China Journalism Project

BEIJING, PRC — Before this China trip was finalized, I was entranced with the idea of going to Tiananmen Square — the picture of Communist oppression; the biggest square in the world. Many Westerners know very little about Communist China. The spring and summer 1989 events that happened in the square are what little they [...]

By ANDREA CONCEPCION School of Communication University of Miami BEIJING, PRC — Maria Pinho captured pictures from her big digital camera at the scene playing in front of her. Retirement-age Chinese, some in pairs and others in groups, moved to dance music blaring from old speakers near a medium-sized tree. Couples waltzed while others twirled [...]

BEIJING, PRC — I’ve ragged on every market we’ve been to so far.  The Panjiayuan (Dirt) Market is no different. Too many rows and rows of similar merchandise could be viewed. The vendors wonder why business is terrible.  Well, profits won’t increase if you have the same variety of jade jewelry as the guy in [...]

BEIJING, PRC — The Qing emperors, the last dynasty before the Chinese modern state, built a Summer Palace, a home away from home — a get away from the “toils of royal life.” For those European history buffs or anyone who knows a bit about France, the Summer Palace could be considered the equivalent to [...]

BEIJING, PRC — Coming back from climbing the Great Wall, Ivette and I were tired.  But, we needed some plug adaptors — our hotel only had one per room. Every other plug was three-pronged and bent inward.  So our professor took us to the grocery store around the corner. We got in, found the plug, [...]

By ANDREA CONCEPCION School of Communication University of Miami BEIJING, PRC — The day was hot and a bit windy as people walked stone floors that slanted almost vertically and steps sized proportionally different. The structure was long and winding, but still covered with huge numbers of tourists. This is China’s Great Wall. Trekking even [...]

HONG KONG — I don’t like to play favorites, but Hong Kong I’ll say it with conviction: I loved you the most. Ever since the first day, you welcomed me with your beautiful ocean view and green rocky mountains. I was captured by the view you gave me of the cityscape on Victoria Peak. I [...]

By ANDREA CONCEPCION School of Communication University of Miami MACAU — Sheila Irving peered at the stain glass window that housed a Chinese fan and plates in blue and white depicting an ancient traditional Chinese household. Irving is on the first floor of the Macau Museum, which focuses on the earlier period of Macau; the [...]

HONG KONG — How travelers can shop and shop and shop, I will never know? For one day, our class devoted time to seeing Stanley Market in Hong Kong. I understood from the glazed expression I put on passing through the vendors that I had hit that point. It’s the point where I had seen [...]

HONG KONG — Well, to start at the beginning … for three days I had the worst sore throat imaginable.  I didn’t think much of it.  I had been eating really spicy food for three days straight and thought that must have been it. Then, yesterday I woke up feeling really hot.  We all thought [...]