China's Communist Kindergarten: VICE INTL (China)

In this episode of VICE INTL, VICE China heads to Sitong Village to visit the People's Primary School—where kids learn reading, writing, and the wonders of Communism.

[laobok]

8:42 Jesus Christ, I nearly jumped up to the ceiling! Don't just cut away to something like that!

[zach]

Personally, I LOVE how the reporters offered so little commentary and just focused on the topic at hand. Good job! The bias in this certainly isn't from Vice news, so amazing job Vice news!

[Zidana]

Some mistranslations there...

He did not claim that Maoist thought is God, as Christians, Jews, or Muslims would define a singular God. The word he used is 'shen, ' which is the generic Mandarin term for 'a god.' So what he said is Maoist thought is godly, or divine.

He also did not say 'Praise the Buddha.' He invoked the a-mi-to bodhisatva, more commonly known in the West as the Amida Buddha, which is a completely distinct entity from Siddartha, who is 'The' Buddha. This invocation is similar to 'amen' in Christianity, being used to close off a prayer.

[Miimiikuh]

The guy might seem crazy but it does seem like he genuinely cares about the kids 

[ChairmanMeow]

I spent two years in China and I miss it every day of my life. Friendly, wonderful people.

[petrygebliebenerschlagerfan]

0:05 "China is the world's largest country."
YOU HAD ONE JOB BEN

[allenzhang]

Even as a Chinese, I think he kinda goes too far. But I do admire that he has his belief and has the guts to do something about it. What he said at the end of the video is what I've been thinking.

[CriticalMassCongregation]

All politics aside, they looked really happy watching those fireworks. That made me happy.

[vincelunceford]

Kudos to the Vice reporters to even find this guy in this day and age

[HanZhang]

whoa. This is really something special. You almost never see this sort of stuff in the cities. This is like a relic from the past. To those who have never lived in China this may seem disgusting, or improper, and there's arguments to be made for and against that but to me, this is really cute. This is people in the countryside hanging on to values when the bustling cities have long since moved past it into a state of controlled capitalism.

These people by the way, are alot more honest, simple (in a good way) and humble then the new generations raised in the large cities, thinking they're the center of the world due to their only child upbringing.

[leaderunithl]

“Ok comrades, today we are going to learn about social-credit scores”

[shanghainoon]

This village is in the same area that Chairman Mao grew up. It's only natural that the local schools treat him like a celebrity. A stupid story. 

[desmondjohn]

he needed a hug when he started talking about his elderly woman who had passed (was it his mom? idk)

[DeusExHomeboy]

His life reminds me of winter. A very long, rainy winter, and cold floors.

[supremebuffalo]

2:33
'Today is like christmas day for Chinese people'
Well, golly they all look fucking excited...

[sheentoosi]

oh man, I came from that province in China, and never have I ever known about that village. I thought those kinds of extreme schooling system where they strongly promote communism died off after my parents' generation graduated, but apparently not. This is a good information to know.

[whatamalike]

"You loved the right wing, here's a right wing newspaper"

Surely that's a mistranslation? Mao loved the right wing?
Well, maybe. I mean he did shake hands with Nixon which kind of killed his credibility in revolutionary terms.

[writedrunkeditsober]

FYI, not all of China is like this. This is a rural village

[Steveinthailand]

North Korean schools in Japan are far more well-developed and less-nostalgic compared to this place. Fascinating short-documentary. Thanx

[SammyHannat]

"China is the worlds largest communist state"
Andddd this is where I leave you