Chinese teachers in visa mess

Chinese teachers in visa mess

Updated: 2012-05-25 10:41

By Tan Yingzi in Washington, Cheng Yingqi and Luo Wangshu in Beijing (China Daily)

Print Mail Large Medium Small 0

Teachers and students celebrate the launching of a Confucius classroom by the UCLA Confucius Institute in October. The US State Department said on Thursday that no Chinese teachers at Confucius Institutes in the US will have to leave the country by the end of June. Wang Jun / China Daily

US State Department clarifies its directive on Confucius Institutes


No Chinese teachers at Confucius Institutes in the United States will have to leave the country by the end of June, the State Department said Thursday, clarifying a directive issued last week that drew strong reactions from US universities that host the nonprofit institutes and their Beijing headquarters.


The department is working to clear up confusion over its visa-policy directive issued on May 17, spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in Washington. The directive was sent to universities that sponsor Confucius Institutes, a well-established means by China's government of promoting Chinese language and culture overseas.


The document said any faculty member who, through a college's J-1 exchange program, teaches students of elementary- or secondary-school age is violating visa rules. That educator, according to the directive, must return to China by June 30 to reapply for an appropriate program.


If enacted, the directive could force as many as 51 teachers to return home to China. About 600 currently work in the US, according to the Confucius Institute Headquarters, more commonly known as Hanban.


Nuland told reporters Thursday at the State Department's daily briefing that the US values people-to-people exchanges with China. She said the directive isn't aimed at Confucius Institutes but previous "muddling and messing up" in J-1 visa categories.


"So we're going to sort these out. Nobody's going to have to leave the country," she said. "It's all going to get cleared up. But there was some confusion on the front end, so we're going to fix it."


Schools were also thrown by the directive's demand that Confucius Institutes obtain US accreditation to continue accepting foreign scholars and professors as teachers.


"The department is reviewing the academic viability of the Confucius Institutes. Based on the department's preliminary review, it is not evident that those institutes are US-accredited," the directive states.


A Chinese education official in the US, who requested anonymity, said this is the first time a question of accreditation concerning the Confucius Institutes has been raised.
The first institute in the US was established at the University of Maryland in 2005. Since then, Hanban has dispatched more than 2,100 teachers. It says the 81 Confucius Institutes across the country are established jointly by applicant US universities and counterpart campuses in China.Each institute is run independently.


"All headquarters resources that were given to the Confucius Institutes, including guest teachers, were provided based on requests from the US," said a Hanban official who didn't want to be identified by name.


By Tuesday, the State Department appeared to be backpedaling from the accreditation demand.


The Chronicle of Higher Education, a Washington-based publication, cited an unnamed department official as saying the part of the policy directive on accreditation was "confusing" and would be redrafted to clarify that Confucius Institutes that have partnerships with accredited colleges are in compliance with visa regulations.


"This is not about the Confucius Institutes or about the Chinese model," the official said. "This is just simply a regulatory matter."


Huajing Maske, director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Kentucky, told China Daily that both sides need to find a middle way to resolving the visa issue.


"I understand the J-1 visa category concern from the State Department, as I would like to think that the State Department is thinking about and preparing for the expansion of the Chinese programs in the K-12 schools, brought by the huge success of these programs and the warm welcome that these programs have received," she said.


The visa controversy has raised concerns in China that relations with the US could be harmed.
Discussions are taking place between China and the US. China is "in consultation" with the US on the issue, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said.


"We hope the issue will be addressed appropriately and will not affect the development of the programs," Hong said.


A senior official at Hanban, who asked not to be identified, said teachers go through a strict process of selection by both China and the US, and receive special training.


"I thought that since the teachers were granted visas after receiving invitations from the US, there would not be a problem," he said. "As someone who is responsible for Confucius Institutes in the US, I was shocked" by the directive.


"All the teachers embarked on their trip in a spirit of friendship but are being forced back with the feeling that they were not welcome. Isn't this harming friendship between Chinese and American people?


"What is hard to understand," he added, "is that the US, which is known for its strict visa policies, has, for years, allowed the Chinese teachers to hold their current visas. The US State Department and other agencies have never mentioned this issue to us before, but then suddenly it makes an announcement. Why?"


As the number of Confucius Institutes in the US is growing fast to meet the strong demand for Chinese-language study, the program is also facing criticism from some politicians.


In March, the US Congress held a hearing on China's public diplomacy in the US and strongly criticized the operation of the Confucius Institutes.


Kelly Dawson in New York contributed to the story.


Contact the writers at tan-yingzi@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily 05/25/2012 page1)

Tea's refreshing change

Tea's refreshing change

Updated: 2012-05-18 07:52

By Sun Yuanqing (China Daily)

Print Mail Large Medium Small 1

Modern teahouses provide all-round services, including tea-related shopping, drinking, dining and art performances. Photos provided to China Daily

Chinese beverage takes on renewed meaning and styles to draw in younger generation Rather than while away their time in coffee shops like most of their peers, Li Jiayi and her friends are happy to spend 1,000 yuan ($158, 122 euros) between them over a pot of tea.


Of course, it is not just a cup or two of tea they get. This regular "ceremony" involves a tea-themed dinner accompanied by tea-related performance art and followed by a tea-oil massage.

"It's not like the old-fashioned teahouse where old folks get a pot of tea and chat all day long. We get all-round service here - shopping for tea, drinking, dining, massages, enjoying art performances. It's a perfect place for friends gathering, and for business banquets," says Li, a 27-year-old company manager in Beijing.


The ancient tea drinking culture, though still popular among the older generation, is making a comeback as it takes on various forms to attract a greater and younger range of customers.


"Tea can be a daily drink or an art form or a relaxing leisure pursuit," says Liu Lei, an industry expert and executive of Xiangguo Teahouse. "At a time when bottled drinks are constantly facing safety issues, tea can be considered a healthy replacement."


Originating in China, tea is deeply rooted in the country's culture and people's lives. It is considered as one of the seven necessities, along with wood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar.


Legend has it that tea was discovered by an emperor, Shennong, about 5,000 years ago, when several tea leaves fell into the water he was boiling under a tree. The refreshing and slightly bitter flavor gradually became popular among the upper classes. By the time of the Tang (AD 618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties, it had become the drink for all, and was constantly featured in the works of poets, calligraphers and other artists.


Teahouses sprang up all over the country during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), where people could go to eat, drink, play and relax. Teahouse, a famous play written by the legendary Lao She in the 1950s, is set in such an establishment in Beijing and covers the social and cultural changes that took place in the first half of the last century.
Places like Lao She's teahouse may be a thing of the past, but trendy new ones are springing up all over the country, luring in drinkers with more refined and sophisticated tastes.
The right food is important too. Quick and easy dining can be found in places like Chamate, a chain of tea-theme restaurants where people can choose from an extensive menu of drinks and dishes.


Or for those who prefer a private room and a more specialized service, the teahouses on Maliandao, home to Beijing's major tea stores, offer a good choice.


After selecting from the varieties of black and green teas, customers can sip and allow themselves to fuse into the mostly southern-style architectural surroundings, or they can enjoy an appropriate tea-related meal or tea oil massage while artists give performances and demonstrate calligraphy, all to do with tea.


Although Western coffee shop chains such as Starbucks have posed a threat to traditional teahouses, they have also set an example. Gengxiang Teahouse, which has opened 200 stores in China, believes it has thrived due to Western management expertise.


"We consider coffee shops as partners, not competitors, as we specialize in two different areas," says Wang Jun, deputy general manager of Gengxiang. "The business model of Western coffee shops has set a good example for us, especially in scaling operations and instant service."
The popularity of home coffee-making machines has also inspired tea producers, who are now developing machines that brew good quality tea just as quickly.


In other initiatives, tea is used to make dishes and deserts. Tea-flavored ice cream sold by Wuyutai, one of the major tea brands in China, has become a hit with customers.
Tea culture, deeply rooted in southern China, has also evolved through its spread to other regions, where tea production is sparse.


Traditionally, people in the northern part of China prefer flower tea; in East China, it is longjing green tea, and pu'er in Southwest China. But the pattern has changed over the years.


While old Beijingers still prefer their flower tea, young people have developed different tastes. Organic green tea, along with pu'er, black tea and tieguanyin, are some of the varieties that have gained ground over the past decade. And flavors, such as lemon, rose and jujube, that are rarely seen in traditional recipes, have been introduced to appeal to youthful palates.


"Although tea drinking and tea art performance are quite popular in China, they are lacking in ritual, which incorporates tea in people's daily lives, compared with other Asian countries, such as Japan and South Korea," Liu says.
But Li Jiayi and her friends in Beijing fully appreciate their "ritual" teahouse outings as they are.


"Tea ceremonies are more subtle and cultivated than extravagant banquets. They allow people to stop and relax despite the fast pace of modern life," she says.


sunyuanqing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/18/2012 page18)

The way to look for an apartment in a good school district

1. Ok, this is how I am doing now, searching a good school district for Sunny, just in case you need it. First, lock the area you want to move, south, west, east or north. Then, go to http://www.schooldigger.com/ to find all the schools in that area, type in the zip code in "find a school" box, there are a lot of schools listed there with different rank. Also you can go to http://www.greatschools.org/ to find more informations of the schools you are interested in. Choose the school you want to go, then go to http://www.apartmentguide.com/ or www.rent.com (if you choose the apartment qualified to earn $100 reward card, that would be very nice), enter the zip code which the school locates, all avalible apartments listed there, but not all of them are in that school district. So what you have to do is go to http://www.bcps.org/apps/boundaries/ and type in the address of the apartment to find out if it is in that school district. You can print the list or write down all the apartments information, because they are too much information so you need to mark them and for later on narrow the information and visit them in person. Last, also very important, while you select the apartments, you have to go to www.apartmentratings.com to look some reviews from other tenants before you go there. If most of them didn't recommend it, so you don't need to waste your time. Wish it helps you!