Cultural Differences and Language Barriers

I have been realizing more than I ever thought I would in the past few weeks, about what it means to be a foreigner in another country.
The feelings, emotions, and thoughts I have been feeling are unlike anything I have ever felt in the privileged, secure bubble of the bay area where I live. I have been through a striking amount of self exploration, and other worldly exploration into the meaning of the Chinese culture.


I first would like to address Indirectness and Directness as an actual Cultural DIFFERENCE:
Can you believe it? I didn't want to assume that this was actually a cultural difference, even though I had read about it and KNEW that this could be based on a culture and not just a trait that some people do or don't have. Once again, it does not apply to every one in the culture, because that is not accurate or realistic, and mostly just generalized.


Passive aggressiveness is very similar to indirectness, I have found. And I as a person, would consider myself of this category, so therefore I don't even fit into the cultural generalization as Americans being direct and Chinese being indirect. 
But then when I really dig deep into it, I realize that I do. This indirectness and directness is different than their commonly perceived notions. 
It is more about indirectness and directness at its core. It's as simple as telling someone that you are mad with them because they were late, or telling your waiter in a cafe that they brought you the wrong food. 


It is about how it is actually perceived as rude to be direct here, it is better to hold some emotions or thoughts inside in order to not offend others, or not have others lose face.


And now I realize that I have probably been rude in many situations where I have been direct. 


I feel like I am walking along in a mist or a fog covering sometimes, not seeing the bigger picture, and not being aware of it. Only seeing what is in front of me. 


There are so many cultural practices and norms that I don't know, it must be really obvious that I am not a part of this culture. When I thought that I was really fitting in, I realize that I am not at all.


On Language Barriers:
I am thankful that I have studied Chinese for two years prior to coming to China. 
I now realize how considerate it is to another culture to learn their language, and to make an effort to speak it.
Many of my classmates abroad did not learn the language before coming here, and they are struggling. 
There are some people out there who do not appreciate it when foreigners don't at least try to speak or learn the language. 
I can just imagine how frustrating it is to have the language barrier.
I think that every college, should require its students to at least take a year of the language before going abroad to a country that speaks a different language, just for respectful purposes. 
When people see you making an effort to speak their language, then they are more likely to accept you into their culture, or to treat you better.


Language barriers also inhibit you from connecting to others. It can be really hard when one of my chinese friends wants to express something to me but does not know how to say it in english, and my chinese maybe isn't good enough to understand thoroughly.


Therefore, I don't feel that I am getting to know people to a level that I want to, a deeper level. Talk can be very superficial here because that is the level of chinese that I can speak, and the english that they can speak.


So if you are going to go to another country, at least be considerate and put in some time to learn the language, because it will pay off.

The Most Valuable Thing I've Learned in China

Consider it
Think about it


Can black exist without white?
Does evil exist without good?


See how the two separate pieces of the whole make up the whole?
See how the black and white complement each other?
For it wouldn't be yin and yang without both components
But see how the black shares the white, and the white shares the black


This is the meaning of life
In one image


Think about it
Because it means more than you could ever imagine


For black is yin
And white is yang
Black is woman
White is man
Woman shares part of man
Man shares part of woman
Women have males hormones
Men have female hormones
For we are all one
We all rely on each other
We all share things in common


There is so much in this one image


So I want you to think about it.

Sexism and Racism

Sexism in China...yes it is prevalent here, believe it or not.
Now I can't say that I have been a "victim" of sexism, victim probably isn't the correct usage of this word in this context, but I can't think of a better word at this moment.


I have felt different in China than in America, as a woman. I feel that woman are looked down upon, I feel inferior, and this is not something that I am used to feeling.


For instance:
I have gone to the gym at Beijing University on a regular basis. All of the trainers are men, and most of the people who teach the classes are men. 
When I go into the weight room, there are NO women. I go to grab some weights that are just thrown all over the floor, I have to search for the correct weights. When I go to grab the weights I feel like ALL eyes are on me, all the men are staring at me. As I proceed to lift weights, it's almost as if an alien is lifting weights in the gym.
Now I am also going to give credit to the fact that this could just be my perception, but I know that it is not only me, because my classmates have felt this way also in the gym. 


In my calligraphy class, my teacher knows that I am capable of speaking Chinese, but he never really speaks to me in Chinese. 
One day, one of the boys on our program decide to try out the calligraphy class, the teacher just went off speaking Chinese to him, and his Chinese is at the basic level, while I have been studying Chinese for more than 2 years and I am at the intermediate level.
This made me think that my teacher thought that a boy would be more capable of speaking Chinese than  a girl.


Who knows if these are accurate perceptions, of what was actually going through these people's minds. All I know is how it felt in my perspective.


I know that there is sexism here though, especially with the rates of female abortions because of the one child policy.


Racism:
I have not experienced direct racism.
But  I now know what it feels like to be the minority in a country.
America sometimes feels like a melting pot, with the majority of people being Caucasian. China however , consists mostly of Chinese people.
I now know what it feels like to question if something is happening to me because of my race or because it just happens to everyone. I now have greater sympathy for people as minorities, I have felt something that I have never felt being a majority in America. 
I am not saying that I have experienced someone being racist towards me, but I have experienced what a lot of minorities have:
Are they doing this to me because of my race, or because they just don't like me as a person?

Difference between Western medicine and Chinese medicine: Is there really a difference?

Here is a paper I wrote for my Traditional Chinese Medicine class:
In the end I began to question, what is the real difference between the two methods of medical care. There are slight differences, but in the general picture of it all, Chinese and Western medicine are very similar:

Cause of disease in America vs. China

There are several differences between Western and Chinese medicine in terms of what factors cause disease. In America doctors usually diagnose the symptoms of a disease, whereas in China a more holistic approach is taken to diagnose a patient. In the following two paragraphs the way a cold is diagnosed is compared and contrasted between American and China.

 In America, a person who comes down with a sickness such as a cold would wait until the cold got unbearable to see the doctor.  Upon seeing the doctor, the nurse would first take the patient’s blood pressure and temperature and then ask them how long they had been sick for. Then the doctor would examine the patient and make the final prognosis for the sickness. The doctor would then prescribe the patient with the correct medicine. The medicine usually prescribed for a person with a cold depends on the severity of the cold, and other symptoms that the patient has, such as a bad cough or sinus problems. The medication usually treats the symptoms of the sickness, such as antibiotics to destroy bad bacteria that collect in the lungs or sinus infections. The medication is usually only focused on the area of the disease. The main cause of the sickness is therefore from the area on the body that the symptoms appear: a cough is a problem with the lungs; a runny nose is a problem with the nasal passage.

 In China however, when someone has a cold they can go immediately to the traditional Chinese medicine clinic. People may go to the doctor even if their sickness is not severe, because the treatment is often very therapeutic and has very little side effects. If someone has a cold for example, the treatment is often moxibustion, a heat focused therapy, and massage. The doctor first examines the patient’s tongue and pulse. The coating and shape of the tongue along with the quality and rate of the pulse then determine what is the cause and severity of the disease. The cause of the disease in this case is not even classified as a “sickness” in Chinese medicine; it is just an imbalance of yin and yang in the organs. A cold is sometimes caused by excessive yin or deficient yang syndrome.  Often several zang organs are the cause of the unbalance of yin and yang, such as the liver, spleen, heart, etc. The imbalance of yin and yang in these organs is the cause of the disease.

More specifically, the cause for disease in Chinese medicine is based on the imbalance of yin and yang, qi, and essence. Whereas the main cause for disease in America is based on bad bacteria, viruses, and other scientific-based factors. 

 In Chinese medicine the causes for disease are called the pathogenic factors. Pathogenic factors of disease are organized into six categories: exogenous pathogenic factors, endogenous pathogenic factors, pathological products, and others based on the origin.

Exogenous pathogenic factors arise from nature and attack the body from the outside by entering the mouth and nose. The two exogenous pathogenic factors are the six excesses and pestilential qi. In very general terms, the six excesses result from the extreme change in the six qi: wind, cold, summer-heat, dampness, dryness, and heat. Pestilential qi is also called poisonous qi and causes diseases through air, food, bites by insects and animals, dermal contact, etc. Pestilential qi causes very serious diseases such as plague, cholera, smallpox, and AIDS. Factors that cause pestilential qi are abnormal climates, environmental and food pollution, lack of strict preventative measures, and social conditions such as poverty and war.

Endogenous pathogenic factors are focused on factors that cause internal injury caused by the seven emotions, improper diet, overstrain and overuse. The seven emotions are joy, anger, worry, anxiety, sadness, fear, and fright. These emotions cause disease only when they appear abruptly, are angry or excessive, and prolonged. The seven emotions affect the functioning of the five zang organs: heart, liver, spleen, kidneys, and the lungs. Improper diet – not eating healthy foods with the proper nutrients for survival will cause harm to the stomach and spleen. Under eating and overeating will also cause disease. Excessive intake of cold and hot food, bitter, sweet, salty, sour, etc. causes an imbalance of yin and yang and can also cause harm to one’s health. Overstrain and overuse are characterized by overexertion, mental overstrain, and sexual overstrain, all of which cause diseases and harm to the body.

            Pathological products are focused on metabolic disorders related to qi, blood, and body fluids. The three kinds are phlegm-fluid retention, stagnant blood, and calculus. Phlegm-fluid retention is when there is an excess of phlegm and fluids in the body that often have trouble exiting the body. It causes disease by blocking circulation of qi and blood, and affects the function of the five zang organs. Stagnant blood is caused by abnormal blood flow or blood. It can cause blood clots and thus cause other problems and disease in the body. It is caused by deficiency of qi, qi stagnation, fluid consumption, and phlegm-turbidity. Calculus is a mineral-like mass in the body. It is caused by dysfunction of the liver and kidney.

            Chinese medicine is very similar to Western medicine at the fundamental level. The root of disease is anything in excess or deficiency, such as lack of nutrients, or eating too much unhealthy food. The specific differences between Chinese and Western medicine is the vocabulary used to explain concepts and causes of disease, such as “yin and yang imbalance” vs. “too little or too much of something”. Qi in Chinese medicine is similar to Atoms in Western medicine, at its root, but of course they have many differences in details. In the specific perspective of medicine, Western medicine and Chinese medicine are very different. The cause of disease in Western medicine is much more scientific than Chinese medicine, and based less on spiritual beliefs. 

Collectivism

The longer I am in China, the more confused I am by the collectivist culture here. What is collectivism?


I think that China is in a transitional period, between collectivism and individualism. It's very interesting to be here at this time and phase for this country.


At times I really see the way this society reflects a collectivist culture, that is the family being the most important and the way that people identify with family.


When I used to think of collectivism, I thought of a culture that cared for everyone, that operated together as a group. After actually being in one, I realize that my perception was wrong. Collectivism might even be more individualist than individualism. If that makes any sense whatsoever, I will try to explain my reasoning for this statement.


In America, I experience individualism. People identify with themselves, meaning that when you ask them who they are, they usually start to explain their characteristics or hobbies. But in collectivism one would explain their family members and heritage. People in America usually operate as individuals, doing what pleases them, being independent of others. People in China, from my observations, like to go as groups, with friends or family members.


But I find that a stranger in America, can be extremely friendly. I talk to lots of strangers every day in America, and people are always ready to offer a helping hand.
But I don't experience that kind of friendliness here. I have a few times, but nothing like I do when I am in California.
Now this could be merely because I am a foreigner and people are afraid I won't understand Chinese, or don't know how to speak English and figure that I can't speak Chinese.
But I find that people are more likely to be very cliquey, more involved in their group of family than with the mass public.
Through my beliefs, I think that all human beings should be treated equally. I want to treat a stranger with just as much compassion as I treat someone who is a friend or family member. I don't think the same philosophy and mentality is valued here.


I have realized that China is not purely collectivist, as America is not purely individualist. Neither one can be purely one or the other. It is just like yin and yang, there is collectivism within individualism and vice versa.


Another factor of the culture here is that it is still hierarchical. People are not treated equally. A migrant worker or maid would not be invited over to have dinner with the persons house that they are tending. Usually they look down when I try to be friendly to them. It makes me sad.


The apathy towards the general public scares me here. I wrote a paper on one instance that happened in 2011, that I hadn't hear about until I came to China.
It is a very upsetting event. There are videos online if anyone is curious, but it is very disturbing to watch:

Apathy Caused by Modernization or Sheer Psychological Phenomenon

Does modernization overlook moral obligation or is it sheer psychological phenomenon? The question and debate of ethics, what is right and wrong, arises in every society. Current events that are shown through the media often reflect the society's debates and questions on the values and ethical obligations of a society.

In China, an event happened in 2011 that made many civilians question what the general population's ethics are. The event was that a girl toddler, two years of age, was hit by a car on a calm street in Guangzhou Province, Foshan City and run over. In the process of her injury she was left on the street for a long time before anyone came to her rescue. A nearby surveillance camera on the street captured the video of the horrible crime. The video shows many people passing by the young girl with out even a closer look. Some of the people would give a quick glance that showed no worry or care for the bloody body lying in the middle of the street. Finally a garbage collector helped her by pulling her off the street and quickly after the mother appeared to her rescue. The girl died a week after being hit by two cars. After the news of this incident in China, people were provoked to start a "Stop Apathy Campaign". It is peculiar that her mother let her daughter wander around without even worrying about where she was, and even more peculiar how quickly the mother showed up right after her daughter was finally pulled off the street. The father of the child exclaimed after talking to one of the victims who hit his child, “All he asked was my bank account and how much compensation I want.”[1]

The moral and ethical obligations of this incident were discussed around the whole world. A lot of hypotheses were made to explain the cause of such a tragedy, including the bystander effect, legal problems, the fact that the child was a girl, the effect of modernization, and just plain apathy.

The bystander effect is a very common circumstance known in psychology. It is when someone is the victim of a crime and is in need of help, such as what happened with the toddler, is ignored by the public. The reason that it is ignored is usually because there is a group of people at the scene of the "crime" and every one thinks that someone else will come to the rescue, but in the end no one ends up helping because every one thought that someone else would help. However, in this case, it was probably not the bystander effect because based on the footage, the toddler was hit in what looks like a side street and there was not a big group of people around, only one person at a time passed the girl.

In the aspect of legal problems, according to the websites that I have read a student at Beijing University, Zhang Xuehe, people don't have very good legal coverage in China, meaning that they don't have laws that protect people in legal situations where someone is held accountable for another persons life. According to Zhang Xuehe, there was another incident where an old man fell down in a public place, and was helped by a younger man who took him to the hospital. After the older man was better, he accused the younger man of pushing him down instead of helping him up. Therefore, people are afraid to help others because of the fear of being sewed instead of extolled for being a good civilian.

Another reason for this tragic incident could have been because the child was a young girl. Although China has gone through a lot of reform lately, and therefore women are treated better in today's society, sexism is still prevalent. In My Country and My People by Lin Yutang, Lin mentions that Confucianism secluded women by, "encourag[ing] the womanly woman, and naturally taught such feminine virtues as quietness, obedience, good manners, perosnal neatness, industry, ability in cooking and spinning, respect for the husband's parents, kindness to the husband's brothers, courtesy to the husband's friends, and all those virtues desirable from the male point of view" (Lin, 144). All of these aspects of what the woman "should" act like are sexist because they are ideal values based upon what man wanted for women. In China with the enforcement of the one child policy, people do not desire to have a daughter because of the discrimination that they will have to face in the world, and because they want a strong son who will get a better job and make a lot of money. Therefore, people may have ignored this girl based on the fact that she was a girl.

The effect of modernization[2] in China has resulted in industrialization[3] such as manufacturing and producing more technology like cars, computers, cell phones, etc. Modernization has therefore resulted in a faster pace of living because we have machines that can do things for us while we double task such as doing the laundry while cooking dinner. Before laundry machines, people had to wash their clothes by hand, and this resulted in a very laborious process that required full attention. Nowadays people are in a rush to get to work or an important meeting on time because time is money. The people who passed by the little girl were not just pedestrians but a lot of people on motor vehicles that seemed to be in such a rush that they couldn't even turn their head or give a helping hand. In some ways modernization has resulted in apathy for others lives, people are so involved in their own lives that they don't have the time to help others when in dire need.

My reaction to this fatal and quite disturbing incident was one of shock and disgust. I don't think that this is a result of just the Chinese people, but instead a result of all the factors mentioned including the bystander effect, apathy, the legislative system in China, and modernization. It is unclear as to whether or not the man who initially ran over the young girl had even seen the girl before hitting her or knew that he had run over a human being. Based on the video content it seemed as though he ran over a piece of trash and just continued on his way. The next car didn't even bother to look at what was on the road, or notice that it was a bleeding young toddler in the middle of the street, and continued to run over her. As people walked by they didn't give any sign of panic or distress to the sight of a suffering little girl. I want to think that all of the factors mentioned above together contributed to what happened, but I can't say for sure. I also want to think that if this happened somewhere around where I lived that someone would give a helping hand immediately upon the gruesome sight of the girl. It almost seemed as though the sight of the girl was too disturbing, and no one wanted to deal with a girl that was bleeding all over the place. However, just a call to the police probably would have been enough.

---

[1] Quote gathered from foxcrawl.com

[2] To modernize in this context means to adopt modern habits such as driving cars and using technology

[3] To create factories and technology as a main source of manufacturing goods in society

What I wrote above is about apathy towards the general public, something that I have experienced while being here in China, and it makes me wonder, what really is collectivism?

Culture Shock

Many people misinterpret culture shock. It is not that initial phase of traveling a completely foreign place when a person feels mystified by all the new and exciting differences. No, instead it is the week after that initial phase, called the honeymoon phase, when everything actually starts to feel like a hassle, and the negative aspects of some things really start to get under your skin. It is when you start missing food from America, and other aspects of American culture you never thought you would ever miss kicks in, that you know you have hit the culture shock stage. And it is when you are the most homesick and the most emotional. 
I have just gone through culture shock and am now finally driving out of that storm. One thing that I really miss is American breakfast, some eggs, potatoes, bacon, omelets, and fruit. The breakfast here are dumplings and porridge, or buns with red bean paste inside. This is not the ideal breakfast for me, so I have stopped eating a substantial breakfast, which is probably not the most positive thing.
I have gotten tired of the traffic here, one will literally get hit on the street if they step out in any close quarters of a car or motor bike or wagon, or anything with a motor for that matter. I want to be like the Sandra Bullock from Miss Congeniality and slam my hand down on a car and say, "Hey, I'm walking here." But I know that I would get hit, and that would not be a pretty sight, so that has not been attempted yet.
I realized some major things about collectivism. I thought that collectivism would be better than Individualism, but I realized that I like Individualism better. And maybe this thought will change once I get back to America but the thing about Collectivism is that it makes the in and the out-group existent. The in-group is the family and friends of a person, and the out-group is everyone else in the world. So therefore, people treat the general public pretty badly, and people are very unfriendly. But in America, the in and the out-group don't exist. People are pretty much treated equally, even if you are a stranger. Now this is not to say that EVERYONE in these two cultures act like this, this is just a generalization of the public, and not meant to be harmful, and an observation made by me with some literature from Lin Yutang's book My Country and My People to back me up, which by the way, you should read (even though he can be sexist and racist at times through out the book).
Another thing that is better in America than in China - our legislative system, our rights, and our laws. People are sometimes afraid to get involved with things that they see on the street because they don't want to be sued or blamed for the crime. It is a complicated issue here in China, but it has to do with the government, obviously, and I don't know enough about this topic to talk about it more, but it would be interesting to look up if anyone is curious.
Those are the few things that I have been missing. Every week however, I explore something new that I love in China, and now I am liking it just as much as before.


End of the story is - Culture shock is hard - but then you get over it and life gets better again. 

Longquan Si: Buddhist Temple

The Dharma Assembly:
I have become an active participant in a study group that studies Buddhism in english at a translation center that belongs to the Longquan Si Buddhist temple on Pheonix Mountain in Beijing. The temple is a very interesting buddhist temple because it has translated a lot of its texts into multiple languages around the world, and has an active website:
http://www.longquanzs.org/eng/index.php
By attending this study group I have met a lot of new friends and made some valuable new connections in Beijing. We right buddhist scriptures and mantras and discuss them. We also read Venerable Master Xuecheng's book, Understanding Life, which I will bring back to the states with me to share with others. It is a very well written book and has many valuable thoughts in it.
Today was the Dharma Assembly so there were a lot of events going on. It was my best day in Beijing so far. A chance to get out of the city and into the country side where there are mountains and clear skies is always a good day for me. The mountains are absolutely beautiful at the temple, and from the temple you can see the whole city.

The view

The first event of the day was called the releasing of the animals ritual. During this ritual we chanted several mantras and then the monks released a bunch of little birds. I actually don't know the whole meaning for this ritual but it was very beautiful, and I am guessing it has to do with liberty for all living beings. I found out the hard way that this temple separates men and women. I wanted to get closer to the ritual and to the monks so I started walking naturally, to get closer to the event. As I kept walking I noticed my friend calling my name and standing back, she told me that I couldn't go there because it was where the men were, but as I looked around me all I saw was a crowd of men smiling at me because I was that ignorant foreigner who didn't know any better.

I took a video of the releasing of the birds:

This is a video of the monks leaving the ritual

After this ritual we went a lit candles and said prayers for those in our lives who we wanted to protect. There is a candle lit out there today for my family and Andrea. 
After lighting candles we had lunch. The lunch is a free vegetarian meal that you have to finish completely so as to not waste food and to eat only enough food. This is a common buddhist belief that was developed when Siddartha first began his meditation and learned that balance is the answer for anything. When he began meditation he starved himself but then realized that it is not about starving, it is about eating just enough for oneself and not overeating or eating too little.
The food however that I requested had some strange items in it and I did not want to eat them, but I stuffed them down my throat because I didn't want to leave any food left over because of what happened last time when the girl got me a spoon so that I could finish what was left in my bowl.
I also crossed my legs when I first sat down and a woman to my left tapped me and told me to uncross my legs, I guess that this position is rude, and from there on out I had to force my legs not to cross over each other because I am so used to this position in the United States. It is my go to sitting position.


Most people at the temple were staring at me because they must not be used to seeing a foreigner in the temple. Many people also came up to me and started talking to me and inquiring about why I was there.
People were generally really friendly and really kind. I like the people at the temple way more than the people I have encountered in Beijing. Since Beijing is a busy city it reminds me a lot of New York where people don't have the time to smile at others when walking down the street. 


The next event we went to was a discussion on religion and the Buddhist religion compared to other religions. There was also a discussion on the book that one of the monks had written about Master Xuecheng. The discussion was extremely interesting. It was about five other religions: Judaism, Muslim, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism. They showed five clips and compared all of the religions. Basically what they said was that Religion all has the same root: They are focused on love for thyself and others, non-violence practices, are practiced during times of hardship, etc. Religions are different because of history and traditions but the root of them is all the same.
The focus of the comparison was to say that we should treat all religions not as different, but as the same and all having the same root, which makes us all connected, and therefore war based on religion should not happen. This is what I like about Buddhism, it is driven towards uniting the human race and equanimity for all human beings.


The last talk was on compassion. The moral of this talk was that happiness should be attained through helping others, but you have to find it in your own heart before you can give it to others. This is something I strongly believe in. My friend from my buddhist study group translated the whole thing for me as we were sitting there listening to it, it was the nicest thing I have experienced. All of the buddhist people I have met here so far have been exceptional human beings. I am so glad to be doing my independent study on Buddhism. 


Now that my journey as allowed me to explore and experience buddhism in China, I will be conducting surveys and interviews now on the ways that buddhism affects the mind and physical being. This is something I have been wanting to research about for a long time and now it is in my own hands!

Traditional Chinese Medicine: In the Field

After weeks spent on reading repetitious material for Traditional Chinese Medicine class, we finally went to the hospital to work in the field! We have been learning about qi, yin and yang, and the five elements. 
Most of the treatment for Chinese medicine are acupuncture, cupping, and mixtures of natural plants and other materials from the earth. 
Traditional Chinese medicine is a lot different from western medicine because it is a holistic practice, it treats the whole person and the root of the disease, whereas western medicine treats the symptoms. 
Our teacher took us to her hospital where we had to put on white lab coats and face masks. We looked really professional:

In fact, we looked so professional that people came up to us and tried to ask us questions, none of us understood however, and we were quickly found out as the foreign students who didn't really know anything.

In the clinic I found out what cupping is. Cupping is a method often used in Traditional Chinese medicine to treat kidney disorders, back pain, insomnia, and many other disorders. The patient lays face down with their back facing up towards the doctor, and the doctor has glass cups that she puts fire into and then puts onto the patients back, with the mouth of the cup facing the back and the cup attaches to the back and the heat pulls the skin up into a bubble. It's actually quite a wretched site, and some patients said that it hurt terribly, while others said that it didn't hurt too badly. I for one don't think that I could do it.
After the cups are attached to the patients back, they are left like that for 30 minutes and then pulled right off. The skin becomes purple and red.
Here is a picture of the pre-cupping patient's back, I'll spare you a picture of the actual cups on the back:

The doctor (our teacher) is holding the fire in one hand and a cup in the other, preparing to put the cup on the woman's back. Before hand she spread a cup with heat in it around the woman's back and that is why it is red and purple already.
It is fun to learn Traditional Chinese medicine in the actual field instead of in a class room learning from textbooks. 
Here is a video from a Traditional Chinese medicine shop:

Chinese hospitals are very different from American hospitals. I think that acupuncture and things like traditional chinese medicine are romanticized in the west, because people usually go to a place that specializes in acupuncture and it has private rooms for the patients with a nice ambiance. But in China the rooms are just beds placed right next to each other with curtains for walls. There isn't as much privacy, and everyone is in the same small room.