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Reflections on a year of reading China's Literature

Titles Read: When Red is Black by Qiu Xiaolong and China's Economy by Arthur R. Kroeber

All through the year of reading for almost three quarters of this school year, I have learned many things in the book I’ve read over the quarters. I appreciate China because it's a very modern city and most people don't realize that, yet they think it's still an old city but throughout the books I read, I learned that it's a very modernized city and with the economy. China is a place where you can live an inexpensive life and travel anywhere you want without breaking your bank. I have learned that there are many jobs that pay excellent salaries. But you have to work hard to earn more and if you don't work as hard you can't expect the same salary as a person who does more. In China you can live a life of high standard and the cost of it will be very low because there are tons of options where you can choose from and some services are cheap and high standard. China is also the safest country there is because there is not that much racial tension and locals are very accepting of foreigners and in China it is illegal to own a firearm.

In the book “When Red is Black” by Qiu Xiaolong, I learned many things and one of those things is that the cultural revolution may be more than thirty years in the past but it can still affect the present of the Chinese society.

In the book “China’s Economy” I learned many things about China. China's economy is built on low cost exports of machinery and equipment. Major governments own these companies and fuel those exports. In 2018 an estimate of 2.5 trillion dollars China have exported, China also imported raw commodities from Latin America to Africa, including oil and other fuels. This proves that not only China has the largest population but they are the world largest importer at 2.6 trillion followed by the EU at 2.3 trillion. In the past around 2010, China’s economy has slowed from a 10.6 percentage point to a growing rate to 6.1. This was a slowdown for China but it was still pretty fast compared to other well developed countries, the US economy has only grown around 2 to 3 percent during that period.

When doing the independent reading project, you definitely need to stick to a schedule. If you have no schedule you will fall behind in a blink of an eye because you will be reading double the pages of the book that is due each just to keep up with the blog that is due every weekend. For me I started off very well doing the first and second blog but in the third I slacked very hard because I missed just a few days of reading and it when I tried to read and catch up I lost motivation. I would definitely suggest managing your reading time and post what you have learned in the few pages you read. Overtime I didn’t regret my decision to choose China as my country because China was the most definitely one of the coolest countries I ever learned about. You have to push yourself everyday and read and post one quote a night because this will help you at the end of the week. This is the most crucial part because it proves that you have read. I tried my best to post what I can because my schedule is very hectic due to covid and working while going to school. But in the end I am grateful for having this as a project, to read and learn about a beautiful country and hopefully one day traveling there one day.

Word Count: 622

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China is the world's largest nation by population (1.4 billion) and its fourth largest by area

China’s Economy, Arthur R. Kroeber (21)

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China, almost uniquely among modern authoritarian regimes, has achieved three successive transfers of power from one living leader to another unrelated one.

China’s Economy, Arthur R. Kroeber (2)

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He may have lost his mind

When Red is Black Qiu Xiaolong (305)

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We didn't have time

When Red is Black Qiu Xiaolong (302)

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He loves only himself

When Red is Black Qiu Xiaolong (293)

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Week 13 Blog

When Red is Black

Qiu Xiaolong

Page Read: 258 - 283

Word count - 351

Summary - Yu triumphantly concluded the investigation of Yin Lige’s case and the translation of the New world business design was finished. Many of the middle class will go shopping in the New World. The Nanjing Road. GM already signed a multi-year contract with the Shanghai government for the gigantic automobile joint venture People are going to have many Buicks in Shanghai as in New York. Yu is concerned about the image of his city. Yu found himself a new concept of the New World. He came to believe that the project would enhance cultural preservation could be of great significance. The New World was originally designed to meet only the demand for the interior retro representation.            

Critical Analysis - Yu successfully found out the killer of Yin Lige but he struggled to overcome many obstacles like chasing the suspect across the country. When he caught the suspect there was a plot twist to the book, the murder had a partner and the partner was on another mission to assassinate a CEO of an unknown company in the far east of China. He then catches him later in the book. Yu then focus his mind on the “New World” the New World was a fresh and new city that opens up for the middle class and up. The New world sells many high ends cars such as Buicks Mercedes and other high-end cars there is in America. It like a New York but in Shanghai. That’s what the creator wants

Personal Response - This section of the book was very entertaining because he chased the two killers over across China. I feel like the book gave the reader a run for the money because there was the plot twist in the middle of the story where he had to chased the other killer and he met good people while traveling the country. This gave the main character Yu a big enhance to his social life because the book shows that he is not a loner and he can make friends easily. I felt like the writer want the reader to feel connected with Yu.

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Our factory is having a difficult time, Comrade Chief Inspector Chen

When Red is Black Qiu Xiaolong (283)

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He started reading about Yang and discovered the novel, Death of a Chinese Professor

When Red is Black Qiu Xiaolong (272)

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Beef in oyster sauce. Fried milk. Garlic fried fish in a bamboo basket

When Red is Black Qiu Xiaolong  (258)

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Yin was involved with the book

When Red is Black Qiu Xiaolong (244)

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This was another aspect of China's economic reform that he did not like

When Red is Black, Qiu Xiaolong (230)

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There seemed to be no reason to suspect an insider, a neighbor whether he or she had intended to kill Yin or not

When Red is Black, Qiu Xiaolong (181)

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I think you're right, Chief. There is something we do not know yet about Yin Lige

When Red is Black, Qiu Xiaolong (155)

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The New World could turn out to be like present-day China, full of contradictions.

When Red is Black, Qiu Xiaolong (139)

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she considered herself lucky to have a family like hers

When Red is Black, Qiu Xiaolong (129)

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Chapter 3, C11, C8 or C26 if not C15

When Red is black, Qiu Xiaolong (101)