Week 3: The Great Wall and Greater Wrongs

This week, I took a break from my own research to further explore another important public interest issue in China. I was invited to an academic bar review hosted by the China America Law Review to learn more about women’s land rights in rural areas of China. China’s rapid urbanization starting in the 1980s lead to land values quickly rising and widespread expropriation. Rural land is collectively owned and distributed among village members, usually based on household registration. Because of this, women often lose land rights upon marriage, especially when marrying outside of their village excluding them and their families from economic benefits such as land compensation dividends, and resettlement.

Although China has national laws that guarantee gender equality in land rights, villages exercise autonomy which permits them to determine membership. This effectively acts as a gatekeeping function as many women who marry outside of the village are perceived as outsiders, despite remaining as registered to their natal village. Furthermore, because of the laws guaranteeing village autonomy, courts often refuse to hear cases involving rural land disputes, deferring to this autonomy. Effective May 1, 2025, the 2025 Rural Collective Economic Organization Law was passed hoping to strengthen protections for women, explicitly stating that no exclusion should be based on marital status or gender. However, a key flaw remains. Final membership confirmation still requires a vote by the general membership assembly, where women are typically a minority and easily outvoted.

Additionally, Chinese women still face structural and cultural barriers such as long-term contracts based off the old patriarchal model, exclusion of women from land upon marriage, and traditional beliefs. These barriers combined with village autonomy create a system that excludes women from property rights and contributes to growing gender equality. This can exacerbate rural demographic issues such as aging, declining birth rates, and “hollowing out” (the loss of large numbers of middle-class). Like in the U.S., public education, policy clarity, and cultural change is necessary to truly integrate gender equality into governance.

I have attached the full writeup from the bar review and would encourage anyone interested to take a look. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/p6kPhNUuEXJPYbUyRygV2A

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Outside of work, Logan and I were finally able to visit the bar that Yihan works at part-time. Her dream is to open her own bar in Argentina eventually, but for now, she is learning the ropes here. This bar is sponsored by another public interest law firm, and Yihan also hopes that she can use it as a venue to hold informal academic discussions.

The cocktails were great and the head bartender, a fan of Rick & Morty, was super friendly. He was also nice enough to teach me some local Beijing dialect. Overall, a great experience.

We were also able to check a big landmark off our list this week–The Great Wall. We decided to see the Mutianyu section because it was fully restored like the more popular Badaling, but less crowded.

We first took the East route which was shorter. It was overcast and drizzling which was a nice change of pace from the extreme heat we experienced last week. However, unfortunately, also due to the rain, the toboggan ride, the main feature of this route, was closed.

We then took a short break before proceeding onto the West route. This route was longer featuring the hero’s platform, the highest point of the great wall in this section. According to a well-known quote from Chairman Mao, “he who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man.” Seeing the final climb to the Hero’s platform, I finally understood why. With an incline exceeding 60 degrees, the final section requires climbers to us both hands and feet. At this point, the wall was noticeably busier, but I did not mind as the crowds gave us an excuse to stop and catch our breath.

Unfortunately, by the time we had reached the top, it was already late, so we only had a moment to take in the view before hurrying down to catch our return bus.

That’s it for this week but hoping next week is just as action-packed! As usual, here are some additional pictures I took throughout the week.