Why I never come here anymore. By Sean Boyce 柏笑恩There is that new BBS post about interviewing people and saying how long you have been here. I have been here 3-4 years. Was quite active in the blogs for a while, also made a few videos. Barely on china daily now. Open it, browse quickly and close it. I am never on China daily, and I wanted to tell you why. China daily has turned into a bit of a circle jerk news site (the blog section anyway). The blogs that get promoted are for the majority dull and unoriginal. Many "pro china" and "why westerners love china" like content on the wechat account. To be honest...its tedious. I like China, I really do. But it feels so propaganda-esque when reading all this feel good news. News for me should be there to highlight things in society that need changing. It's not there to create a false love for someone or something. I know you have your restrictions, but god...there must be better topics than " 8 Chinese things that westerners love to eat".The blogs are dull and unoriginal, you can notice by how many views they get on average now compared to 2-3 years ago when we had Colin, myself, anming, , maierwei, teamkrejados, mutafire etc. back then a good blog would be hitting 3000-4000 views. The blogs that were promoted were eye catching and talked about extremely interesting topics. anming writing about shake your phone for s*x, maierwei writing a feminists views on china, colin had the friday jokes section, teamkrejados does great snaps of life blogs, mutafire would do some very...contreversial topics (All I am saying is look at the picking up girls blog he done). Nowadays, Michael (who I respect very much) will see a blog getting 1500 or so views...most of his fanbase coming from those he teaches. He isn't getting the exposure he deserves being on here in all honesty. Some of the blogs before would be hitting the tens of thousands of views, I done one on leftover women that got so many hits and messages pouring in from women all over about how much they enjoyed my blog and wished more Chinese men read it. Now its filled with "my life in *insert country*" or "how to live a good life" or "why I love china", just dull uninspired, unoriginal content that has driven off the majority of the major bloggers that used to hang around here. There is no quality check, all sorts of garbage gets allowed, even blogs where I don't understand the English being written is allowed. The comments sections and the BBS forums are also horrendous with people just being allowed to be rude while any mention of a certain persons name in any context gets your comment deleted. If you are going to control what we can post, please remove the bigotry and hatred. And so, I ask you to post this, or at least read this CD. Your English portal used to get a lot more views...If you wonder why it doesn't anymore, well here is one mans opinion. And if this did get posted....and you are reading this now, I hope you are not offended readers, especially if "my life in *insert country*" is one of your blogs. It's not that I don't think you are nice or anything...I just prefer to read about something that inspires or invigorates me a bit more. There is a place for everything but it seems that CD only has a place for these kinds of blogs nowadays. A bit more variation is necessary. I have made many friends on here, even met up with some of them. But I think I will be heading off and leaving China daily if I see no change. Oh and fix your website guys...there are so many basic errors that THE BIGGEST ENGLISH PORTAL IN CHINA should not have. Have a nice day, leave your comments below.

Should we respect tradition? By Sean Boyce 柏笑恩It's been a long time since I wrote a blog for here. Life catches up with you and priorities get shifted about but anyway. So I actually just came back from Korea. I absolutely loved the country and in the process I learned a lot about it's history including the effect that Confucianism had on Korea. I have read a lot about confucianism having read the analects 论语already plus a few other books by commentators on confucian thought and ethics. There is this adherence to tradition that is a theme rife throughout confucianism and it got me talking to some of my Chinese friends. See, I was complaining about something in China (As I do) and debating the topic with some Chinese people when one of the people I was debating with said "You should respect our traditions, we respect yours." and I realised I had heard this a lot in China. We should respect Chinese traditions and culture, we should respect each others culture.Does respect come for free? See what annoys me about this is the idea that traditions are inherently good. I don't believe so, I do not believe that traditions must be respect ed simply because they are traditions. Are we to just assume that any action lots of humans deem a tradition is to be respected? Don't be so silly, I bet you wouldn't be thinking the creating of eunuchs or Female genital mutilation is a traditional practice you would like carried out on you now is it? Even Chinese people understand that many of their own traditions in the past were flawed and so they were dropped:Feet binding/lotus feet:The practice of binding a young girls foot to prevent growth. The binding process often deformed the girls foot and was excruciatingly painful and most cases resulted in lifelong disabilities. Dog meat: A tradition in parts of China that is now being heavily contested. All over China we are seeing activist groups opposing the practice of killing and eating dogs. The caging of a bad wife:In ancient traditional Chinese culture, a man could cage his wife if she was deemed to be disobedient. It was within his right.See, these practices have been dropped now. （or are in the process of being dropped). Why? Because not all tradition should be respected. We should question tradition to see if it is necessary. To see if it is proper and fair. The giving of red packets to the wives family....a tradition I disagree with, not only because its practice is not dissimilar to the buying of a piece of meat but also because of the pressures on modern Chinese families to buy house and cars. Many parents have been seen to even reject a marriage if the red packet is deemed to small, yet when I question it's practice, many Chinese find I am being offensive to them, their traditions or whatever. I am not, I am merely questioning a tradition. Is this such an offence?As for respecting "our" traditions. I didn't ask you to respect my traditions, and in fact I believe a lot of British traditions are also a bit silly or a waste of time. My own culture has a heavy drinking tradition on big events that I disagree with somewhat. So please, don't blindly just believe that ALL TRADITIONS ARE GOOD. Instead try thinking actually, is it good or do we think it's good because everyone told us? Don't let blind "Love of China" mean that all things Chinese must be good. Remember, once upon a time feet binding was seen as a "good tradition", I wonder how many of you girls reading this would be willing to uphold this ancient Chinese tradition. Please feel free to join in the debate and leave comments below. If you wish to share this article please quote my name. 请你们在下面写你们的想法。文明发表言论，转发注明出处

If you don't share this, you aren't Chinese!你不转你不是中国人If you don't read this blog, China has failed! 如果你不读这篇博客中国失败了 By Sean Boyce 柏笑恩 Now that I have your attention.... So did you really fall for that? Did you really feel a need to read this due to you being Chinese and loving your country? Did you pass this on because you are Chinese? 你真的觉得如果你不专给别的人你不是中国人吗？你真的觉得别的人会觉得你不爱中国吗？不要那么傻！ Come on, don't be so silly. Stop acting like brainless sheep. 动脑子！ An online news piece claiming you are not Chinese if you don't share this. For those that don't get this, Here is a short explanation of what is happening. All over China, Chinese social media news companies are starting off their videos, blogs and anything else they post online with the title: "If you don't read this blog, China has failed" or the "if you don't share this you aren't Chinese" This mass marketing is extremely effective at getting people to read their blogs and yet it leaves me with a sour taste in my mouth. Because it is using your identity to manipulate, please don't be so stupid to let you. And yet another, you can find these everywhere. These marketers do not care that you are Chinese, they only care about getting more views on their blog. That is all they care about. However they know you the consumer is gullible enough to fall for this tactic. Listen, no one can tell you what you are or are not. Do not fall for these advertising tactics. It makes you look like sheeple (sheep + people = sheeple, 意思是没有你自己的想法，总是跟着别的人）. 你不要当sheeple. So please, let this short blog be a lesson, don't fall for this rubbish. Not only because it is an awful way of advertising...but I am also tired of seeing my wechat moments (朋友圈) filled with this rubbish. But as an experiment, If you do share this please add this:为了研究，，如果你分享这博客，请包括下面的字“不转不是中国人“let us have a little social experiment on China daily...Normally my blogs will get around 800-1000 views in around a week or two, but if we share this with the title "You arent Chinese if you dont share this" I promise I will get a ridiculous amount of views. 一般我一俩周之内会有800-1000左右人来看我博客，如果你要参加这研究，请分享一下这博客，我们看一下这次我有多少人来看！！！If you want to join in the fun...feel free to share Please feel free to join in the debate and leave comments below. If you wish to share this article please quote my name. 请你们在下面写你们的想法。文明发表言论，转发注明出处

China..do you hate movies and TV? by Sean Boyce 柏笑恩labixiaoxin (crayon chin chin)I watch tv and movies, I wouldn't say a lot but quite a bit. I find it a great tool for language learning especially when you don't even have a partner. Why only this morning watching 蜡笔小新(crayon chin chin) did I learn what 反对党 meant. But recently, since the last month or two, I have noticed a new function added to video sites like tudou, this function is called 弹幕(dan mu)where you can type messages and they will appear on the screen of you and everyone else watching and it brought to light a few questions I wish to ask Chinese people regarding watching tv and movies. This is what your screen looks like with 弹幕,how can you watch a tv show like this?I wish to ask this, why is it so many Chinese people SKIP half of the tv show or movie they are watching? And why are so many people using the 弹幕 on sites like tudou? How can you possibly pay attention to what you are watching if you are reading and replying to random strangers watching the show? Do you not find it irritating?Basically, why are you not paying attention to movies and tv shows that you are watching?I find this ridiculous and yet I see people just skipping half a movie or tv show just to "get past the talking", for me the movie or tv show should be about the build up to the story, the character development, the artistic creation of the sets but it seems instant gratification through actions scenes is whats on call for the younger Chinese generations and I find this hard to take in. For me, I want to appreciate the movie, in the same way as I can appreciate art or music. I want to watch it all, see what the director left for us to see and I notice this happens a lot in western tv and movies. In fact, after watching anything I always go straight to IMDB (the internet movie database) to find out the trivia facts, see if there was anything the director left in there as a fun bonus. Below are some of the things I have thought about in regards to Chinese watching tv and movies.1. How can you not appreciate a good movie or tv show...or even a bad one?There are many examples of some great bonuses directors hide within their movies yet if you skip the movie, many of these you won't get to see. It detracts from the overall experience of the film.The shining: a phenomenal movie technically speaking (I am surprisingly not that fan of it as a viewer but can appreciate it from an artistic point of view). Stanley Kubrick when filming this movie goes to so many lengths to confuse the viewer, rotating carpets in between shots, creating false walls and removing them, putting red objects in every scene, adding and removing chairs from every scene, changing the colour of the car to annoy Stephen King (The Original author). But skipping past a movie like this so you can see the ending means you don't get the full effect, that feeling of "something isn't right here but I don't know what".Fight club:This movie is a work of genius, Directed by David Fincher, all throughout the movie you see the dialogue of the 2 main characters, one thinking the other is insane, them fighting each other, only to realise they are the same person. Without watching through the movie you don't get that feeling at the end of "oh god, how did I not notice that" Anything by Tarantino:Tarantino movies I find hilarious, mainly as Tarantino tries to create a dialogue with the viewer, breaking the fourth wall in a way. In "Inglorious Basterds" after carving a swastika onto the head of a nazi, The character (Brad Pitt if memory serves me well) goes onto say: "you know, I think this is my best one yet". This is Tarantino's way of praising himself, he is talking about his own film. He also often adds his own films into the background of others films, for example in reservoir dogs, you can see one of his other films playing in the background. On top of this you can appreciate the difficult of filming reservoir dogs as almost 99% of the movie is filmed in one room!!!!2. Why is it in China that popular movies have little to no story?I have noticed a recurring trend in China, the movies that make it big there are big for special effect reasons (Fast and the furious 7, Transformers etc...) and yet the more clever and interesting movies have not really been heard of, things like momento, inception, the matrix, in China they had nowhere near the popularity of "Transformers 10; robots killing robots with shia lebouef.“ I find this so hard to fathom. 3. What happened to peoples attention spans?It seems in China that many people's attention spans in regards to movies has dropped massively. I remember sitting watching Star wars and half the audience was sitting on their phones. They then all got confused when they find out that Kylo ren is han solo's son, they were like "who is Han solo"And I am sitting there seething with rage thinking:"He was literally introduced to the story 5 minutes ago, how can you not get this"But this is what I initially misunderstood. It's not that many don't get it, they merely don't pay attention. they are spending more times on their phones while in the cinema watching movies. Other issues include watching tv on sites like tudou where they end up engaging more in the conversation with strangers on 弹幕. If you have went to tudou to watch a film, don't waste your time writing and reading strangers messages. I feel like you are wasting your time. There are so many other ways to talk to strangers, but messaging random "hahaha labixiaoxin is so stupid" while watching it seems so unnecessary. We are all watching the same tv show, I do not need a "stating the obvious" commentary to go along with it. Are attention spans so short now that people prefer to just have noise on in the background while writing pointless comments to strangers?4. I have never spoken to a chinese movie buff.One thing I meet a lot in the west is a movie buff (就是超级喜欢电影的人的意思). I am a minor movie buff, I am still not into movies in quite the same way as some of my friends yet for all my time in China, I don't think I have ever met a movie buff. The conversation about hobbies always comes up with new people and many tell me their hobbies include movies and tv. I then ask who is their favourite director....and all I get is silence. Talking about favourite actors in China basically boils down to "I like (insert actors name) because he/she is pretty. No one cares about their acting ability and in fact, I think this may be one of the reasons I have such a hard time enjoying Chinese movies as so many of the famous actors...ARE VERY BAD ACTORS. It looks so false it is painful, it's like watching a bad nativity play production and yet you just paid 90 yuan for it. I actually do know some great Chinese films complete with great actors, one such example is 钢的琴, (The piano in the factory I think in English?). This was a phenomenal story about the problems being poor in China, how relationships really work and the efforts a parent will go to for their child. However all the actors were "ugly" (They look like real people) and the film completely bombed in China...while getting praise from abroad. I do not understand how this film is not more famous than it is.Is it possible that bad Chinese films are the reason no one really cares nor is interested in films in China?So please, to the Chinese on here I wish to ask what are your feelings on what I wrote? Please don't be offended, I am in fact very curious. Maybe I am misunderstanding or maybe it's a big cultural difference, I don't know. But I wish to hear your thoughts. Please feel free to join in the debate and leave comments below. If you wish to share this article please quote my name. 请你们在下面写你们的想法。文明发表言论，转发注明出处

Quitting smoking and some things you need to know! By Sean Boyce 柏笑恩Today marks the one month celebration of quitting smoking for myself. To others (especially non smokers) what seem like a very mundane thin has actually been one of the defining moments of my year. The simple act of quitting has changed my life entirely, mainly because quitting smoking was honestly one of the hardest things I have ever done. It has strengthened my resolve in addition to making me healthier and I am so very grateful for the friends around me who helped me through this. I want to talk not just about quitting smoking, but about smoking and addiction in general. For the non smoker it may seem like a foreign concept and for the smoker, I hope I can lead you down the path to quitting like others did for me. 1. You have to understand, smoking is first and foremost A DRUG ADDICTION. It is not just a bad habit, it is a full blown drug addiction. I was smoking a pack a day at one point and I kept telling myself, I can quit when i want but I enjoy it. You need to realise, you do not enjoy it, YOU NEED IT. Smoking messes with the chemistry of your brain, the nicotine(尼古丁) makes your body physically want to smoke. When I woke up in the mornings, the first thing I would do is search for my cigarettes and go have a smoke. I told myself I enjoyed it, but in reality, I needed this. Let me explain to non smokers what a true drug addiction is like, wanting to smoke is like needing the toilet, you know that feeling when you need the toilet, there is no toilet in sight and you start squirming, inside and out? That's what a smoking addiction is like, it's like fighting a bodily reaction, a necessary function and when you finally get your cigarette it gives you the same feeling of relief as finding the toilet. Except that its stronger than that, a lot stronger. I wouldn't wish an addiction on my worst enemy, it takes over your life entirely and the first step to recovery is understanding, you are an ADDICT, only then can you start treating this issue properly. 2. The odds are stacked against the smoker, the cigarette companies do not want you to quit.The cigarette industry is absolutely massive worldwide and it is genius because as soon as someone is addicted, chances are the company now has a lifetimes supply of revenue. Cigarettes sell themselves and they are everywhere. When they are unregulated, it becomes even worse. They target the young, they make it look cool so that we get addicted at a young age and are hooked (吸食了) for life. There are examples of marlboro buying up stalls next to middle schools so they can sell cigarettes to children. As for these companies producing "healthier" alternatives such as "menthol" and "lights", do not be fooled by their lies. Light cigarettes have been proven to not be better for us at all. Light cigarette smokers who smoke light cigarettes in a bid to cut down have been shown to be LESS LIKELY to quit smoking. (I should know, I smoked light cigarettes exclusively). they are not healthier at all for you, check this site out for more details:http://quitsmoking.about.com/od/cigaretteingredients/a/lightcigarettes.htmAs for menthol cigarettes, they are being banned slowly in many countries. You may be asking why? Because one of the biggest barriers to new smokers is the taste, and menthol cigarettes remove this barrier. For any of you who have tried marlboro iceblast, you will know what I mean. It is like smoking chewing gum! It tastes fantastic...and this creates a problem when children come into the equation. They may start smoking the ice blasts due to the taste, and as soon as you are addicted, you will smoke anything. Menthol was first and foremost a new way of getting more people to smoke, they are in no way healthier for us. What you have to understand is that the cigarette companies do not care at all for you the consumer, they want your money and are willing to give anyone and everyone cancer in order to achieve that. When I realised I was giving my money to these b*****ds it made quitting a lot easier, it gave me determination not to be their slave. 3. e-cigarettes are not an alternative. Although slightly safer than cigarettes (they will still kill you), e-cigarettes have been shown to reduce your chance of quitting as you are still taking in the nicotine and you have swapped one habit for another that many deem(以为) "safer". It is not safer and is just as harmful to you. See the below link for more details:http://www.mensfitness.com/life/entertainment/e-cigarettes-actually-decrease-your-chances-quitting-smoking4. Quitting does not happen over night.Quitting is not an overnight thing, I did not wake up one morning and just quit, in fact I swore to myself I would quit almost every night and every morning I would loathe myself as I lit up my cigarette. However I did keep trying to smoke less and less, I started cutting down from 20 a day to 5 a day, then 4...then tried going cold turkey (突然的戒烟) every now and again until one day it stuck. I got through one day of not smoking and found quitting a lot easier. The hardest part is not smoking for three days as it takes roughly three days for the nicotine to leave your system (I believe, don't quote me on that). Those three days are pure torture but after that I promise it is very easy. You just have to keep trying and trying and trying. Find your triggers for smoking, for me it was after class, after dinner and when drinking. So I quit while I was on holiday and ate in no smoking places. Find a good time that suits you to quit smoking and goo for it.5. Quitting involves a massive lifestyle change. I realised that if I was ever to quit, I had to get away from temptation. Smokers like to hang out together quite often and so for my own health I had to stop hanging out with my smoking friends for a few weeks. I had this one guy who was trying to get me to SMOKE AGAIN, I kid you not. It's times like this you realise how selfish some people can be too, wanting you to harm yourself to keep them company. I also had to quit drinking, drinking lowers your inhibitions and when drinking I could easily smoke 40+ cigarettes in one evening. Now I can drink again but I would wait three weeks before drinking again. You also have to get used to being around temptation. I eased my way back into society, avoiding smokers wherever I went for the first few weeks. Once I felt comfortable, I would go to a party with smokers but stay away from them. Then I would talk to a smoker. Now I can be in the same room as 10 smokers and have no temptation to smoke, but it takes time. If you do smoke again, don't lose hope, you have A LOT LESS nicotine in your body post quitting. That one cigarette won't make you smoke 20 a day again. (So I did have one puff of a cigarette 2 weeks in, I panicked and then realised I still had no need to smoke, I am speaking from experience). Getting back on the "no smoking" band wagon is relatively easy, however do not use this as an excuse to smoke again.6. You will get by with a little help from your friends.I am very lucky to have some amazing friends, friends who encouraged me, friends who gave me comfort when I was trying to quit on my third day, even one friend who took it upon himself to rip every cigarette he seen out of my mouth. Many of us believe that we don't need anyone else, we can rely on ourselves, but sometimes when fighting demons such as smoking, look for help. There will be gaps in your resolve, a weak link in your chain and they will be there to take up the slack. There is no shame, no weakness in looking for someone to help you out, and you will also find out who your real friends are. A surprising amount of people were trying to get me to smoke again and I still to this day do not understand why. Your friends should look after your health, someone who wants you to smoke is not someone you could really class as a friend. Quitting smoking has had a profound impact on my life. I now run 10km every 2 days, I don't get hangovers (this one surprised me), I have lost an amazing amount of weight, I do not get tired during the day, my heart speed has slowed down dramatically and I am so much happier. Quitting is not an easy road, and my heart goes out to anyone who wishes to walk this road. It's filled with pain, potholes, barriers, stress and difficulties and yet, I promise you...if you can make it to the end of this road, if you can just push through for those days, just hold on, hang in there, I promise you the end of the road is worth it in every way you can imagine. You will notice the difference it makes in your life. I wish you all the luck in the world!A special thanks goes out in particular to Meilan, Alex (the cigarette ripper) and luke and the others who encouraged me along the way, without you guys, I would never have made it!Please feel free to leave comments below. If you wish to share this article please quote my name. 请你们在下面写你们的想法。文明发表言论，转发注明出处

The A4 Paper challenge destroying China! by Sean Boyce 柏笑恩In the last week or two I have seen the rise of the A4 paper challenge, basically for those who have not seen this, the idea is to be a slim as a piece of A4 paper, apparently this is deemed as a healthy body type. Want I want to talk about today is the truth about the A4 body and the level of brainwashing and stupidity needed for you to believe that this is healthy...The A4 body challenge is as seen above, her torso can be hidden behind an A4 piece of paper and as a result she is deemed healthy and is praised all over chinese media. This is not the first stupid body image challenge to come out of China, last year we had the belly button challenge where "slim people" could touch their belly button. This however is in fact total rubbish, even fat people can do it. It has nothing to do with weight and is al about flexibility, see the following picture for evidence. Now, you may think this looks healthy, she has a nice body and you may also be wondering "why is sean yet again complaining about something like this" If any of these thoughts entered your head...you have been brainwashed (被洗脑了) congratulations!!!!Lets look at why this is stupid and the damage it does to China:1. people's body types are different. Such body standards are ridiculous as not everyone has the same body type, not everyone is going to be able to pass the A4 challenge. Some women have wider set hips, some have bigger bones; there are a multitude of factors that mean you may not be able to pass this challenge...and who cares? This is NOT HEALTHY in the slightest, it is not a healthy standard to set your lifestyle by. Not eating to achieve this isn't for your own health, don't ever delude yourself into thinking otherwise. If you are starving yourself, you are putting yourself through ridiculous amounts of pain and pressure for OTHER PEOPLE. That basically makes you a slave to society, so brainwashed that you cannot think for yourself and must bow down to the expectations our ridiculous society creates for you. 2. We see this on the media a lot, it is all fake...What annoys me is that people begin comparing themselves to girls like fan bingbing, oh she is so beautiful, so slim. She is also so false. Do you know how much Photoshop (PS for some of the Chinese readers) goes into making fan bingbing that slim? Lets have a look:This is one of her modelling photos, now When you see this next photo you will see her face is not this slim.Fan bingbing is just your average Chinese girl in real life. She is not fantastically beautiful, she is simply pretty. Do you see how much wider her cheeks are in real life? Now if that's just her face, how much PS goes into making her waist slimmer? (I will give you a clue...lots). The Chinese media really has a lot to answer for the psychological damage of Chinese girls in particular. By constantly portraying such false standards as achievable, Chinese girls across the country are taking over the counter medicine and starving themselves. As for this over the counter medicine, they claim it is side effect free (没有副作用) but how much research do you really think went into this product? Do you really know the long term damage of a product that came onto the market a month ago?3. The damage done to Chinese people psychologically may be irreparable. We have a nation of Chinese people growing up believing themselves to be too fat. They believe themselves to be ugly and create this negative body image of themselves which in turn leads to a whole host of psychological issues including depression, anxiety (it's no co-incidence these are on the rise in China). Thankfully there are some Chinese that understand this and are protesting in their own way but their voices are drowned out in the millions of other A***holes posting these pictures online and destroying the good efforts of the feminist movement in China. If you are one of these people posting A4 challenges on your social media, don't start complaining hen your own children grow up depressed, refuse to eat food and are generally miserable due to such negative body images, you are contributing heavily to their psychological damage. By reposting and reiterating such pictures, we force people to compare ourselves to other people and get upset about their own body.(My body is not for looking at. I love my fat waist)4. Chinese culture doesn't helpWhy, oh why do so many Chinese insist on telling each other and everyone around them they are fat? What do you hope to achieve through this except to make that person feel insecure? You see the girl in the above picture, she was called fat...she is not fat at all. See you have to understand the damage done in calling someone fat, fat is a negative word, it is associated with ugly. By calling someone fat, even if the only gained a little weight, you are associating them with ugly. How do you think this will affect someone psychologically? Will it encourage them to lose weight...or repeat the cycle of depression as the try to achieve the unattainable? Calling someone fat is again contributing to this issue. Lets look at this scientifically, what constitutes a negative body image? And what are the repercussions? According to research by the national eating disorders association, negative body images can arise from the following:Comments made by family and friends about their bodies and the bodies of othersGlobal ideals regarding the perfect physical appearanceThe continual comparison of one’s body to othersMedia exposure to what is an ideal body image versus a normal bodyExperiences with physical activityAbuse, including sexual, emotional and physicalPrejudices against race, religion, ability, gender, sexual orientation and ethnicityPleasure, pain and health experiencesAs for the effects of having a negative body image, read the following taken from their site:Effects of negative body imageResearchers have discovered there is a link between eating disorders and negative body images. Those with a negative image about themselves are more likely to suffer from feelings of isolation and depression. Both of these have been known to trigger obsessions with weight loss, resulting in various forms of eating disorders, including bulimia and anorexia. Both of these can lead to other health-related issues.A negative body image increases the risk of someone taking extreme measures to achieve the body type they feel they should have. This can lead to over dieting, an obsession with exercising, laxative abuse, smoking, use of drugs and induced vomiting. All of which pose severe threats to one’s overall health images and wellness.According to the Albert Ellis Institute those who are overly concerned about one or more body areas and have a complete misconception of these areas are commonly diagnosed with a psychological disorder known as Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). Many of those diagnosed with BDD tend to have only minimal or nonexistent flaws to be worried about. Common areas of concern among those suffering from BDD include flaws involving the face, head, breasts, buttocks, abdomen, hips, thighs and genitals.So what do we need to do? 1. If you care about other people in your country and you have posted an A4 challenge picture, please delete it instantly. This is a cruel comparison you are forcing people to partake in and it does nothing for the psychological health of the Chinese people.2. Start complementing each other. If your friend has put on some holiday weight...thats ok. You don't need to tell them, I am sure they know themselves. Instead, if you really care about your friends, trying offering a compliment. "That necklace looks very pretty" "You look fantastic". You will see your friend become happier almost instantly. 3. Stop doing trends just because others are doing it, think for yourself. just because someone does something, doesn't mean you have to. You aren't sheep, you don't walk forward because the sheep in front of you walk forward. Whenever you use something like social media, be aware of the hidden consequences of human repetition, learn to think for yourself. Next time you see some new challenge, try taking a picture mocking the challenge instead and explaining the problems with it. 4. Finally, if you really care about your health, starving yourself will not improve it, there is only one option. Exercise!!! If you want to get a nice body and be healthy, go for a run. Your older self will thank you for it.Please feel free to join in the debate and leave comments below. If you wish to share this article please quote my name. 请你们在下面写你们的想法。文明发表言论，转发注明出处

Hello again everyone, it has been a long time since I have posted here due to various reasons. I said I would do an end of 2015 blog about what I had done last year and never did get round to it...So you may be thinking, why do it now? Well, for me the blogs are not just a way of sharing my thoughts and experiences for others but they are also a method of preserving and arranging my thoughts and as such, I still wish to publish my 2015 in pictures...even if it is 3 months late. So, last year my first stop was Hungary. I travelled thousands of miles across the world simply to grab a beer with a good friend!We spent two weeks in budapest, an absolutely beautiful city with a vibrant and fantastic nightlife. On top of that, there are some fantastic museums about Hungary's history, inlcuding the terror house, a museum dedicated to the memory of those who died during world war 2 nazi occupation and then soviet occupation. (pictures are not allowed to be taken inside sadly). After this, it was off back to Asia, however this time I was headed for Thailand...So February I spent in Thailand, the first week I was there doing research on English education in Thailand for my PhD. I was completing my research at kamphaeng phet rajabhat university and it turned out to be a fantastic experience, making many new friends along the way. It was also Chinese new year, so I had a visit to the Chinese department to see how the Thai students were celebrating it. sAfter this, I decided it was time to go exploring and so, for Chinese new year I got to see Spring festival in sukhothai, The Thai also celebrate spring festival and so we had the opportunity to see some performances and fire works in the historical park. After this, it was off to bangkok to meet up with my friends from Harbin who were coming to meet us. On the way, I took a detour to a waterfall and took what I think is possibly the best picture of my life...I call it philosophical monkey...So, upon arriving in bangkok, we had a great time drinking, eating and running around mad. We only had 3 days there before we headed to the Islands.and then the islands for another two relaxing weeks....Not too long after returning to Harbin, the two friends we went to the south of Thailand with were getting married and so I had the honour of participating in a Russian Chinese wedding here in Harbin.\And then there was my birthday where I was humbled by the fantastic gift prepared by all of my friends in Harbin;This took up the first half of the year. (There was of course lots of studying...but no one wants to see that really...)The second half of our year started with salsa. After being bored all summer with nothing to do and no travelling (As you can see, I had already done a lot of travelling) I decided to teach my friends at my university salsa. I used to be a teacher back home in Scotland and hadn't danced in a while. We started off by just dancing in our university, near the library. People kept asking what we were doing and joining in, and what started off as me teaching 6 or 7 friends, become a full blown salsa business over night!Local newspapers were coming to us for interviews, pictures were taken (big thank you to Julian Bareiro for these parts) and we decided to top the year off with a massive salsa christmas party!And so my year came to end with me travelling to Japan to see my old friend...So far, this year I have been to Japan, Thailand, laos...mainly relaxing though, however more on that near the end of the year.I suppose, it is only recently 2016 in China, and so My blog is a little more fitting than previously thought haha. I hope you all enjoyed this, and I plan on getting back to writing more blogs this year. Through this I have made many friends, I even got to meet a fellow blogger in HARBIN! and I miss many of the people on here. You give me an outlet in China, where sometimes it gets lonely. We may bee worlds apart geographically speaking but it is only a click away on CD!

Many may disagree with this article thinking selfies are a good thing, however I beg to differ. I despise selfies with a passion, I also dislike people who tend to take selfies. I feel they are causing a lot of unseen damage in a lot of ways and I wish people would take notice and stop acting like sheep, doing what everyone else is doing. I want to go through a list of reasons as to why selfies are the stupidest thing to happen in this generation and why growing up in this generation I feel ashamed interacting amongst my peers....The are changing the way we think and act as humans. This is what we look like, smiling like idiots.The world's social media is now just a seflie festival. Just one massive orgy of forced smiles, superficialness and alarming levels of falsehood. Why do we take selfies? I think deep down many know why, but are not willing to admit it. In today's society taking selfies and posting them are seen as being sociable, as having an active social life. "Look at me, I am at the bar." "Look at me, I am at the restaurant". it's has turned into a massive competition for likes, recognition, attention. It's pathetic that so many people have become like this. It has made us as a race ridiculously superficial and shallow. We take these false images, images which are not at all a true representation of our true selves, and post it for the world to see because we want others to like us, to love us. Through social media we have begun to crave attention and as a result we have become more insecure as a species. We compare our lives with those around us, we see their selfies and what they are doing and we become upset and disheartened at what our friends are doing with our lives and so we feel the need to then show that we are doing something sociable which leads to these endless circles of becoming more depressed with our lives. It doesn't help that we then cheapen our social activities by stopping midway for selfies...More on that later.bad body imageStructural damage from being too thinNow in China, we can see how the perfect selfie can be taken. There exist websites that tell you how to take selfies, How to make your body look thinner by turning your hips, how to make your face look thinner by holding your hands next to them. Posing with fingers, clothes to wear, catching the right light etc...click here for example <------Exhibit AWhat everyone fails to mention is how this is yet another example of how bad body image is spread. Girls refusing to eat food because they look ugly in their selfies and they want to look like some stupid model they see on the tv (Seriously, who the hell is angelababy and does anyone actually care? Only people who don't have a life of their own to live it seems.) We spread and pass on these selfies, without ever thinking of the consequences. Little girls think that they need to grow up looking like these girls. They damage their own bodies to achieve the ideal of beauty in this society, an idea reinforced by all these people taking selfies. So next time you decide to take a selfie....think of what you are doing. The destruction of art...and photography as an art form. Victorians never smiled in photographs...One thing I hate more than anything about selfies is the fact that everyone is EXACTLY THE SAME....Use your imagination and do something special with a camera than taking repeated images of yourself smiling like a buffoon. Try some creativity, remember that photography is an art form (or was at least) and less not cheapen it with copies of what everyone else is doing. Another point is an article I read recently about old victorian pictures and why they do not smile yet are simply far more evocative as images. Nowadays we just smile like idiots trying to give everyone the impression that we are having a whale of a time all the time when we all know this is simply not true. In the future people will look back at this point in time and wonder why we are all smiling like idiots....all the time. I want to post an extract from the article I read on victorians not smiling and their comparison to us..."....Why are old photographs so much more moving than modern ones?How selfies became a global phenomenon Read moreFor the existential grandeur of traditional portraiture, the gravitas of Rembrandt, still survives in Victorian photography. Today, we take so many smiling snaps the idea of anyone finding true depth and poetry in most of them is absurd. Photos are about being social. We want to communicate ourselves as happy social people. So we smile, laugh and cavort in endless and endlessly shared selfies.A grinning selfie is the opposite of a serious portrait. It’s just a momentary performance of happiness. It has zero profundity and therefore zero artistic value. As a human document it is disturbingly throwaway. (In fact, not even solid enough to throw away – just press delete).How beautiful and haunting old photographs are in comparison with our silly selfies. Those unsmiling people probably had as much fun as we do, if not more. But they felt no hysterical need to prove it with pictures. Instead, when they posed for a photograph, they thought about time, death and memory. The presence of those grave realities in old photographs makes them worth far more than our inanely happy Instagram snaps. Perhaps we should stop smiling sometimes, too."by Jonathon Jones. Click name for article.They ruin many of the activities we are doingLook how much fun we are clearly not having...My final pet peeve about selfies is how in so many social activities, the fun has to be stopped to show everyone else that we are having fun. It feels so unnatural, so forced that, for me, it ruins my night. We are literally mid- conversation, drinking, eating having fun and suddenly I have to stop because some insecure moron wants to show his friends how much fun we are having? Well thank you for ruining my evening sir. Thank you for creating this unnatural block on our atmosphere simply because you do not know how to act in social situations. So what do you think? Are selfies ruining the world?Please feel free to join in the debate and leave comments below. If you wish to share this article please quote my name. 请你们在下面写你们的想法。文明发表言论，转发注明出处

Is patriotism healthy? By Sean Boyce 柏笑恩This has been a topic a while in the making, and is somewhat especially important now. During all economic downturns, many people turn to patriotism or nationalism. You can try to claim their is a difference between patriotism and nationalism but I see it as a weak defence for claiming your patriotism is different from the patriotism you see in those countries you dislike. Extremely strong patriotism like we see in China and America is bred by the state, and we can see how much money is spent on such cultural and patriotic events. As you would expect, countries who spend less money on such events, tend to have a less patriotic population. Before we see all the "I'm not a nationalist I'm a patriot" argument, lets actually look at how similar they really are:Patriotism is, generally speaking, emotional attachment to a nation which an individual recognizes as their homeland. This attachment also known as national feeling or national pride, can be viewed from different features relating to one's own nation, like ethnic, cultural, political or historical aspects.Nationalism is a belief or political ideology that involves an individual identifying with, or becoming attached to, one's nation. Nationalism involves national identity, by contrast with the related construct of patriotism, which involves the social conditioning and personal behaviors that support a state's decisions and actionsYou can choose which one you believe you think you are. But I find that often people get confused themselves over the two. If you wish to claim in the comments they are entirely different, please state why your patriotism is different from another countries nationalism. So, onto the topic in hand, I wish to discuss, is patriotism healthy? Now my views on this may even be a little strange for some Europeans, although I am sure some will agree with me but let's start at the basics, why do I dislike patriotism? Patriotism by definition is a love of your country. Some take this at face value and assume "why would anyone not love their country" but their are many reasons why. 1. A country is an entirely abstract construct. This for many is a seemingly absurd statement, of course countries exist Sean, how could you be walking around Harbin if it did not. A country is abstract in the sense that it's borders exist only within the minds and laws of human beings. If we remove humanity from the equation or go into space, we cannot see countries. They simply do not exist except in the minds of humans, it is in essence, an entirely abstract concept. It is a social construct by definition. 2. Being proud to be from a country is plain silly. looking at the above quote, I must agree with Mr Carlin. Your nationality is nothing but a genetic accident. It is pure coincidence that you come from which country. There is nothing to be proud of. Pride should come from achievement, not simply being. I am not proud of my green eyes or any other parts of my features and identity. I am proud of the achievements I created in life. Now, you may be thinking "but sean, we are Chinese so when China achieves something we all do" but to this I reply, we are also all human beings and is just a defining part of our identity as nationality. Can I then claim pride whenever Someone the world over invents something or a country does something worthwhile? No I cannot. 3. A sense of superiority comes from it. One issue I have with patriotism is that sense of superiority, that idea that my country is awesome and your country is not. It creates and implies a sense of superiority and creates a dividing barrier, leading to possible conflicts between members of countries due to hurt pride by someone else's superiority. No country is superior, we are all just countries, just groups of people with our own advantages and disadvantages. You may prefer your own advantages more but be respectful that many the world over probably also prefer their own country's advantages. 4. Patriotism is conflating the Country with the government and the people. Another problem with patriotism is that it blurs the line between country, government and people. A country is not the same as it's government nor is it the same as it's people. An example, Japan is a country. Many people claim they hate Japan but in reality you hate the Japanese government. The actual island that is currently Japan did you no harm. It's not like mount Fuji came to life, strode across the waters and went to war alongside the soldiers. Countries are just land end of. As for hating Japanese people, ok You may hate SOME of the people who agree with the Japanese version of history but there still exists a lot of Japanese people who believe in pacifism and that their country should repent for their past atrocities. 5. Countries, even if they were not abstract change all the time. I hear this argument a lot, historically....something happened and so historically it belonged to some country. If we are going to go down this road, then HISTORICALLY we all belong to some African nation as we all come from there. A country is made up of people usually with a shared or similar language and culture. But again, it is constructed by people. People in Harbin believe they are Chinese. However, they were once upon a time Russian, not Chinese. There was a time that Harbin existed within the Russian borders. Now you may be thinking the land was always China's but if you look at history there was a time during Chain's founding that this patch of land was not in fact in China. Being patriotic to your country means being patriotic to the concept of abstract borders created by the status quo of the worlds society. You can see from the map above, a lot of modern China is not contained within Ancient China's borders. Like I say, countries are abstract and borders change. 6. An inability to listen to a critique of your country For many who are patriots, a critique of a country's society or government is instantly taken as an offence on themselves as a person. This is not true for 2 reasons. A: If a critique is constructive then it shouldn't be taken offence to. If the world was perfect, there would be nothing to improve but this is not the case. Some times critique's are good ways to raise awareness to an issue to ultimately IMPROVE the government or society in question. B: The critique is looking at the society or the government. By taking offence to this, you are going out your way to take offence. You know it is not aimed at you personally yet you take it personally as you see an offence to your country as an offence to your person. Can I ask then, why is any offence to mankind not an offence to you personally. We are all human, so technically when someone critiques a foreign country you should be also getting annoyed at that too, no? For many patriots, patriotism comes with the price of not being able to understand or accept the argument of the other side, or even meeting a compromise. You are right because to believe other wise, to believe something that goes against your country makes you not a patriot. WRONG! Understanding your country's flaws and improving them makes you more of a patriot than blindly believing everything is fine and dandy. Wouldn't a patriot be willing to listen to all of the arguments to therefore create a more informed conclusion in order to better their own country? I do not understand this need for patriotism. Research has shown it doesn't create a more stable society. It doesn't create monetary benefits (It actually costs the tax payer more to be patriotic as patriotic events are paid for). It just makes it easier for people to agree with the work of the government in my eyes and actually serves no real purpose. I understand there do exist less radical forms of patriotism but I always wish to ask, when can we stop seeing ourselves as Chinese, British, American, French, Malaysian etc... and start seeing ourselves as Human? Please feel free to join in the debate and leave comments below. If you wish to share this article please quote my name. 请你们在下面写你们的想法。文明发表言论，转发注明出处

Do you love your culture? Do I not understand it? By Sean Boyce. Traditional Chinese cultural activitiesSo many in China talk about their love of Chinese culture and how foreigners don't understand it. It is a fundamental founding part of patriotism for many in China in addition to being an argument used to often counter any argument a foreigner has when critiquing China and yet I find this concept of culture, very ambiguous, very superficial...so very false. When we say we love culture, are we in love with this perpetuated belief of our national culture and the ignorance of all other facets of culture within our society? Where does culture come from? What is our culture? When we say we love it, what do we really love?Xinjiang traditional dressMy main issue with culture, especially the cultural education in China is this sense of a super, all encompassing macro culture. Chinese culture in this sense is all the traditional cultures, the tea drinking, the dragon dancing at new yeat, the festivals etc... yet for me, this is simply not culture. It is a very VERY small part of your culture, and for many Chinese isn't even a part of their own personal culture. Take for example the tea drinking, I haven't seen a tea house in Harbin, and yet this culture of drinking tea is supposedly a big part of Chinese culture? This is the problem, culture isn't country wide, all encompassing. It is more localised, it works on a more personal level and is shaped by the reiteration of ideas, beliefs and the society around us. No one here would tell me that the Harbin culture is the same is guangzhou, xinjiang or xi'an. All four of these areas have their own culture, and even within smaller areas, there exists smaller, micro cultures. So when you say you love Chinese culture, when you say you understand Chinese culture; Are you talking about the Islamic culture of the north west, the drinking and culture of manliness of the north east, or a more southern example of culture? This media perpetuated culture of dragons, poetry and art...Is it really the culture of your country, or is it the culture of history you wish still existed, the facade you attempt to pull over the eyes of others?How I see Harbin, lots of beerMicro cultures are more what I think of when I say I have experienced a culture. When my friends back home ask me what China is like, I can only really tell them about Harbin in all honesty. I have no idea what the culture in Shanghai is like. I see Harbin as quite a laid back, quiet city with a heavy drinking culture, a lack of religious beliefs, a lack of many of the major Chinese traditional cultural traits (lets just say, I was thoroughly disappointed never to having seen dancing dragons or tea houses when I arrived). There exists a real brotherhood amongst friends in Harbin that feels stronger than in other Chinese cities, there is a great pride in being seen as the barbaric north, and even more pride in their supposed fighting abilities. There is a hatred of Japan stronger here than many other places in China with a population who still remembers what they done. Fashion here is wild, and absolutely bizarre and seems behind the more developed areas of China with crazy colours being the norm and no sense of a western influence. Now after seeing this, why is it that everyone here still talks about a love of Chinese culture when they themselves, in all reality have no true understanding as to what IS Chinese culture. When your own culture is so very different from the macro culture, can you say yourself that you truly understand Chinese culture just by being Chinese?Japanese culture as a Chinese sub culture. Cosplaying.And then there are sub cultures, cultures within cultures of which you yourself are aware of yet others around you are oblivious to. We have the bar scene in Harbin, where you can see the same people every week without fail, all partaking in a very western form of drinking. We have the Modern Chinese hiphop culture with kids meeting on the streets to have dance offs like they see in movies such as step up, shaking hands with a bro hug, a symbol of their own personal culture. We have a strong islamic presence here, a culture imported from the north west and very isolated, always talking in small groups, We have geek culture, with the small manga shops being filled with kids who have a love of all things japanese sporting their own funky looks based on the animes, big hair to be seen all over, board game shops for those who love to relax with some hard thinking and even a dungeons and dragons scene where many jokes amongst the group become private to the shared group. This is simply because culture is the sum product of our shared experience amongst our small groups of friends and community, we cannot share our experience with everyone in China. Traditional Scottish culture. Not how I experience Scotland however.I often hear questions of "I wish to learn of other cultures, teach me your culture..." and I simply do not know how to answer, I feel like trying to explain what pork tastes like to a devout Muslim. If you have never tried it, it's almost impossible to experience it's flavour from description alone. Culture is the same, it cannot be learned or described but simply experienced. In my own culture back home, we have a strong geek culture within our group of friends. You drop a fork at dinner, and you will get a reply along the lines of "haha did you roll a one?" Unless you have any experience of a pen and paper roleplaying game, you simply will not get our cultural humour. I cannot begin to explain scottish culture as my experience of it and others is entirely different from everyone else. Football for many is a big part of this supposed Scottish macro culture, and yet I simply do not watch it nor care what happens. How can I then even begin to explain my culture in an objective way when I myself do not fully understand the tribalism that encompasses Scottish football?These books should be renamed introduction to Chinese historical cultureIn this very same way, culture is not possible to learn from your books. I hear so often "you British are all gentlemen" and yet the reality is so far from the assumption. The books on British culture are so unbearably shallow, superficial and historical that they don't even begin to explain as to what is Modern British culture. Think of modern Chinese culture, what is it? For me there are good and bad aspects, one that instantly comes to mind is the culture of mobile phones and eating. Your grandparents probably wouldn't dare bring a phone to the table deeming it rude, yet this is a massive part of modern Chinese youth culture, one that I haven't seen anywhere in any textbook on Chinese culture. Culture is malleable, it changes day to day and so your textbook is out of date as soon as it hits the shelf. All you learn from your textbook is historical culture and it is nothing but a very bad representation as to what your current culture is....So, next time you decide to tell a foreigner "they don't understand the culture", is this really true or just a bad excuse to try and win a debate you are clearly losing?. Go push your "I win" button in the debate, but it's getting old and the only one who is convinced is yourself.