User talk:Exist 709

November 2007
Welcome to Wikipedia. It might not have been your intention, but your recent edit removed content from. When removing text, please specify a reason in the edit summary and discuss edits that are likely to be controversial on the article's talk page. If this was a mistake, don't worry, as the text has been restored from the page history. Take a look at the welcome page to learn more about contributing to this encyclopedia, and if you would like to experiment, please use the sandbox. Auroranorth (sign) 10:21, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

Please stop. If you continue to vandalize Wikipedia, you will be blocked from editing. Auroranorth (sign) 10:25, 3 November 2007 (UTC)


 * how am i vandalizing? Exist 709 10:27, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * By removing content from Chinese French. Please cease this behaviour. Auroranorth (sign) 10:28, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * which content? Exist 709 10:29, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Content that was already on the page. Auroranorth (sign) 10:30, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * what exactly so i can remedy it? Exist 709 10:30, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Simply don't remove it. Auroranorth (sign) 10:33, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * remove what exactly? why do you keep on saying "it" all the time? Exist 709 10:34, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Please remain civil during conversations, I am here to help. When I say 'it' I mean the content you removed from Chinese French. Auroranorth (sign) 10:40, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * why don't you write down the content i removed so i can fix it? Exist 709 10:42, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * OK. What I need you to do is this:


 * 1) Click here.
 * 2) Scroll down to the bottom
 * 3) Click 'Save page' (like you do when you edit a page.

Thanks, Auroranorth (sign) 10:56, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Thank you. That's what I needed you to do. Auroranorth (sign) 11:00, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * I just deleted my own previous edits. Exist 709 11:02, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

Please stop. If you continue to blank out or delete portions of page content, templates or other materials from Wikipedia, you will be blocked from editing. ''Please do not continue to remove the material on Chinese French and adding yours. It constitutes vandalism and may cause a block.'' Auroranorth (sign) 11:02, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * I thought you were going to tell me what I removed that was considered as vandalism? You still haven't done that. Exist 709 11:03, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * hello why don't you answer me? just simply write down what i removed that was vandalism. Exist 709 11:05, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * hello? i find it very rude that you won't tell me. Exist 709 11:05, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes. You replaced existing content with your content. Please click here and then scroll down and press 'save page' to fix the problem. Auroranorth (sign) 11:06, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * I am not super-fast at replying. When you were typing yours I was typing my reply. Auroranorth (sign) 11:06, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * I find it very rude that you expect an immediate reply to every comment you make. I am not that fast and I have other things to deal with, not just you. I am a real person, not a robot. If you keep asking me why I am not replying, I am probably typing out my reply. It makes things worse. Auroranorth (sign) 11:07, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * what you are telling me to do is replacing it with the old version. that's not telling me what i removed that was considered as vandalism. if you tell me what exactly i removed then i would fix it, instead of being extremely general by saying i am "removing content". Exist 709 11:09, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

Please write down exactly what i removed that was vandalism. Exist 709 11:11, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * You removed the following:

To aid the allied effort in World War I, 140,000 Chinese workers mostly from the province of Zhejiang were brought to France. Most who survived returned to China in 1918. However, some were trapped in France by the June 30, 1920 collapse of the Banque industrielle de Chine. The number of Chinese in France was slightly bolstered by an influx of students (including Zhou Enlai, who would later become the Premier of the People's Republic of China), who would play a crucial leadership role in organising community institutions for the Chinese there. The few thousand who remained formed the first rooted Chinese community in Paris, based first around the Gare de Lyon in the east of the capital, then near the Arts et métiers metro station in the 3rd arrondissement.
 * You must click here and press 'Save page' to correct this. Auroranorth (sign) 11:12, 3 November 2007 (UTC)


 * But i replaced it with this:

Between 1915 and 1916, with the World War I conflict at its height between the allies and the Central Powers Germany and Austro-Hungary, the British recruited more than 100,000 Chinese and their French allies some 40,000, and shipped them to the French western front as desperately needed labour to relieve an acute manpower shortage. They cleared mines, repaired roads, unloaded ships. Their contribution went unrecognized for decades. Mainly aged between 20 and 35 and hailing from the southeastern Chinese provinces of Hebei, Jiangsu and particularly Shandong, they served as labour in the rear echelons or helped build munitions depots, repair railways and roads, and unloaded ships at Allied ports. Some worked in armaments factories, others in naval shipyards, for a pittance of three to five francs a day. At the time they were seen just as cheap labour, not even allowed out of camp to fraternise locally, dismissed as mere coolies. When the war ended some were used for mine clearance, or to recover the bodies of soldiers and fill in miles of trenches.

After the Armistice, the Chinese, each identified only by an impersonal reference number, were shipped home. Only about 5,000 to 7,000 stayed on, forming the nucleus of the later Chinese community in Paris. Most who survived returned to China in 1918. However, some were trapped in France by the June 30, 1920 collapse of the Banque industrielle de Chine. An estimated ten thousand died in the war effort, victims of either shelling, landmines, poor treatment or the worldwide Spanish flu epidemic of 1918. Their remains still lie in 30 French graveyards, the largest at Noyelles-sur-Mer on the Somme, where some of the fiercest battles occurred. The cemetery contains 842 gravestones each engraved with Chinese characters, guarded by two stone lions, gifts from China.

After decades of neglect, the Chinese World War I labourers were ceremoniously recognized for their effort. An annual ceremony of tribute has taken place since 2002 at the cemetery at Noyelles-sur-Mer each April to coincide with the Chinese Festival of Qingming, attended by representatives of the French veterans' associations, the Chinese ambassador to France and members of Chinese associations in France. A 2004 documentary film, "Journey With no Return," (Voyage sans retour) was shown on French television.

Post World War I
In the 1920s, the number of Chinese in France was slightly bolstered by an influx of students in the (including Zhou Enlai, who would later become the Premier of the People's Republic of China), who would play a crucial leadership role in organising community institutions for the Chinese there. The few thousand who remained formed the first rooted Chinese community in Paris, based first around the Gare de Lyon in the east of the capital, then near the Arts et métiers metro station in the 3rd arrondissement.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Chinese from Wenzhou settled in Paris and worked as leatherworkers near the Jewish neighborhood in the 3rd arrondissement. Taking over the wholesale trade lost by the Jews during the German occupation of France during World War II, the Chinese community still exists today, but remains relatively discreet. how is that called vandalism? i call it expansion and rewording. Exist 709 11:15, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes, but as you can clearly see, you removed information and replaced it with a more drawn-out version. Auroranorth (sign) 11:17, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

Hello. Please don't forget to provide an edit summary. Auroranorth (sign) 11:17, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * what information did i remove exactly.

Drawing-out is in good faith is not considered vandalism. Exist 709 11:19, 3 November 2007 (UTC)


 * I too am at a loss to understand what Auroranorth's concerns are here. From what I can see, E709 is doing a great job expanding the article. &mdash;Moondyne 15:57, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * I'd agree with the above - I've just reviewed the article now and this is a well-referenced, interesting addition to the article which fits in well with the rest of its content. Per this editing guideline, and with all good faith to Aurora, Exist 709 would be within their rights to prune large parts of this talk page. Orderinchaos 23:57, 3 November 2007 (UTC)