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Virtual China - Answers to Questions Week1

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Virtual China - Answers to Questions Week1
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From: "HKIS Middle School (General Account #1)" 
Subject: Virtual China Answers to Questions

Question #1 - What kind of animals do you see as you're going through the
countryside?
We saw many oxen, chickens, and pigs. There are also many dogs and some
goats. The chickens, oxen and pigs are often along the road.
Answer by Eliza Notides

Question #2 - Is watermelon always the last course of a meal for the HKIS
students as it is for the Chinese people? NO! The Chinese usually have
mango pudding called sago. Also, sometimes they have fried red bean
crackers or sweet dumplings.
Answer by Wei Lin Wong

Question #3 - Do handicapped students have the same educational
opportunities as non-handicapped students? Students with handicaps are
generally not allowed in the two schools we asked. It appeared that they
stayed at home and helped with household duties, although that was not
directly stated. Answer by Kenneth Hang

Question #4 - How wide are the roads you are biking on? I used my tennis
shoes to step off the width of the road. It took 25 to 30 tennis shoes, end
to end. My shoe size is 9. Answer by Jennifer Cheung

Question #5 - What happens if students don't do their homework? The teacher
will lecture him/her, give them detention, and make them rewrite something
10 times.
Answer by Kenneth Hang

Question #6 - What is likely to happen if a student receives poor grades?
They will be lectured, but there will probably not be severe punishment.
We're checking to see if students can get extra help from their teachers.
Answer by Kenneth Hang
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From: "HKIS Middle School (General Account #2)" 
 Subject:       Virtual China '96 Answers to Questions

Dear Virtual China Followers,

This is Dan Fischer reporting in . . . back in Hong Kong after six glorious
days of biking in China. The weather was cloudy, cool and a bit damp but
rural China was GREAT. Back in Hong Kong we've had some technical and
logistical difficulties keeping up with your questions so I'd like to
address a few of them now. If you have more . . . simply let me know and
I'll do my best!
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To: Joyce Burtch, Canyon Middle School:

You don't see many wild animals while biking in China . . . most animals
are a source of food (birds, rats, cats, dogs . . .) so about the only
animals you see are water buffalo, chickens and pigs in the villages. There
are a lot of fruit orchards in China: more citrus fruit is consumed in
China than any other country. We also see mango, apricot and apple trees.
Water mellon as the last course of the meal . . . we a re not familiar with
the custom and have not ever observed it while traveling there.

The typical country house is constructed from bricks made from local clay.
Clay kilns are common in the country. They are usually two stories high
with a central kitchen and living area . . .bedrooms are upstairs. The
houses are dark with little lighting and few windows. The food is cooked in
ovens that burn wood or coal . afew use bottled gas. There is no hot water
and no bathrooms (those needs are taken care of outdoors) . . . the mor
well to do have a TV and perhaps a stereo.

Students go to school 6 days a week. They begin about 7:30am, take a luch
break from 11:00-2:00 during which time they usually go home and wash
clothes, do chores, etc. and then return to school for several more hours.
Students take they're schooling very seriously. At the end of each term,
exams are taken. Only the best students are allowed to continue their
studies. The top scoring students go the most elite schools (called the #1
schools), Those with slightly lower scores go to the #2 schools and so
forth. If you do not score at a certain level your school days are over and
you become a peasant farmer/laborer. There are no schools for children with
special problems . . . There are few textbooks. Most learning is rote and
they repeat what their teacher tells them . . . chalk boards are an
important part of the classroom.

China's one child policy meets with mixed reviews in China . . . they
understand the need . . . but are aware of the social problems it causes:
many unwanted babies, infanticide, abortion,. Many families in the coutry
have more than one child . . . we just visited a family that had nine
children.

Factory workers normally work a 9 hour day. Wages vary greatly: it depends
upon what part of the country you live in. Wages are much higher in the
southern free economic zones. Factory wages vary from $200-800 yuan per
month in the south . . . that's $25-100 U.S dollars per month. Up north,
the wages are less. You can hire a laborer in the countryside to work 60
hours per week for $60 yuan per month (about $7.50/month).
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To: Ms. Masterson, Alberta Canada

The Chinese do not breed beef cattle as they do in Canada. Their diet of
meat is primarily fish and pork, chicken, snake, cat, dog . . . their
"beef" would be water buffalo.

It's spring in China now. The weather is warming and its very damp. The
rice paddies are being flooded and the seedlings will be transplanted into
the big fields during the next two weeks.

There are very few public swimming pools in China . . . and most hotels are
just for foreigners.
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To: Piedmont Middle School, California, USA

The Biking Tour 96 is an absolutely wonderful, eye opening experience!! We
ride about 40 km per day and see a lot of rice fields, water buffalo,
villages, dirt, mud, motor cycles, farm vehicles. It is tiresome and we
have sore legs and butts at the end of each day. Life in China is very
different than in rural China. Hong Kong is 99% Chinese but very western
and modern . . . rural China is not.

Rice paddies are plots of ground in which rice is grown. The soil is very
clay like and requires a lot of tilling. It has to be turned into a muddy
slurry before the rice seedlings are planted.

The trip is not overly dangerous but you must be an alert, intelligent
biker and follow good rules of biking (single file, etc). We bike on ten
speed mountain bikes that get VERY muddy during the week. Each group brings
along one lap top computer on to which we download digital pictures that we
take along the way.

Snake is a common food found in all the markets. In one village a man
invited us to go snake hunting with him . .. we were interested but simply
did not have the time. Duck egg preservation: eggs are boiled in brine
water and then packed in a ball of mud and sawdust. Thei saafely preserves
it for many years.

The Seven Stars Crags is a beautiful area that has limestone mountains and
caves surrounded by lakes . . .

China has many types of music: traditional, Canto pop., classical . . .

Fireworks and fire crackers are still popular in China.

This biking trip costs each student $5500 HK. Divide that by 7.8 to convert
into US dollars . . . that pays for transportation, hotels, adults
councelors (one for every 5 students), truck, bus, nurse, bike, and lots of
other "stuff".
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To: St. Hilda's, Perth, AU

Both boys and girls go on this trip. We do not have school uniforms as most
children do in Hong Kong and China. While biking we wear bright red shirts
for safety and easy identification. Taishan is my favortie place because
the city has so many ties with the United States . . . . its the county
that "cheap laabor" was taken from when the American's were building their
intercontinental railroads in the 1800's. Many American Chinese men will go
back to Taishan to find a wife . . . very common.
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To: St. John's School, Guam

The most popular food is RICE. Sports is an important part of life in
China: Volleyball, basketball. ping pong . . . you name it!! The people do
not rollerblade . . . they have little leisure time and when they do . . .
many do not have money to spend on luxuries. U.S. movies are not popular or
common in China.

We have about 120 kids and adults biking in China, split into four
different biking groups.

This is Dan Fischer, week one group leader signing off the air! Thanks for
your questions!!!
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