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China

Back-To-School In China - Instead Of Shiny Red Apples, Teachers Get Cash And Gucci Bags

WUHAN MORNING POST (China), CHINA TIMES (Taiwan)

Worldcrunch

BEIJING - These days, being a teacher in China comes with its perks. Not only would the position offer you absolute imperial authority, but you would also get lots of presents. Some very NICE presents.

September 10 was Teacher’s Day, and on that day Chinese teachers are spoiled rotten, according to the Wuhan Morning Post. From gift vouchers, to perfume, cosmetics, scarves, flowers, and chocolate, more than 60% of Chinese parents admit that they spend on average 200 to 500 RMB ($30 to $50) on presents for teachers according to a survey by the newspaper.

Except during the Cultural Revolution, teaching has always been considered as a particularly respected profession, a tradition inherited from Confucianism. Today though, most Chinese parents believe that their child will be “treated better” if they lavish gifts onto the teachers.

Just like the prevalent corruption of Chinese officials, the culture of gift giving to teachers has changed, turning into a way to bribe teachers into giving better grades.

“I saw a little girl carrying two Gucci bags this morning when I was sending my son to school…” the China Times quoted a blogger from Shenzhen city.

In fact, in richer urban areas, parents do not hesitate to hand over a “red envelope:” In China, a little red envelope filled with money is given during holidays or special occasions. The amount of money in the envelope can be as much as 10,000 RMB ($1600).

Ms. Lee, a kindergarten teacher, told the China Times: “I myself gave a whole month’s salary in a big red envelope to my daughter’s teacher. The majority of parents do it. If we don’t follow, we are afraid our child will be ignored,” Lee said.

Bao Xiaoming, a parent from Shanghai said, “Before I started giving a red envelope to the kindergarten teacher, my daughter often came home complaining that she was starving to death. Now she comes home telling me she is full. Besides, each time the teacher gets a present, my daughter gets praise on the following days… Now I have the conditioned reflex – whenever my daughter gets criticized at school, I ask myself whether or not it’s time again to give a gift."

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eyes on the U.S.

A Foreign Eye On America's Stunning Drop In Life Expectancy

Over the past two years, the United States has lost more than two years of life expectancy, wiping out 26 years of progress. French daily Les Echos investigates the myriad of causes, which are mostly resulting in the premature deaths of young people.

Image of a person holding the national flag of the United States in front of a grave.

A person holding the national flag of the United States in front of a grave.

Hortense Goulard


On May 6, a gunman opened fire in a Texas supermarket, killing eight people, including several children, before being shot dead by police. Particularly bloody, this episode is not uncommon in the U.S.: it is the 22nd mass killing (resulting in the death of more than four people) this year.

Gun deaths are one reason why life expectancy is falling in the U.S. But it's not the only one. Last December, the American authorities confirmed that life expectancy at birth had fallen significantly in just two years: from 78.8 years in 2019, it would be just 76.1 years in 2021.

The country has thus dropped to a level not reached since 1996. This is equivalent to erasing 26 years of progress.Life expectancy has declined in other parts of the world as a result of the pandemic, but the U.S. remains the developed country with the steepest decline — and the only one where this trend has not been reversed with the advent of vaccines. Most shocking of all: this decline is linked above all to an increase in violent deaths among the youngest members of the population.

Five-year-olds living in the U.S. have a one in 25 chance of dying before their 40th birthday, according to calculations by The Financial Times. For other developed countries, including France, this rate is closer to one in 100. Meanwhile, the life expectancy of a 75-year-old American differs little from that of other OECD countries.

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