Fenqing is a Chinese word which literally means “angry youth”. This word has many translations in English such as cynical youth, young nationalists, hysterical youth and angry young men. I personally like to call them mob youth or ignorant angry youth. It is impossible to understand China without knowing what Fenqing is and what role they play in the society in today’s China. I will try to paint a portrait of a Fenqing in this post.
What a Fenqing is like?
Fenqing is someone who is usually below twenty years of age, though sometimes people who are at their twenties or older can also be identified as Fenqing. Though you can find the majority of Fenqing among high school and college students, age is not the most important feature. What really matters is their outlook of China and the world.
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It has been more than a week since the deadly earthquake struck Sichuan Province. Among the debris, the enormous suffering and the heavy loss of lives, there rises the hope of an emerging civil society.
Strong government and a weak society was a prominent feature in Chinese history. China was an agricultural society, and every household in the rural area, as an individual economic unit, formed the fundation of the society. The connections among these economic units were loose and almost nonexistent. On top of this base, there was a hierarchical bureaucracy directly controlled by the throne. The bureaucratic system, to perform the tasks of taxing, drafting as well as to sustain its own survival, must exert tight and efficient control of the base population. Coupled with the scarce connections among the economic units at the base, a strong government and a weak society became an inevitable phenomenon throughout Chinese history.
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China briefly observed daylight savings time from 1986 to 1991, but suspended it in 1992. One important reason for this is that China, the fourth largest country in the world, only has one time zone (UTC+8). Moving the clock an hour ahead would further widen the time differences between the east and west part of China. Here is an account by an American living in Xinjiang.
1. What is it?
The squat toilet or squatters It is a widely used toilet in China. It is basically a porcelain pot built into the ground. Unless you stay only in upscale hotels or restaurants, you are very likely to see and use this kind of toilet in China.
2. The cons of the squat toilet
- Bad smell. There isn’t much water in this kind of toilet when you go. You only flush it after finishing the business.
- Muscle strain. For someone who never used it before, expect the strained muscles on both legs after squatting over the pot a few minutes.
- Not so clean. Restrooms with squatters, unlike the restrooms in hotels or fancy restaurants, are often not so well maintained and cleaned. Read More »