exercise 2

March 5, 2023 By: Jiayi Han

My grandparents were born during the War of Liberation in China. They were very young at the end of the war and the founding of New China. In other words, they were lucky to have only experienced the final war in their infancy and survived, and began to live a peaceful life in the 1950s. Of course, this does not mean that their childhood and youth life are smooth. In New China, which has experienced the anti-fascist war and the war of liberation, all economic construction must be developed from scratch. My grandparents have been farming for generations like the vast majority of Chinese families. The main economic source is their own crops (mainly edible crops such as wheat and corn). There are few industrial products at home, most often The industrial products seen are soap and matches. My grandparents live in the same village. Their fields are adjacent to each other. They met and met when they harvested wheat in midsummer.

In their youth, China implemented a planned economy system, and daily necessities could only be purchased with bills issued by the state, including salt, oil, cloth and other necessities, as well as sweets, tobacco and other luxury goods to improve the quality of life. Therefore, it is not difficult to imagine that my grandparents had to live a relatively poor and simple material life when they were young, and the only candy in the family would be left to their younger brothers and sisters. Their wedding is simple but lively, because the wedding means the combination of two families and the birth of a new life, and a new life means a labour force that can create value for the family in the future, especially boys.

My parents were born in the 1970s. At that time, China’s industrial industry had achieved initial development, although most of them were primary industries focussing on the exploitation of natural resources, such as coal mining, steel smelting and oil exploration. My grandfather became a coal miner at this time, but he was not responsible for coal mining, but for logistical and dietary support, that is, cooking. The treatment of workers is relatively favourable, and they can receive high monthly salaries and more bills, far more than the income they earned as farmers at that time; workers also enjoy more envy. This profession is the dream of countless young people, including my grandfather. They are eager to use their own strength to contribute to the development of the country and the happiness of their families. Their daily work is actually very monotonous, and the pollution problem in the coal mine is also very serious, but such a working environment cannot stop my grandfather’s enthusiasm and dreams.

My parents were born in the industrialisation era. When they were children, they often saw bicycles on the street, and often went to the homes of wealthy friends to listen to the radio and watch black-and-white TV. Education is receiving more and more attention, because many foreign factories have opened in China, and many foreign goods have flooded into the market. These foreign factories need more specialised workers and more translators who can speak foreign languages. My grandparents fully support their children’s study. At this time, high education has become a luxury that everyone envies, while the number of workers has increased and become less precious. After my parents finished junior high school, they were admitted to high school. They got up before dawn every day and walked five kilometres to school (bicycles are still too expensive). In winter, the water drips into ice in the classroom, and their fingers holding the pen can’t move. Fortunately, in the end, my parents were admitted to college and could receive more elite education and have a wider range of career choices. My father chose to become a police officer and joined the government after graduation. My mother loved languages. She mastered many foreign languages in college and became a translation consultant for many multinational enterprises after graduation. They were respected because of their academic qualifications and enjoyed better material conditions. They settled in a big city after marriage.Thanks to higher education, my parents firmly support gender equality. They believe that women can do everything men can do, so there is no need to have sons. I am the only daughter in the family. I enjoy all the love and resources, so I am grateful to my parents and college education. They made me believe from the beginning that I can do my best. Gender is just a physiological characteristic, not an excuse to divide people into advantages and disadvantages.

I was born in the 21st century and have received bilingual education since primary school, because my parents want me to study abroad in the future and go to the best universities in the world. I haven’t been exposed to any knowledge about farming, and the mobile phones and tablets I use are also incomprehensible to my grandparents. After graduating from junior high school, my English level has surpassed that of my mother, thanks to the fact that I have travelled to three countries for exchange study. The material conditions I enjoyed were unimaginable by my elders, just as I couldn’t imagine how difficult their life was back then. The point is that I want to thank them for creating better family conditions for the next generation as much as possible through their own efforts when they were young, and actively accepting the new ideas brought about by the progress of the times. Because of their hard work, I am who I am now.