One Day in Ping Wei

This video follows 10-year old Twin Twin as she goes about her day in rural Ping Wei China. Although I would recommend this video for anyone interested in learning more about life in China, I would be most apt to share this video with elementary aged children. Twin Twin’s own young age is very evident in the film, not only by through her daily activities, but also through the slow pace and simple language of the narration. For these reasons, I feel that elementary aged students would best relate to Twin Twin and be able to compare and contrast their daily lives and hers.
One of the charming details of this film is its partial narration in Mandarin. This allows children to hear the language as they are immersed in Twin Twin’s day. As these parts of the video contain subtitles, young students may need the teacher to read them aloud. It may be helpful for the teacher to view the video once or twice in advance or even compose a script in preparation for this.
This video has a run time of 30 minutes. Although the story progresses at a fairly moderate pace and uses Chinese music to connect gaps in the narration, I would recommend showing this video to early elementary or preschool aged children in segments or simply have them view small sections of the film.
In the beginning of the video, before moving to Twin Twin’s home in the country, the viewer is treated to a brief visual portrait of Chinese city life. The contrast between the city and Twin Twin’s rural home is stark. This could be used in a class discussion of the city versus the country. In addition, this video stresses the importance of school in China and spends time filming at Twin Twin’s school. The contrast between Twin Twin’s barren rural Chinese classroom and the brightly colored modern American classrooms will quickly become evident to viewers. This could fuel a particularly interesting discussion with upper elementary students. Time could be spent comparing and contrasting Twin Twin’s day with your students’ day.