쉐도잉 연습: Inside China’s intense work culture and holiday system - Asia Specific podcast, BBC World Service - YouTube로 영어 말하기 배우기

쉐도잉 컨트롤

0% 완료 (0/190 문장)

Across Asia, millions of people are taking time off work for the Lunar New Year holiday, and for the first time ever, workers in China are getting nine days off in a row in an attempt by authorities to ease the pressure of an intense work culture. But there is a catch.

⏸ 일시 정지

재생 속도:

반복 횟수:

대기 모드:

자막 동기:0ms

모든 문장

190 문장

Unlike most other countries, those nine days include the weekend, and employees will also need to work a couple of Saturdays.

So what's the logic behind the country's unique rules for taking leave, and will China's demanding work culture ever change?

I'm Mariko in Singapore and this is Asia Specific from the BBC World Service.

Twice a week we bring you Asia Pacific stories unpacked by those who know them best.

And today I have Fan Wang, a news journalist with the BBC Singapore bureau.

I also have Stephen McDonell, a BBC correspondent based in Beijing.

Welcome both to Asia Specific. Hello.

It's great to be back today. Good day. How are you going?

As Australian as you can get.

Stephen, you've been based in China for more than 20 years now, so I'm assuming you have covered this annual event from various angles many times before.

But for viewers and listeners who might not be familiar, can you just tell us what it's like?

And exactly you know, roughly how many people are on the move at the moment?

If anyone's been here at this time of year, if you've been on transport, you can see the scale of it.

It's just it's phenomenal. For this city, interestingly enough, it's going to go quiet.

Beijing empties and we'll have less than half the population.

And that's because so many people who are not from Beijing live in Beijing for work.

And then around comes the Chinese New Year, and they want to go to their home towns. And so they're all pouring out of here.

But in terms of the numbers, just to give you an idea of it, I did have a bit of a look at it. I'll see if I can read them out without my glasses.

But, I know look, I will go with the glasses.

I think we better get it right. I completely get that.

Hands down glasses on. Right.

So we're talking 9.5 billion passenger trips.

Billion? Not million? 9.5 billion.

Now, the reason it's that many, it's because they're counting at trips, not a person. So one person could do multiple trips.

And that's what that's why there are so many of them.

But when we say trips, we're not talking about you having a trip from your home to your office.

We're talking about a trip from... Journey. Yeah. Okay.

You might have I might go just say I was going to Sichuan.

I might take the train there. I might go somewhere else with my auntie.

Then I might come back to Beijing. That's three trips for me.

So if you're counting each one of those as a trip, it's 9.5 billion.

Now, in terms of the breakdown, just rail alone will carry 540 million passengers this year.

They're expecting on the planes, 95 million.

I mean, imagine the logistics of all this organizing it And in terms of the trains, the trains are, it's amazing to go to a train station this time.

People are carrying all these presents, home and food and what have you.

Rail services, 13.5 million passengers a day.

Wow. Incredible. Fan, this episode was actually your idea, wasn't it?

Because you told us that Chinese holidays work very differently.

So while millions of people are on the move, can you explain why the system works differently from other countries?

Of course. So, yes. So Chinese holidays, every year the Chinese government gave people holidays for seven different occasions.

And the Spring Festival, the one they were talking about is the biggest one.

And that's also where people enjoy the longest break of the year.

So actually, I can show you, I have a calendar here.

Apologies to those who are listening to our show right now.

You can pull up the calendar on your phone.

So here are the dates from the 15th of February to the 23rd of February this year. Nine days in a row.

People can enjoy the time off. And this is kind of the longest, isn't it? This is the longest in recent times, I think, for Spring Festival.

But there's a catch. There's a trade off, which is you need to work the weekend before and the weekend after.

So this time, you need to work on the 14th of February.

Oh, the Valentine's Day. You need to work on that Saturday.

And also the 28th, the last day of February, another Saturday.

And there are three weekend days included in this nine day period.

So if you deduct all these it's actually just four days.

Wow. So that is quite a different system. Yeah. They call it adjusted rest in Chinese it's called 'tiáo xiū'.

So they always group weekends, nearby weekends with, the like weekdays together.

So working on a Saturday. Is that a common thing in China?

Not necessarily to make up for your long holiday.

With the slow economy and more demanding work schedules, a lot of companies do require people to work at least one of the weekend days.

Or they also, some companies also have this big week and small week system, which means you take one of the two weekend days off for for the first week, and then you get the full weekend off the next week.

And those weekends, the before and after that you have to work.

If I understand correctly, it's called make up days.

Is that right? Yeah, you can call it.

That's how you call it in English to help you better understand it.

But in Chinese they call it tiáo xiū. So like adjusted rest days.

Okay. Stephen, can you tell me how did this start?

This, you know, history of make up day?

Can you tell us how it started? So the tiáo xiū or the make up days, it goes back to, funnily enough, it's the Asian financial crisis that kicked it off.

Because the party, well, after the communists took over in 1949, announced a certain number of public holidays.

But then in the late 90s, China, like many Asian countries, was going through the economic doldrums and they wanted to give the economy a bit of a boost.

Now officials are thinking, how do we do this?

How do we get people moving around, spending more without giving them more days off?

And so what we're going to do is we're going to introduce this system whereby you can work a few extra days on either side of a break period and thereby have more days off in a row. If you've got more days off in a row, the theory goes that you'll travel somewhere.

You might go to your home town, or you might visit a new place or something.

Spend more money, plane tickets, hotels, you name it. And it has worked.

I mean, when these holiday periods happen, I mean the economy, especially like there are certain towns that are pretty quiet.

And then all of a sudden, this huge influx of all the people who are from there pour into there.

The idea was based on a sort of, the need for an economic injection, and by all accounts, it's worked. Wow.

so if it started around 1999, I guess people are used to this system, Fan, but I understand there's been a bit of grumbling recently.

So can you tell us about that? Yeah, I think with the development of social media, we can see people like posting about their daily life or their thoughts more often.

And I think a big complaint from a lot of young people these days is the lack of leave days.

Although like now, you see, for Spring Festival or like National Day, you get seven day or nine days period of time off.

But actually, Chinese people don't really get that much time off because they don't have that many annual leave days.

By the Chinese law, a person who starts, who just started working, you have five days of annual leave.

That is what guaranteed. Each year? Yeah.

Every year. Five days. And it only increases, it only increases when you reach, like ten years or 20 years of your work time. So that is like, comparing to a lot of countries, that is very few and definitely not enough.

Stephen, why does China only give, what, five days annual leave?

That's so little.

I think in all of this discussion and in terms of people's happiness or otherwise about it, we need to separate the idea of whether people are happy with the number of annual leave days they get or and the make up days. Because it's two different concepts.

I think most people would say they're not happy with the number of annual leave days they get, but they'd still, if they're not going to be increased, many people would prefer to still have the make up days because they want to have a big break. Now, as for the number of leave days, one of the problems with not having enough annual leave is that everybody in the country is on holidays at the same time in China, and it means that the trains are packed.

It's hard to get tickets, everything's expensive.

So there have been some government figures, some business people, some academics saying, isn't it a bit smarter to somehow free up people's potential to choose when they go away?

I have to say, I'm one of those people who refuse to travel over the Christmas holiday period, so I would I would definitely vote for that. On your earlier point, so you were saying that while people are not happy with the number of annual leave days that they get, they are quite okay with this concept of make up days.

Having to work the weekend before and after, because I would I would not be happy with that.

I would, eh. I mean, it just depends who you are.

I'd prefer it. It just it depends who you talk to.

I mean, some people are like, look, I've already worked five days.

I'd rather have my weekend, but just think about it.

If you just say a public holiday falls on a Tuesday, you're going to work through.

100

You're going to have Saturday and Sunday off. What?

101

Go to work on Monday, then have Tuesday off, then back to work.

102

I mean, you know, and if someone said to you instead you work on Saturday, we'll give you three days off in a row.

103

Long weekend. Ba-boom. I'd prefer it.

104

I also think another source of people's discontent with this is, on the surface, it seems like you get a lot of days off.

105

But A, you cannot choose these days, right?

106

Flexibly. And B, a lot of people say actually when they're off, they're actually also working.

107

So in the end, how much time off do you really get?

108

So when you say they're off, they're still working.

109

You mean still reply to emails? Yes.

110

And like a lot of people say, they still are obligated to respond to whatever their bosses require, require them to do and like.

111

This is a global problem, isn't it? It is. But I feel like the work culture in China is getting quite toxic to a point that people, like often constantly complain about it.

112

And whenever you see discussions about these, like holidays on Chinese social media, it is one of the very common talking point.

113

People are like, oh yes, seems like you're giving me time off, but I'm really not off. But also, I think another, another very distinctive thing about Chinese work culture is the hierarchy in these companies and in these, like, workplaces.

114

Young people or junior people don't really have the right to say no.

115

Often we see a lot of people say on social media again, is that, oh, even if I do want to put in a request for annual leave, I need to read the room and need to, like, see if my boss will let me do it.

116

And sometimes they do get rejected and they don't, they can't say say no to that. It's quite I think it's quite similar in Japan where people don't actually get to use up all the annual leave days that you're actually entitled to.

117

And I remember when I was working in Tokyo, you just kind of look around and go, oh, that senior person is still there, I can't leave.

118

Even though my time, my shift is over.

119

So yeah, I think there's a bit of a similarity there.

120

The reason young people do this is they've got no choice.

121

Youth unemployment is through the roof here.

122

Graduates come out. They're looking for jobs.

123

What are they going to do? They've got. And they turn up.

124

They want to get into one of these buzzy new companies.

125

And it's kind of portrayed as a choice thing by employers.

126

Oh, we're giving you this choice to do. Come on. It's not a choice.

127

They tell if you want to work here, there the hours we're doing.

128

And people do it because they've got no choice.

129

I mean, someone was telling me this story of, you know, Chinese New Year, it's common to go to the Lama Temple in Beijing and light incense and pray for, you know, good fortune next year and your family, etc., etc..

130

So this one guy from another province, he's only got his one day off after working 11 to 11 every day he's got on the train.

131

Comes into Beijing, races down to Lama Temple.

132

Pray pray pray, pray. Back on the train.

133

Back home. Back to work the next day. I mean, it's nuts, but I think the main reason all young people, well, they're upset about it.

134

It's forced on them. By these, I mean you can you've seen them all these, these tech bosses trying to sell this as some great option for them.

135

This, you know, to do something for the country, do something for your company.

136

I mean, how do you find your future partner?

137

How do you have kids? How do you visit your parents?

138

I mean, it's not a life to work like that. It just isn't.

139

I think Stephen touched on a very important reason, which is the slow economy, like the economy, the prospect.

140

Like, I think when these big tech companies started doing this it was, you were you were promised that, oh, as long as you work hard enough, you can get enough in return.

141

But that is no longer More pay, maybe. the contract anymore.

142

Like now, people who are joining this industry and it's not only limited to tech companies anymore.

143

This kind of, it's kind of become the China success story.

144

And China didn't invent this at their work.

145

The Koreans have been doing it for years.

146

I mean, I remember ten years ago, I knew lots of Koreans here, people I'd studied with, all these Korean companies, even the ones in China, making people work on Saturdays.

147

And really, you think about it in other parts of the world.

148

The push is on to go the other way. Four day week. Not a six day week.

149

Come on. What are we going back to Dickensian London or something with people having to work on Saturdays?

150

Give me a break. I mean, I was saying to a colleague that, you know, could this be the the reason behind Asia's economic success?

151

You know, obviously the economies have been slowing down lately, but up until now, the decades of growth is it because of this work culture?

152

And then my colleague was like, yeah, but also it's the reason behind the low birth rate because people just don't have, you know, people are just too busy as well.

153

But I wonder, though, in an era where the US and China are competing over those top talent, especially in the tech industry, how would you retain those talent?

154

Wouldn't you offer, at least to those top talent, more days off, more flexibility?

155

Is that something that could actually change in the future?

156

I want both of your opinions, but maybe Stephen first.

157

I think the problem is that those who are most shafted in all this are young people. Like they're coming out of university.

158

Like I was saying, they're desperate. They want to get work and they'll just put up with the conditions because they have to.

159

Now, if youth unemployment wasn't as lousy as it is at the moment, employers wouldn't have the leverage to treat people as badly.

160

You know, they'd have to give them better conditions.

161

This happened a few years ago with migrant workers, as they're called, you know, the itinerant laborers who work in factories, who, you know, famously from the 80s here, moving from towns into Guangzhou and Shenzhen and what have you to work on production lines.

162

But then at a certain point, the, you know, unemployment, it came right down and it gave them choices.

163

They didn't have to travel as far to get work.

164

They didn't have to accept such lousy conditions.

165

And so factories were having to start giving people better conditions.

166

And the same thing applies to all these companies in the city.

167

Now, if economic conditions were different, if unemployment was less, they'd have to treat people better.

168

But the reason they're not doing it at the moment is that they don't have to.

169

Yeah, exactly. I think, I mean, even for foreign companies in China, they traditionally have better perks in terms of like leave days and like these compensation for their employees.

170

But even now, like I've heard, people who work in these companies telling me that even for them, the work has been become so much like they they are also expected to work on holidays and they can't really take time off.

171

So I think the big economy, the big picture of the economy, slow economy is the main reason for this.

172

And speaking of any chances of change, I think, yes, because you see people like constantly talking about this and complaining about this.

173

And actually the Chinese government did increase the public holidays from 11 to 13 two years ago.

174

So you can see that they are aware of this issue, but people are, does 13 make people happy enough?

175

I don't think so. And as long as people keep complaining, I think there's always room for improvement.

176

I mean, I think in a way they've been successfully lobbied by the business sector that they oh, we can't possibly give people more days off because of all that lacking productivity.

177

But the trade off in terms of the economy is also huge, because if you give people more time off, they travel to more places, they buy more stuff, you know, sell more train tickets, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera, which gives smaller places a shot in the arm.

178

So it definitely has its economic advantages.

179

And I suppose, I mean, one could be right if people complain about it enough on social media and keep going.

180

Maybe that's the way just to, you know, the squeaky wheel gets the oil, etc..

181

You two might become stars of the Chinese workers, right?

182

Oh. Right. I feel so lucky after speaking about this holiday system in China.

183

Thank you both Stephen in Beijing and Fan in the studio.

184

No worries. Good to inspire you anytime.

185

Thanks for having me again and happy holidays to those who are celebrating.

186

You've been watching Asia Specific from the BBC World Service with me, Mariko Oi in Singapore.

187

If you have any questions or thoughts on what we've covered in this episode or any other stories from the region, please leave us a comment below.

188

You can also get in touch with us on email [email protected].

189

And you know the drill.

190

Click like and subscribe so you never miss an episode. See you next time.

YouTube

📱

Shadowing English

이제 모바일 기기에서 사용할 수 있습니다. 지금 다운로드하세요!

5.0

Download on theApp Store

GET IT ONGoogle Play

쉐도잉이란? 영어 실력을 빠르게 키우는 과학적 방법

쉐도잉(Shadowing)은 원래 전문 통역사 훈련을 위해 개발된 언어 학습 기법으로, 다언어 학자인 Dr. Alexander Arguelles에 의해 대중화된 방법입니다. 핵심 원리는 간단하지만 매우 강력합니다: 원어민의 영어를 들으면서 1~2초의 짧은 지연으로 즉시 소리 내어 따라 말하는 것——마치 '그림자(shadow)'처럼 화자를 따라가는 것입니다. 문법 공부나 수동적인 청취와 달리, 쉐도잉은 뇌와 입 근육이 동시에 실시간으로 영어를 처리하고 재현하도록 훈련합니다. 연구에 따르면 이 방법은 발음 정확도, 억양, 리듬, 연음, 청취력, 말하기 유창성을 크게 향상시킵니다. IELTS 스피킹 준비와 자연스러운 영어 소통을 원하는 분들에게 특히 효과적입니다.

☕ 커피 한 잔 사주기

ShadowingEnglish는 여러분의 지원 덕분에 100% 무료로 운영됩니다. 서버 및 AI 유지 비용이 많이 듭니다. 여러분의 커피 한 잔이 큰 힘이 됩니다! ��

PayPal로 기부하기

ShadowingEnglish.com – 영어 쉐도잉 연습

쉐도잉(Shadowing)으로 원어민처럼 영어를 말하세요. YouTube 영상을 한 문장씩 듣고 따라 말하며, 진짜 발음과 유창성을 키우세요. IELTS 학습자들이 선택한 방법.

쉐도잉 연습: Inside China’s intense work culture and holiday system - Asia Specific podcast, BBC World Service - YouTube로 영어 말하기 배우기

Shadowing English

이 수업에 대하여

주요 어휘 및 구문

연습 팁

쉐도잉이란? 영어 실력을 빠르게 키우는 과학적 방법