Leah King and Carolina Souza

It’s Friday! Only 4 more days till we are off to China. Today we discussed our main course text, Lianne Yu’s Consumption in China and global connection from 1945 – present. We had very interesting discussions regarding the Lifestyle and Commodification chapters. Some interesting points from the chapters discussed the lifestyles of the younger and older generations and how that influenced their consumer behavior. Specifically, we learned a lot about the extent of the one-child policy to modern day Chinese consumer culture.

Discussion and Finalization of Group Names *Snacks as a courtesy of Papa Sheehan and Jadon

Planning our research method together with our groups

In addition, we came up with our group names and continued researching our topics. One group name is called The Caramel Macchiatos because they are researching about Starbucks and coffee shops in China. Another group called  保健品（baojianpin) is researching about Chinese traditional medicine and Western medicine. After finalizing our group names, we met with the rest of our group to come up with a straight-forward, clear research plan and design. By planning ahead and making sure that the research plan is easy to follow, we save time in the field.

Lastly, we wrapped up the first week of classes with a very engaging lecture about Global and Chinese Interactions in the period of 1945 to present. Learning about Maoism and a global movement with student and revolutionaries and the cold war world gave us an important background to analyze China’s upcoming cultural revolution and class structure. We now only have two more lecture days before boarding to China, and can’t wait to apply our new skills on the ground.