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 | April 18, 2024
Wildest Dream: What Taylor Swift Means To Her Chinese Fans (April 17, 2024, The World of Chinese) Swift has attracted and influenced her Chinese fans for diverse reasons. TWOC talked to five Chinese Swifties to understand what Taylor Swift means to them. They explained how Swift inspired in them the confidence to travel alone, explore the world beyond their small hometowns, and reevaluate the meaning of feminism.
ZGBriefs | April 11, 2024
As China’s economy falters, so does middle class confidence (April 10, 2024, NBC News) The slowdown means middle-class Chinese can no longer assume continuous economic gains, or that their children’s quality of life will be better than theirs.
ZGBriefs | April 4, 2024
How we got to 'Made in China' (April 2, 2024, NPR) In a new book, Made in China, historian Elizabeth O'Brien Ingleson explains how corporate America began reconceptualizing trade with China in the 1970s, the factors that led to this change and how "what had once been a fantasy of 400 million customers slowly started to become one of 800 million workers instead."
ZGBriefs | March 28, 2024
Book Review - The History of Christian Missions in Guangxi, China (March 23, 2024, Global China Center) Written in a lively but concise style, this book contains hundreds of quotations from eyewitness observers, both Chinese and foreign, that add immense descriptive value to the narrative. The author deploys these descriptions copiously and brilliantly both to illustrate his points and to provide academic depth to his study, making it extremely valuable as a resource for understanding foreign missions not only in this province but all over China.
ZGBriefs | March 21, 2024
Why Can’t China Attract Students From Developed Countries Anymore? (March 15, 2024, The Diplomat) At the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference held this month, two proposals made by Professor Jia Qingguo of Peking University attracted considerable attention. One focused on making China more appealing to foreign students, while the other sought to encourage the public to effectively convey the Chinese story to the rest of the world. Much of the attention focused on the first of these proposals.
ZGBriefs | March 14, 2024
Two Sessions: China says it's open for business - do we buy it? (March 11, 2024, BBC) As China's annual parliamentary sitting came to a close after a hectic week of meetings, a glaring void loomed on Monday's final agenda. The National People's Congress is usually capped off by the premier's press conference. But this year, and for the rest of the term, the tradition was mysteriously nixed.
ZGBriefs | March 7, 2024
Two sessions: Can a rubberstamp parliament help China's economy? (March 3, 2024, BBC) The Chinese government is under massive pressure to come up with solutions for its troubled economy. So people will be watching the National People's Congress to see what's on offer when it starts on Tuesday.
ZGBriefs | February 29, 2024
Video: Reporting from China: How this trip was different (February 25, 2024, CBS News) This week on 60 Minutes, correspondent Lesley Stahl reports from Beijing and Shanghai, cities few Western journalists have entered since 2020, when China began to expel some journalists and restrict access to others in the foreign media. Stahl went at the invitation of U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, who spoke about China's economy and its relationship with the U.S.
ZGBriefs | February 22, 2024
China’s VPN Usage Nearly Doubles Amid Internet Censorship (February 15, 2024, VOA) Last year, VPN usage in China nearly doubled, according to data from IT education news outlet Techopedia, this despite the country’s strict regime of internet controls of everything from overseas websites to online games. China’s “Great Firewall” is one of the world’s most comprehensive internet censorship regimes, preventing citizens from accessing websites like Instagram, Wikipedia and YouTube, as well most major news organizations including VOA.
ZGBriefs | February 15, 2024
The village basketball games that are a national obsession in China (February 13, 2024, NBC News) It’s game day in this remote village in southwestern China, and the atmosphere is electric. Before thousands of fans on an outdoor court tucked in the rugged hills of Guizhou province — and with millions more watching online — teams from across China are vying to become champions of the “CunBA,” a grassroots version of the National Basketball Association whose name is a play on the Chinese word “cun,” which means “village.”