It’s the topic that would not die: ‘Tiger Mother’ Amy Chua and daughters, (Image by Erin Patrice O’Brien for The Wall Street Journal)

Tune into the beijingkids blog each Thursday as we take you on a quick tour of items from around the web, all relating (however tangentially) to parenthood and family life in Beijing. Previous posts can be viewed here.

Is there any avoiding ‘Tiger Mother’ Amy Chua? Since her essay appeared in the Wall Street Journal under the provocative headline "Why Chinese Mothers are Superior", it’s been impossible to avoid this topic. In the interest of cutting through all the chatter and noise, we’d like to summarize 10 of the reactions to this piece that are worth your 15 seconds of attention.

1. Tiger Daughter speaks out: After all this press from mom, its interesting to hear from her eldest daughter, Sophia, in this essay she penned for the New York Post: Why I love my strict Chinese mom. It’s an enlightening piece but two things jump out: (1) am I reading into it too much that Tiger Mom’s nickname for Sophia is "Soso"? (2) What with all the press about strict parenting, one wonders if mom forced several re-writes and whether she’s sorely disappointed by the fact that the essay was published in the tabloid Post rather than in the more pedigreed New York Times or Wall Street Journal.

2. Is all this hubbub the result of a poorly chosen headline? In light of this WSJ book review of Chua’s Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, one wonders if the initial essay’s headline ("Why Chinese Mothers are Superior") was entirely misleading or borderline racist — in fact, if you look at the fine print of the book’s cover, you see right away the subhead: "This was supposed to be a story of how Chinese parents are better at raising kids than Western ones. But instead, it’s about a bitter clash of cultures, a fleeting taste of glory, and how I was humbled by a 13-year-old" which seems entirely counter to how people are reacting to the essay.

3. The grass is always greener: While the West obsesses over whether Chinese parenting techniques are superior, Chinese parents are looking to the West for parenting techniques, as CNN’s Melinda Liu points out in this report, where she profiles one of many Chinese moms that are choosing a more western style education for their kids.

4. The issue is not so black and white: In everyone’s rush to judgement on Chua’s essay in the WSJ, most people failed to notice this companion piece that ran the same day, which in essence states the same as the post above: Chinese moms see a lot of merit in the western educational approach as well. Note how this piece currently has 3 comments to Chua’s 7,049.

5. The lighter side of the parenting debate: Gawker blogger Maureen O’Connor, whose mother is Chinese, hilariously laments her less-than-strict upbringing in this post "I Wish My Chinese Mother Screamed at Me More Often, where she states "Consequently, I am not a math genius who performs open heart surgery and violin concertos simultaneously, but a blogger who spends her days contemplating Katy Perry’s breasts" and "My only solace: that Irish-American father’s inferior academic genes came packaged with superior genes for drinking."

6. Socializing is harder than math: The New York Times’ David Brooks makes a good point in his essay Amy Chua is a Wimp in which he postulates that learning to navigate social norms at sleepovers and playdates is far more difficult than math and piano practice, and that learning those skills is essential to tapping into the power and necessity of teamwork in life.

7. Is the stereotype even true? The article Do Asian-American Parents Push Their Kids? from Miller-McCune indicates that despite what some people have taken away from this affair (that strict parenting is cruel and unloving), actually it all boils down to caring, and there’s plenty of research showing that children of such parenting recognize this.

8. Strict parenting gone too far? A lot of people have been drawing parallels between strict parenting and suicide … this shocking article sites research from the US department of Heath and Human Services that indicates that the suicide rate among Asian-American girls 14 to 25 is higher than any other ethnic group in America.

9. The Asian-American Artist’s take Former Beijinger staffer Gerry Mak offers his thankfulness that his parents didn’t attempt to parent him in the way advocated by Amy Chua in this essay penned for New York-based blog Lost at E Minor: "I don’t understand the Asian American parent’s conviction that violin, cello, and piano are the only instruments worth playing. I don’t understand the Asian American parent’s disdain for the arts, with classical music being only a means to attain prestige, not a means of self-expression."

10. Amy in her own words Finally, as a last word on the subject (and we’ll finally hopefully put it to rest for a little while), have a quick look at this video where you can see Amy Chua in her own words and hopefully clarify your opinion on her one way or another. Or maybe not.

Tune into the beijingkids blog each Thursday as we take you on a quick tour of interesting and relevant items from around the web, all relating (however tangentially) to parenthood and family life in Beijing.

1. If you’ve never heard of author Yang Hongying, you probably should pay more attention. This Beijing-based author of children’s books is the country’s highest-earning writer and Harper Collins is making a new push for her recognition in English-language markets. The China Daily has this interesting profile of "China’s JK Rowling" as well as a brief synopsis of her works here. English versions of Yang’s "Mo’s Mischief" series can be purchased on Amazon.com and Amazon.cn

2. Speaking of writers in China, you might be interested to know that the top 3 richest authors in China write children’s books (and the top 2 foreign authors in China write children’s books as well — JK Rowling and Thomas Brezina).

3. Ever wonder if you are making the right decision raising your kids in Beijing? Well you might like to know that 40 million people around the globe are learning Chinese these days, according to the Confucian Institute. Meanwhile, in the US, Chinese is the 7th most popular foreign language studied, according to data released last month by the US Modern Language Association … here’s the top 10, plus change in enrollment since 2006:
1. Spanish (864,986) +5.1%
2. French (216,419) +4.8%
3. German (96,349) +2.2%
4. ASL (91,763) +16.4%
5. Italian (80,752) +3.0%
6. Japanese (73,434) +10.3%
7. Chinese (60,976) +18.2%
8. Arabic (35,083) +46.3%
9. Latin (32,606) +1.3%
10. Russian (26,883) +8.2%

4. Here’s a nice little love story that residents and visitors to the Lido area can watch unfold: The love story of two swans that call Lido’s Side Park their home.

5. More and more Chinese kids raised overseas are coming to the mother country for a look-see. Xinhua gives us this story of a few Chinese-American tweens that visited China for the first time over Christmas.

The couple behind Jenny Lou’s: Wang Jianping (aka Jenny, left) and her husband Lu Xudong. Picture by Guo Yingguang of Global Times

6. So just who is this person Jenny Lou that feeds all of us expats here in Beijing? Newer residents would be surprised to read the rags-to-riches story of Wang Jianping and Lu Xudong, who got their start with a vegetable stand in Sanlitun 20 years ago. The Global Times‘ Vera Peneda has this excellent profile of the couple here.

7. Another gem from Kickstarter, a website that enables aspiring artists to get funding for their projects. Here’s a documentary worth tossing a few dollars at: Xmas Without China. I’ll leave it to the filmmakers themselves to describe this project: "Tom Xia, a Chinese-American immigrant challenges his neighbors, the Jones Family, to spend the entire month leading up to Christmas with no Chinese products in their home and without purchasing any Chinese products for the holiday … As the Joneses struggle to figure out how to have a simpler Christmas in a time when "we don’t make anything anymore," they also begin to think about just how related they are to China. Fed up with the mudslinging between the two countries, Tom finds himself on an unlikely journey to break down stereotypes between China and America, and find his own place between these worlds."

8. Practical advice for teachers: Don’t take any bribes from parents this year. Oh yes, and refrain from punishing the students with hot irons to the face, please.

9. The Chinese Red Cross has published its first-ever Chinese-English bilingual Family First Aid Manual and allegedly distributed it to 30,000 foreigners in Beijing. Anyone seen a copy?

10. Finally, the minimum wage in Beijing was just raised to RMB 1,160 a month for 2011 … meanwhile, one hospital is offering RMB 3000 for a sperm donation. Is it any wonder college students aren’t studying hard these days?