Shoutout to Area Studies China!

Before my departure to France, I had planned to make a blog specifically aimed towards how France views China, to further my studies that I started earlier this year. I thought it would be interesting to see how a European country sees China, as compared to how the USA sees China! It would be even more interesting because France has a more Socialist government than the USA, and thus would have an even different view of the country! Unfortunately, there are not many Area Studies China courses at my school, in fact there are none at all! (Not a big surprise, considering there are only 500 students...) So in this way, it is pretty hard to get a view of China here in France. I did ask one friend what some stereotypical French thoughts are about China, but her response was

"On pense que tous de nos jeux sont fabriqué là."

which means:

"We think that all of our toys are made there."

Not drastically different from the USA... So, so far my search for a French view of China has come up as nilch. I did find an interesting book in the library though! Its title translates to:

China, the Young Empire

I flipped through the book - it's really good! My favorite section was on the topic of current concubines (basically additional wives bought by possessions, money, and class). In my Area Studies Class this was a prevelent topic, and when I saw it in this book I was like "Yes! I know that! Look, look!" My friends were not quite as impressed as I expected...)

I plan on asking my librarian about the book and why she bought it (and possibly what she thinks of China... If the vibes are right!) Today I did stop by a Chinese street fair, but that didn't give me much insight, other than that French-Chinese food is delicious... I posted some pictures of the fair in my last post if you want to see them.

I'll keep trying to get a "French view of China", but it may be hard to find, especially considering all my possible discussion questions will be worded more simply than a 5 year old!