Written, translated, or edited by members of the ChinaSource staff.
We included quite a few articles about education in this week's ZGBriefs, but a couple of them stood out to us. One is a podcast discussion of education in China; the other is a look at Chinese study abroad programs. In addition, there were two articles about the Uyghur experience in China following recent terrorist attacks that caught our eye.
China is facing some unique demographic challenges, not the least of which is an aging population. Currently, roughly 8% of the population is 65 or older. However, according to a report by the BBC, that number is expected to be 12% by 2020, and 26% by 2050.
An arrest and a peek into history this week's must read ZGBriefs articles.
In this article, translated from the site jidutu123.com, the author looks at the challenges of doing urban missions in China. His main point is that doing urban missions, traditionally defined as ministering to the marginalized, is difficult in China because it assumes that Christianity is already part of the mainstream of culture, something that is not true in China. He then calls on the church to look for ways to engage with society rather than standing in opposition to it. Only by doing this will Christianity gain influence in Chinese society.
While much is written about the explosive growth of the church among the Han (dominant ethnic group in China), less is written about the spread of Christianity among the minority peoples. The article translated below is about a county in Yunnan Province that is praying and raising money to build a church.
The articles that caught our eye in this week's ZGBriefs Newsletter fall within two large topicsChinese language and Confucianism.
The church demolitions continue in Zhejiang, as does the commentary trying to make sense of it all. Two articles this week contributed to the conversation.
History in the making and forgotten history were in the news this week along with Chinese-style self-help and the extension of Chinese consumerism to the US.
There was really only ONE story out of China this week, namely the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Incident. We could have devoted the entirety of ZGBriefs to the marking of that event, but we narrowed it down to a handful. Two of those articles are highlighted here. In addition, we couldn't pass up two articles about the hazards for foreigners who live and work in China.
The Mainland site Gospel Times recently published an article about the poor living conditions of preachers in the countryside. The article contains stories and photos of preachers in three different counties in southwest China. Below is a translation of one of those stories. The article is set within the context of the Sanjiang Church, an unusually expensive and ornate church in Wenzhou that was demolished last month.
These are the topics that caught our attention this week pork fat, bound feet, and a Miao festival.
ChinaSource is looking for a part-time (8-10 hours/week) research assistant/translator for our Chinese Church Voices project. The ideal candidate is someone who is familiar with the landscape of Chinese Christian websites and social media, and has the ability to translate content from these platforms into English.