Saturday 14 November 2015
How much can one learn about China in a two-week visit? A lot and not enough.
Mandarin is a forceful language. Speaking it requires full use of the entire mouth and the throat. The language, like the architecture, grows out of the fullness and spaciousness of the space of China and is expressed in the vigor of the Chinese people.
Yet interesting enough, in contrast to American television news with its over-active smiles and its hyper friendly or hyper-horrified style of delivery, the Chinese television newscasters whom I saw presented their matter, most refreshingly, in a poised and calm engaging manner.
Each national group is vibrating with its own distinctive idiosyncratic energy. But within their nationality, people are people everywhere, and is it not wonderful that, despite the barriers of kanji characters and five tones, Americans and Chinese can somehow communicate cordially with hand gestures, nods, and smiles.
