My first day in Shanghai was wonderful, but also tiring. We arrived at Pu Dong airport around 10:15 in the morning on Saturday (CST) and checked in at our hotel. Then, we had lunch and listened to a teacher from Shanghai Middle School and someone from the Municipal Education Commission. The points they covered were interesting, such as there being two types of public schools in Shanghai (the first being governed by Shanghai’s municipal government, and the second being governed by Shanghai’s districts), that private schools are considered better for junior high but not for high school, for which public schools are considered better, and that parents pay sky-high private tutoring fees for their children. Interestingly, I learned that high school campus newspaper cannot really criticize the administration, which is true for high school campus newspaper in the United States too, for the most part.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling well and had to excuse myself 20 minutes or so before the lecture ended. I ended up not visiting The Bund – and consequently missed the seeing the beautiful Shanghai skyline – with the group because I basically crawled into bed and collapsed, but I’m visiting on Saturday (our free day) with one of the other group members. I’m super excited about visiting! Everyone said it was amazing, and I can’t wait to go.
On the flight to Beijing, Professor Chen handed me a newspaper (China Daily) with two or three articles on air pollution in it. International flights typically have a free portable stand filled with newspapers before entering the physical plane (in the passageway), with its nation’s major newspapers. My project is on how journalists in Shanghai cover air pollution, and the fact that a major Chinese newspaper had a few articles on air pollution, and that said newspaper was being offered freely in such a public and international setting, was the first clue on the trip that journalists are able to report on air-pollution, and that China is not explicitly attempting to hide anything in regards to air pollution.
Tags: Air Polluttion, China, Education, Environment, Journalism, Shanghai, The Bund