ZGBriefs by Joann Pittman
Joann Pittman is Vice President of Partnership and China Engagement and editor of ZGBriefs.
Prior to joining ChinaSource, Joann spent 28 years working in China, as an English teacher, language student, program director, and cross-cultural trainer for organizations and businesses engaged in China. She has also taught Chinese at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (MN), and Chinese Culture and Communication at Wheaton College (IL) and Taylor University (IN).
Joann has a BA in Social Sciences from the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (MN), and an MA in teaching from the University of St. Thomas (MN).
She is the author of Survival Chinese Lessons and The Bells Are Not Silent: Stories of Church Bells in China.
Her personal blog, Outside-In can be found at joannpittman.com, where she writes on China, Minnesota, traveling, and issues related to "living well where you don't belong."
You can find her on Twitter @jkpittman.com and on Facebook at @authorjoannpittman.
She makes her home in New Brighton, Minnesota.
ZGBriefs | September 17, 2020
State Department lowers China travel advisory but warns of 'arbitrary detentions and exit bans' (September 14, 2020, USA Today) The U.S. Department of State lowered its advisory for China on Monday, from level 4 ("Do not travel") to level 3, urging Americans to reconsider any travel to that country.
ZGBriefs | September 10, 2020
China doubles down against foreign teachers spreading Christianity (September 6, 2020, South China Morning Post). New foreign hires will also have to complete 20 hours of political indoctrination covering China’s development, laws, professional ethics and education policies.
ZGBriefs | September 3, 2020
In China, the ‘Great Firewall’ Is Changing a Generation (September 1, 2020, Politico) Once it seemed inevitable that the internet would create a more open society. Now it’s fostering young nationalists.
ZGBriefs | August 27, 2020
Life on the Slow Train: Views of a Vanishing China (August 21, 2020, Sixth Tone)First built in the 1950s, the iconic green trains are a relic of another age, differing in almost every way from the sleek high-speed rail cars replacing them. Tickets are dirt-cheap. The carriages are crowded, chaotic, and stifling in the summer […]
ZGBriefs | August 20, 2020
How to cook rice: in Asia, it’s no laughing matter (August 16, 2020, South China Morning Post) Rice, in Asia, is serious business. The culturally diverse region eats a variety of rice – Basmati rice, Jasmine rice, multigrain rice or Japonica rice and more – and cooks it in different ways
ZGBriefs | August 13, 2020
China’s Days as World’s Factory Are Over, IPhone Maker Says (August 12, 2020, Bloomberg, via Yahoo! News) A key supplier to Apple Inc. and a dozen other tech giants plans to split its supply chain between the Chinese market and the U.S., declaring that China’s time as factory to the world is finished because of the trade war.
ZGBriefs | July 30, 2020
China is home to 18 of the 20 most surveilled cities in the world (July 27, 2020, Inkstone News) Beijing has the most CCTV cameras installed of any city in the world and Taiyuan, the capital of the central province of Shanxi, has the most cameras per person.
ZGBriefs | July 23, 2020
China Considers New Rules, Mandatory Trainings for Foreign Teachers (July 20, 2020, Sixth Tone) Foreign teachers could be fired for “harming China’s national sovereignty” or “engaging in religious education,” according to a recent draft regulation from the central government.
ZGBriefs | July 16, 2020
These are the 5 Covid-19 Vaccines Currently Being Developed in China (July 12, 2020, Sixth Tone) As pandemic fears engulf the world, scientists across the globe are racing to develop a Covid-19 vaccine.
ZGBriefs | July 9, 2020
International students may need to leave US if their universities transition to online-only learning (July 7, 2020, CNN) International students who are pursuing degrees in the United States will have to leave the country or risk deportation if their universities switch to online-only courses…