China8687

Episodes

1. 10

   China 8687-010 - Meeting the Crew

   The China8687 podcast, Episode 010 - "Meeting the Crew" is released. "...The Foreign Affairs Department oversaw foreign students in every school in China. They watched and controlled us, which was challenging for them. China was a hierarchical culture; leaders were used to being obeyed. We were...

   Dec 3, 2022

   7m
2. 9

   China8687-009 - Entering the Gate

   "...Shanxi Teacher's University (STU) had been founded as a three-year teacher institute. It was upgraded to a university in a big push to increase the quantity of college graduates dramatically in China. The Cultural Revolution in the 1960's and '70s closed all the schools, so they were playing...

   Nov 17, 2022

   7m
3. 8

   China8687-008 - The Beijing Train Station

   "...Our first week in Beijing wound down quickly and soon it was time to board the steam train to Linfen City in Shanxi Province where we would study Chinese for a year. I had no idea what to expect, Beijing already seemed very foreign and undeveloped in some ways to me, what would Shanxi be...

   Nov 11, 2022

   7m
4. 7

   China8687-007 - Capitalism Starts Again in China

   The China8687 podcast, Episode 007 - "Capitalism Starts Again in China" is released. . "...Soon after I arrived in China I started hearing the word "geti hu". I thought it meant an individual or couple who made their own small stand for selling something. It was the most basic unit of capitalism...

   Nov 8, 2022

   7m
5. 6

   China8687-006 - Tourist Photomania

   "...Before the mid-1980s photos in China were for weddings and family portraits, and government propaganda. They were carefully arranged and posed. In the late 1980s many people started to get more expendable income. A camera was an optional thing that few people owned, but some could afford one,...

   Nov 5, 2022

   8m
6. 5

   China 8687-005 - Upgrading Tiananmen

   "...When we first arrived in Beijing in 1986 the reviewing stands were undergoing a big renovation. Bamboo scaffolding contained the stands, and Mao Zedong's portrait stared solemnly down on the masses walking below. Mao's image and the wake of his passing were a strong presence in China, recent...

   Oct 31, 2022

   10m
7. 4

   China8687-004 - The Temple of Heaven

   "... All around Beijing we saw hints of how old China was. There was a 300-year-old building here, and an 800-year-old temple there. All over Beijing there were buildings and even some restaurants much older than my country! .. " Find the China8687 podcast on Apple Podcasts......

   Oct 28, 2022

   6m
8. 3

   China8687-003 - People Milled About

   I was stunned by how many people Beijing had, and it was just one city. In America you couldn't see so many people in any one place, and the ones you saw on the street looked like they were going somewhere. Going to school, going to work, on an errand… doing something. I remember my impression of...

   Oct 26, 2022

   6m
9. 2

   China8687-002 - The Friendship Hotel

   When we arrived in Beijing, we stayed at the Friendship Hotel. It was one of the few hotels authorized to accept international guests in Beijing. Right away we found out that many parts of China were off limits or restricted to foreigners. We couldn't go to this place; we couldn't stay in that...

   Oct 24, 2022

   6m
10. 1

    China8687-001 - Boston to Beijing

    In 1986 Hong Kong and Europe were well known to Americans, but few outsiders had been to China when I first arrived. It was as mysterious as 100 or 200 years before. People knew it was there, but China had been closed to foreigners for 30 years. Few knew much about what had gone on during that...

    Oct 17, 2022

    6m