Reflections

It's the middle of the afternoon in China, so I am wide awake even though its the middle of the night here in Texas. I am still in China in my head, too.

What comes to mind:

Government –After listening to many lectures and having conversations with Dr. Who and Vivian, I have a better understanding of the government's need to be so "in control" - there are 1.3 billion people here, so it is necessary for safety and stability. Also, the people's standard of living has risen dramatically in recent times, so the government is doing a good job, as far as they are concerned.

Economy – It's growing very fast, evidenced by the building boom in cities. Everything like ditch-digging and street sweeping is still done by hand; cranes do heavy lifting for tall buildings and they are everywhere. There are also tourists everywhere, almost none foreigners, a sign of the growing middle class. They go in groups - do they not have cars? is it not allowed to travel by yourself? - so they are easy to spot.

Transportation – There are still many bicycles/tricycles, but lots of electric scooters, and growing numbers of cars – the Chinese dream. In Beijing there are no semis on the roads - the warehouses are all on the outskirts of town, and I guess everything is delivered to the small shops in vans.

Rural areas – Seem a step back in time, with all labor done by hand. We saw only one tractor in the rural areas we traveled through, and it was old and rusty. However, most of the people working in the fields were middle-age or older; all the young people seem to have gone to the city.

Philosophy- The primary thoughts expressed by all people over 30 were "for the good of the community" and "harmony between heaven and earth is the most important goal." This touches every aspect of life, from personal relationships to designing cities.

Pollution – A purple-brown haze covered all of eastern China, a result of rising energy use; China is opening 1 new coal-fired power plant per week. We asked Vivian if the sky was ever blue, and after thinking for a minute she said "during the Olympics," when China shut down all the plants. The pollution is so thick the sun is an orange ball that you can stare at without damaging your eyes.

I am too tired to try to draw any conclusions; I only have more questions:

What would happen if they had labor-saving machines – where would all the people work?

Will the younger generation continue to excel, since most of them are only children who are spoiled and used to getting their way (I saw lots of little kids having temper tantrums who were just catered to by their parents).

How will the culture keep alive the concept of community first when the current kids grow up?

As more Chinese have contact with foreigners, like our translator Vivian, will they begin to demand more western style democracy and freedoms? How will the government react?

It's 5:30 am here, I should try to get a little sleep.

take care, be safe

rem