Last week in our major class, a student asked the teacher for a leave because he needed to attend an interview, though the teacher approved, he questioned back “Is the interview more important than my class?” I didn’t know whether the teacher was serious, but I betted the student was struggling, because to skip class is always a hard decision for college students. In our middle school, we didn’t have this problem, as we are required to attend every class. We were under the pressure of the College Entrance Examination, if we missed the class, we have to make it up. In college, it is another story, we become more freely and also more entangled. There are both objective and subjective reasons for this struggle. Sometimes you really have other affairs to handle, in other occasions, you may want to skip a class just because you don’t like the professor. For instance, I chose a course which is very boring. I think I learn little from this class but I attend the class routinely every week, since the teacher usually check the attendance. As I know whether the teacher check attendance is a decisive factor for many college students, because some of them just want a good outcome, that is they can achieve pretty grades at the end of a semester, and the attendance rate would affect their grades. For those teachers who force students by attendance rate, students usually have no choice. Perhaps this idea is nor right, but realistic. To be honest, I am a person who would try my best not to skip a course, as this show your respect to the teacher. I remember last semester, I chose a course of an old professor, no question, he is knowledgeable, but his class was kind of boring, he had no interaction with the students and spoke alone. What was more, he never called the roll, and his class turned out to have little people. I have never skipped his class, I thought he may be frustrated if there were little people, and as a student, we should respect his efforts. However, it’s hard to criticize those who skip classes. Some judge this problem in the respect of efficiency, they explained “I can hardly learn knowledge for this class, it’s totally a waste of time. I’d better spend this time on other meaningful things.” To some extent, I agree with them, some courses are not attractive, and the teachers are not going to change their teaching style, under this situation, they think they have a higher efficiency to study on their own. Should a student have the right to miss a class that they don’t like? In China, not every student can take the major they really want, it is common some students are transferred to the specialty that they dislike. Thus they skip their major classes and learn what they like. Can we say they are wrong? So I think to skip a class is an embarrassing problem for both students and teachers.

There are many ancient towns in China, perhaps the most famous ones are Fenghuang(凤凰古城)，Lijiang(丽江古城). Today I want to share stories and photos of another ancient town named Furong Town which is not as famous, but beautiful. After my trip there, I think it deserves a higher reputation. Furong Town is an ancient town with more than 2000 years of history, it is located in Xiangxi autonomous prefecture, Hunan Province. Anciently, Furong Town was the business port. It was named after a famous movie “Furong Town” which was shot here. This old movie was made in 1986, I bet many Chinese have heard about it. This is a poster of that movie. Liu Xiaoqing, a popular actress in China for many years, is heroine of this movie. I want to leave out the detailed plots, it is a touching story, if you are interested in , you could find it and enjoy. In that movie, the heroine sells rice tofu for a living. The location where the heroine sells rice tofu has been reserved. This is its present image shot by me, my friends and I tasted rice tofu here, rice tofu becomes specialty of this town. Besides its glory brought by the movie, we cannot omit its beauty. Furong town has perfectly preserved its old Stone Road, which is different from modern city. This town is by the water, there are boats fetching people. You can enjoy sceneries on this bridge. One of the most impressive things is that the houses are constructed on the cliff. You can see water flowing down from house. I recommend Forong Town for you guys because it is really an amazing place that worth going, consider it if you have time!

Last week, I accidently lost my bank card. This is the last thing I want to happen, because I know it would take me a lot of time and efforts to make up a new card. With a glimmer of hope, I combed nearly every nook, however, it was all in vain, I had to face this challenge to register for a new one. And no surprisingly, it was a nightmare. The first day, I went to a bank that is near my school, I explained my situation and asked “ What should I do if I want to make up a new card?” “Sorry, cards for today have been used up. I recommend you to come earlier tomorrow morning and wait in line.” “ used up?” “ yes.” Apparently, he didn’t get my question, what I was wondering is how can a bank use up cards? it sets quota for everyday? Anyway, what I cared most is I have to wait in line for a new card. The next day, I got up early and made sure I arrived before 8:30, the open time of that bank. There were already more than a dozen of people queuing up, waiting for opening. The following experiences were waiting in line after waiting in line, to copy my ID card, to get my waiting number, to fill in several forms… Finally, after another more than 90 minutes’ queuing up, it was my turn to sit in front of the counter and get everything finished. Because of this long period, I nearly skipped my class. I bet waiting in line is one of the most impressive things living in China, at least I really have many stories to tell, whether about myself or others. For instance, I would choose small clinics and avoid going to big hospitals, because I have to wait many lines to get every check. I remember there was a news this year, when a Children's Palace in Beijing started its spring registration, more than a thousand of parents waited in line as early as 6:00 in the morning to sign up for their children, just assume a three hours’ waiting under such a low temperature. There is no doubt that waiting in line is a symbol of civilization, but do too much waiting in line mean low efficiency? Or it is just a result of China’s large population? I mean could there be measures to stagger the crowd? If this cannot be achieved, could we make people’s waiting time more comfortable by simply adding more seats or magazines? Since so many people are blaming it, I believe there should be some changes. I’m tired of waiting in line and I don’t know whether this kind of story happens all over the world. If possible, I want to hear your experiences whether in China or other countries.

Recently, I am doing an assignment concerning the lifestyle of people in Chengdu (the capital of Sichuan province in western China), in the past week, my partners and I shuttled between downtown and the suburb of the city with heavy cameras, shooting ordinary citizen’s life, what impressed me most is their affection toward“fly restaurants”, actually, this is a literal translation according to its meaning in Chinese, we’d better call it greasy spoon, but I prefer the former, as it vividly reflects Chinese flavor. Even some Chinese out of Chengdu hardly know the equal word “苍蝇馆子”. "fly restaurants” do not refer to places with flies circling around, historically, unhygienic environment may account for this name, but this is not the concern of contemporary“fly restaurants” anymore, currently they are known as restaurants with simple decoration and relative cheap price, of course, famous ones are featured by its delicious dishes. “fly restaurants” covers both staples and local snacks, when we were shooting, we saw people patiently waiting in line to buy snacks, the saying that “the customer is king” seems cannot be adapted to Chengdu, the seller is dominant, popular snakes are sold in limited period, which usually last 2 hours separately in the morning and afternoon. We intended to buy “guokui” (one of the famous snacks in Chengdu) by the way, but we just unexpectedly missed the period. You might assume that this kind of restaurant only suits ordinary people, the affluent and people of high social status will not go for it, however, that’s not the truth, which makes this city unique. It is very common in Chengdu that people who drive luxury cars search for “fly restaurants” in deep alley. Usually, popular“fly restaurants” are very crowded during rush hour, restaurateurs have to arrange tables in passage outside, gusts have no complains, on the contrary they enjoy this atmosphere and take it for granted. I, as a stranger, really feel it fresh, that’s really a distinct scenery of this city. After finishing shooting in“fly restaurants”, my team behaved like native people, eating outside the restaurant, engaged in delicious dishes that the restaurateur recommended. It seems they emphasize the taste of the food regardless of rough environment, that’s exactly the eating style of people in Chengdu. Chengdu was entitled to be “world gourmet capital” in 2010, and“fly restaurants” plays an increasingly significant part in its food culture, more and more tourists who come to Chengdu begin to abandon luxury dining rooms, embracing “fly restaurants” , and I think that is a wise choice as it can help them understand an authentic Chengdu. After this experience, I wonder how people from different places and cultural settings show their affections in food, is it universal or a cultural difference?

Recently, I am doing an assignment concerning the lifestyle of people in Chengdu (the capital of Sichuan province in western China), in the past week, my partners and I shuttled between downtown and the suburb of the city with heavy cameras, shooting ordinary citizen’s life, what impressed me most is their affection toward“fly restaurants”, actually, this is a literal translation according to its meaning in Chinese, we’d better call it greasy spoon, but I prefer the former, as it vividly reflects Chinese flavor.Even some Chinese out of Chengdu hardly know the equal word “苍蝇馆子”. “fly restaurants” do not refer to places with flies circling around, historically, unhygienic environment may account for this name, but this is not the concern of contemporary“fly restaurants” anymore, currently they are known as restaurants with simple decoration and relative cheap price, of course, famous ones are featured by its delicious dishes. “fly restaurants” covers both staples and local snacks, when we were shooting, we saw people patiently waiting in line to buy snacks, the saying that “the customer is king” seems cannot be adapted to Chengdu, the seller is dominant, popular snakes are sold in limited period, which usually last 2 hours separately in the morning and afternoon. We intended to buy “guokui” (one of the famous snacks in Chengdu) by the way, but we just unexpectedly missed the period. You might assume that this kind of restaurant only suits ordinary people, the affluent and people of high social status will not go for it, however, that’s not the truth, which makes this city unique. It is very common in Chengdu that people who drive luxury cars search for “fly restaurants” in deep alley. Usually, popular“fly restaurants” are very crowded during rush hour, restaurateurs have to arrange tables in passage outside, gusts have no complains, on the contrary they enjoy this atmosphere and take it for granted. I, as a stranger, really feel it fresh, that’s really a distinct scenery of this city. After finishing shooting in“fly restaurants”, my team behaved like native people, eating outside the restaurant, engaged in delicious dishes that the restaurateur recommended. It seems they emphasize the taste of the food regardless of rough environment, that’s exactly the eating style of people in Chengdu. Chengdu was entitled to be “world gourmet capital” in 2010, and“fly restaurants” plays an increasingly significant part in its food culture, more and more tourists who come to Chengdu begin to abandon luxury dining rooms, embracing “fly restaurants” , and I think that is a wise choice as it can help them understand an authentic Chengdu. After this experience, I wonder how people from different places and cultural settings show their affections in food, is it universal or a cultural difference?