Spoke 'n Wheel Newsletter, August 11, 2010

John Adams introduced the speaker, Joy Zhou, the Director of the New Times Culture and Education Center.

Joy is a native of china, who currently lives in Duluth. He is an expert business economist, a current Faculty member at the University of South Carolina, and previously attended Georgia State University.

Prior to his career in academia, Joy had eight years experience serving in technical, supervisory and managerial consulting positions in the scientific retail and finance markets. His research has appeared in many journals, and his blog, a weekly column on marketing and selling, appears on Epic Times. Joy is the director of the New Times Culture and Education Center, a non-profit organization started in Atlanta. It was created to help to bridge the gaps between the Chinese and western communities. Joy was honored to be invited to help explain Chinese culture, and began by going over some comparisons between China and the United States.

Joy explained that he came to the United States in 1986; and in 1989 was a student at Perdue University where he helped organize protests. Joy further explained some preconceptions that the world has with Chinese people by showing us a series of photos, and asking us to choose which one was "China". He then went on to make some analogies between Chinese and American culture.

Joy then went on to show more comparisons of cultures, by showing photographs of major means of transportation and photographs of the three meals eaten per day (breakfast, lunch and dinner). He then further compared China's cultures with that of the United States by bringing up seniors. In the US, he explained, elderly members of the family most often do not stay with the family in their later years, but in China, the senior members, as well as extended family members, often stay with the household/family. He also compared our cultures by bringing up the idea of expressing one's opinions. Here, in the United States, it is the norm to voice your thoughts, but while in the East, it is important to make sure you do not hurt someone's feelings or offend them. He made more comparisons between cultures by bringing up with ideas such as accepted noise levels and the general populations' attitude towards superiors.

Joy asked by a show of hands how many members of the Decatur Rotary Club had visited China? One quarter to one third of the members raised their hands. Joy went on to discuss China's current economy. He informed us that their economy is growing and is making an impact on other countries. He says the Chinese people have very tight work schedules. He also mentioned that currently there is a lot of construction occurring in China. He tells us that building construction is greatly helping the Chinese economy.

Joy went on to tell us that he was encouraged to stay in the United States because of religious freedom, which is basically non-existent in China. He also told us that the current housing prices in Beijing are very high - much higher than that of the United States. He explained that on average, a Chinese persons' income is less than 1/20 of an American's income. He explained that in China today, more and more people have access to the Internet. This means that the Chinese people are learning more about what is going on outside of China and is bringing about a revival of culture. People without access to state media are beginning to put their words of protest and thoughts on Chinese currency. As the currency is circulated throughout the community, their words are able to be broadcast and shown to the community.

Joy then compared our Rotary "4 Way Test" to the Chinese belief of truthfulness' and compassion. He says this is the true Chinese culture - one that celebrates dance, traditional music, and costumes from thousands of years ago. He then invited us to attend the Shen Yun Performing Arts event that will be held at the Cobb Energy Center, on August 21. The show will bring Chinese dance to life, and the performance draws inspiration from the legends, values, and spirit that defined traditional Chinese culture for centuries. There are 2 different showings, one at 2PM and one at 8PM. Each event will be followed by a reception and a "meet and greet" with the performers.