a still from our film, a Chinese student’s family photo in Dutch national costume

The West has been fascinated by China but what does China think of the West? Increased affluence and relaxed Chinese and international travel restrictions has opened up the West to millions of Chinese so how does this new exposure to occidental values affect the Chinese who study, holiday and work in the West? What impressions of the West do people return with and how does it reflect on life back at home? Is life that different? And if it is different, is better or worse? We talk to students in Delft about their experiences, watch the film here.

Just before Christmas a local school ran an environmental day for school children in my local park.
traditions As part of the activities children tied wishes onto a ‘wishing tree’, borrowing from Japanese tradition.

Below are some of the wishes and they offer an insight into being a child in the local area. It’s also cute, touching and a little sad.
Ethnographers call this the ‘data in the margins’ – unexpected revelations and emotional nuance that reframes information and offers new avenues. This is just the sort of richness our films offer to clients, helping them get beyond the trite and the obvious.