Our lecture today was about Chinese Media. The media used to be completely state controlled and there was virtually no freedom of press, something we may take for granted in the United States. Though it is no longer completely state controlled, it is still strictly regulated. I was surprised to hear that the Chinese government has what they call a Propaganda Department, which is in charge of informing newspapers the subjects that they should talk about. In last decade the internet has forced newspapers to become more critical, and the media continues to pull away from government control. Claudia mentioned that because of the government control, Chinese people develop a more critical mind because they distrust media. It was interesting to hear how newspapers and the media have developed differently than in the United States because of government control.
For our last shopping venture we went back to the pearl market. This time I felt much more confident in my bargaining. I knew around what price was acceptable for the items I wanted to buy, and also I knew when to raise my price, when to stay, and when to walk away. I was also less afraid and intimidated by aggressive vendors and overall much more successful than before. Even though it took until the last day, I eventually became a pretty good bargainer. It will be hard to go back to the United States and be unable to bargain prices down; I think I’ll be even less likely to want to go shopping.