Meng - Blog 11


1) What similarities and differences between Ecuador and the U.S. (and/or other countries) did you notice during El Cambio de la Guardia (the changing of the guard)?

We have some same ceremonies in China. Usually they are happen in Tiananmen Square. The difference is that every morning at five o 'clock in Tiananmen Square there is a flag-raising ceremony, and many people or tourists like to see it. But this little ceremony, our president won't show up. It is difficult to see the president in China; presidents usually appear at larger ceremonies, for example, at a military parade. I think the most important difference is that in Ecuador, the people can see the President very closely. But in China, it is often impossible. Even in the ceremony that similar to El Cambio de la Guardia, people are far away from the president and have extremely tight security measures.

2) Why do you think this weekly ceremony is important to Ecuadorians?

I think this kind of weekly ceremony gives people chance to see their president in daily life, which is a very important communication way between the government and citizens. Even people cannot talk with their president, but they still feel their president is close to them because of the eye contact or any other body language. At the same time, the government is getting closer to the people through the El Cambio de la Guardia.

 3) How do you think public transportation--specifically, the bus--compares to public transportation in the U.S. and/or other countries？

Quito's buses are more like Beijing. The bus system is more developed, and there are buses in almost every part of the city. The same thing is there are also many people in the buses which makes you a little bit uncomfortable. But I notice that in Quito, buses are crowded all the time. Even is at very late at night, you still can see a lot of  people in buses. But in Beijing, The bus is usually crowded at work hours, usually from seven to ten in the morning and five to eight in the afternoon. Other times are not very crowded. I went to some big cities in U.S., like Chicago or New York. They don't have a lot of buses, and usually they're not very crowded. Maybe it is because in the United States, almost everyone or every family has a car. It is good but not convenient for the foreign people who are not stay a long time in American, like me, overseas students. In China, even a small city has a very developed transportation, but in U.S., there's no transportation in the small city or town, which means If I don't have a car, I cannot go anywhere.
One thing I think is good about Quito's bus system is that they have separate bus lanes. This effectively increases the speed of the bus and does not delay people's travel, which avoid the traffic jam.

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