Xin-Hua In The Forbidden City

The name of Xin-hua translates to New China and it was her powerful belief for a new China that made her determination so strong. Throughout Forbidden City her determination seemed to grow. It required a lot of guts and determination for the powerless ordinary people to take on the all-powerful government. Determination, though not her only characteristic, was certainly the strongest one, but through her determination she showed Alex a different world. To die for your country is not as heart rending than to be executed by an army who used to die for their country instead of killing their people. Xin-hua, though fictional, was one among thousands of people who died for their beliefs and still had no effect on China's Communist Party.

Xin-hua fervently believed in a better China and fairness to its people. She was deeply involved in the student demonstrations, which required plenty of resolve. Because of the government's constant verbal attacks via The Peoples Daily, the government controlled newspaper; it took a lot not to loose faith in their cause. Xin-hua was introduced to Alex just before he was shot. You could feel her determination to live another day to fight the government, even when the country's favourite army is wreaking havoc in Tian An Men Square. She knew the importance of Alex when she first met him and she was willing to give Alex an interview, even though it was illegal. She also realised that Alex would have a great deal of troubles getting the tapes out of the country and right there and then seemed to decide that she would help him get the tapes out of the country. Xin-hua knew that the Chinese Government had jammed all the satellite frequencies leaving the China so that no media group could get their footage to the world and see what the Chinese Government was doing to the civilians. So it was logical that any tapes made in Tian An Men Square would have to be smuggled out illegally. Xin-hua's determination was fuelled by her compassion for China, Alex and the tapes.

Because of her determination to get the tapes out of the country she showed Alex the real Chinese life. She proved to Alex that even with the basics of life you could still lead a healthy, productive life. Alex realised how most of China's population actually live while the government favours their own families. After Alex told Xin-hua that he had lost his father in the commotion of the previous day she and her friends kept a lookout for any sign of him when even going outside was extremely dangerous for students. Xin-hua was just as determined to see Alex out of the country and safe, as she was to get the tapes out. She knew that the tapes weren't as important as Alex's life, and she gave him the choice to risk his life and smuggle the tapes out of China to Canada or leave the tapes behind. Either way was wrought with danger for Xin-hua being a student and the Peoples Liberation Army, the P.L.A., still on the rampage searching for students involved in the demonstrations and any 'counter-revolutionaries' that my have escaped the previous night's massacre. But, despite the threat, some of Xin-hua's seemingly endless determination rubbed off on Alex because he resolved to repay the kindness showed to him by Xin-hua, her Grandma and the other students who participated in figuring out a way to safely get Alex to the Canadian Embassy. Xin-hua was planning to risk her life for Alex and her country in what appeared to be a hopeless situation. Although she was single-minded about the freedom of her country she had many other facets to her personality.

She understood the consequences of capture, but she was determined to save Alex and was willing to give her own for China. Everyone in China was indoctrinated to look up to the P.L.A. from when they were very. The P.L.A. were seen as heroes and when they came to visit Xin-hua's school the children called them Shu-Shu, which meant