
  www.wikipedia.com
• Dramer, Kim. (1999). Peoples Republic of
  China. New York Grolier Publishing.