China, Part 1

As I write this, I am in transit on my way home from China. I went there on a work-related trip for a week, and have come back with so many visual images and bits of information to process. I thought my blog readers might appreciate a few entries on the topic.  So here's the first one.

The introduction is a no-brainer: China is a land of contrasts, a land that is quickly changing. On one hand you have thousands of years of history that has left its evidences. From my visit these are best depicted in the photo above from Zhaozhuong, an 900-year old village I visited, and in the next picture which shows one of the bridges Marco Polo may have crossed as he entered Suzhou, a city of many canals.

On the other hand, for being a communist country, China is fast becoming blatantly capitalist. The question is who is doing the capitalism. Some of the richest entities are the government, and government officials. And then there are the Taiwanese, Japanese and Korean investors...

Even in the "old Shanghai" section, amid all the souvenirs and walking streets among buildings that are hundreds of years old, you'll see the signs of capitalism and trade.

Right now the World Expo is underway in Shanghai.  The Chinese are succeeding in making their point that they are a significant, if not intimidating player in world trade. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese, as well as foreign tourists, are coming to walk through the various pavilions depicting the countries of the world and what they have to offer in trade. The pavilions also represent the culture and style of the countries they represent.  Here's Thailand's pavilion, which had a three-hour line of people waiting to go in. I didn't bother to join the wait.

Ten years ago, they told me, it was not like this. Even last year it was different.  Change is underway, even galloping along in China. Business is booming, the streets are lighting up with foreign storefronts, and the bullet train to Beijing goes into action next month, cutting the commute between the cities from 26 hours by road, to 8 hours by train. It was a privilege and an opportunity to see a little week-long window into the life and times in one little corner of that huge country.  Stay tuned for more.