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Atlanta's Weekly E-Magazine
Aug 31st - Sept 7th, 2001
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IMAGES: China Part One
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World News
Market News
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MNA'S MONTHLY BOARD MEETING
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The Midtown Neighbors' Association held its monthly Board meeting at Mary Mac's Tea Room last Thursday evening. Kris Garcia, the Treasurer, who elected to resign due to medical reasons, was absent, so was Will Acosta who has been travelling abroad.
There were eight Committee Chairmen who reported on the findings and progress of their respective committees. The meeting lasted 2 hours and 45 minutes due to the extensive discussions by the members on the different issues presented by the chairmen.
At the end of the meeting, Dr. Bob Whitelaw who is running for State Representative representing house district #47, was given a few minutes to speak about his platform and ask for the support of the members during the forthcoming elections this November.
Dr. Whitelaw is a retired orthopedic surgeon, served in the United States Air Force and he has been living in Morningside for the past eleven years. We will have a biographical editorial on Dr. Whitelaw in one of our future issues.
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Editor's Corner
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Any traveler who contemplates visiting China needs to plan a journey of at least three to four weeks in order to get the flavor of this vast land, its culture, its diversified population and its couple-of-millenium-old history. There are several cities and regions to visit, each with its own characteristic features. Let us begin with Beijing.
Beijing is the capital of China, formerly known as Peking. Beijing is the third most populous city in China, following Shanghai and Chongqing, the latter being the most populous city in the world. 32 million residents. I can count a number of European countries which combined together do not have 32 million of residents. The main attractions in Beijing are the Tian An Men Square (the Gate of Heavenly peace), the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and The Great Wall of China. The first thing that impresses a traveler when he or she arrives in Beijing is the new modern Beijing International Airport. It is almost twice the size of Hartsfield International. There are Olympic banners all over the place. Beijing being the city elected by the International Olympic Committee to host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.
Tian An Men Square is one huge square plaza, surrounded with impressive governmental buildings, leading into the main gate to the Forbidden City. Tian An Men Square is full of tourists, local residents and Chinese people from other regions visiting Beijing, every day of the week. I spoke to a young Chinese student who was absolutely fluent in English. He told me that in spite of their rich history and traditions, they need to westernize themselves in order to keep up with the rest of the world. And indeed, we have seen evidence of that attempt. We visited schools, kindengarden and elementary. English becomes mandatory in fourth grade. And English is the first foreign language to be learned. These fourth graders will be 18 years old when the Olympics arrive in Beijing. They will be perfect guides to the Olympic athletes. We have seen first graders playing the piano flawlessly.
The Great Wall of China is one majestic piece of work extending itself from east to west over 5,600 kilometers. If we were to take the Great Wall and lay it across the United States, from California to New York Island, we will have enough left over to head north to New England. It was built during the third century B.C., to protect the land against intruders from Mongolia and Manchuria. Today, China has a population of 1.3 billion. 85% are Chinese, the remaining 15% represents 56 ethnicities, including the Mongolians and Manchurians. 85% of the Chinese are atheists, the remaining 15% consists of the following religions: Buddhism, Daoism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism. In that order. There is a synagogue in Beijing for the entire Jewish congregation. Neil Armstrong when he manned the spacecraft Apollo said: "The Great Wall of China is one of the construction projects on earth that can be seen clearly from space." In 1987, the United Nations named it one of the world's cultural heritages. The Great Wall has long been the symbol and soul of China.
Next week, we will continue our tour, visiting other major Chinese cities and regions.
James C. Stathis
Associate Editor
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