by Tzy C. Peng
A Summary of Personal Impressions over 5 trips to China (1979, 1986, 1991,1996 and 2001) by observing and talking to people.
After the Gang of Four era (1966-76), China has had a evolutionary change
in social and living conditions. Everytime I went to China expecting
changes, I almost always found a reality far greater than my expectation.
Although changes in China are mostly uneven, southern and coastal
provinces are probably most developed whereas northeastern, northern,
northwest and south- western regions are less developed. Major cities
such as Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Shenzhen next to HongKong are very
prosperous whereas smaller cities such as Benxi and Qufu
are less wealthy. You can even find poor and rich districts within the same
city, say Shanghai for example.
Nevertheless, recent changes in China is so far-reaching in altering
average Chinese social conditions that people of the world should know the
real China that is dynamic and evolving constantly. To illustrate my
personal impressions, I will describe following specific items. Let me
begin with one of the necessities in life, public toilets.
Public Toilets
In my first returning trip to China, I can hardly sit myself down at many
public toilets. It was difficult to squat over a hole in the ground and
get used to poor sanitary conditions in the public toilet. In subsequent
trips, I noticed continuous improvement of these sanitary conditions. In
the last trip (March- May, 2001), I used several public toilets comparable
to facilities in the U.S., a mechanically flushing toilet,
sometimes with automatic replacement of personal plastic bags, and you pay only 30 to 50
cents RMB per person. Thus, the free public toilet of socialism has given
way to the pay-as-you-go public toilet of capitalism. Is this a change
from freedom without responsibility to an enterprise designed to please
the customers?
Public Places
In early trips (1979, 1986, 1991), I noticed very few public parks or
institutions. The 1996 trip was a group-tour mostly for the Three Gorges
of the Yangze river. We were led to various tourist spots as expected.
The 2001 trip is a private one, I was led by my relatives and friends to
many prominent places in China: A Qing Palace in Shenyang (northeast
China); the National Library and Sino-Japanese War Museum in Beijing,
Henan Provincial Museum and a reservoir boat-ride on the Yellow River in
Zhengzhou and Confucius Home/Research Institute in Qufu (northern China);
Dr. Sun Yet-sen's Mausoleum and Ming Tombs in Nanjing and the
Century Park and the People's Square in Shanghai (Eastern China); and tourist
attractions like Splendid China and Minorities Museum in Shenzhen, and a
scenic park in Zhaoqing (Southern China). Quite few of these public
places were built in recent years, and are designed for recreations
of ordinary people. Some admission fees are rather high for low-income
people, but certainly is reasonable for the newly created middle-class in
China.
Walk-Only Streets
This is a new thing to me. In many cities that I have visited in the 2001
trip, there are sections of street that prohibits all cars and are for
pedestrians only. This can be the busiest 1-2 kilometers long sections in
downtown such as the Wanfujin Road in Beijing and Nanjing Road (formerly
known as the Bund) in Shanghai. These streets are usually broad and
clean boulevards with very wide sidewalks, decorated with small monuments,
sculptures, and flowers. All kinds of stores are lining up on both side
of street, including a variety of restaurants and food stands featuring
quinines from different provinces and ethnic groups in China. A thriving
business is going on at these streets day and night. The street is alive
with people content with convenience of strolling and shopping in all
kinds of stores without any fear of traffic. This is a society of content,
not misery, and people are taking every advantage of it.
Transformed Cities
From 1979 to 2001, and as long as peace and prosperity last, all cities in
China are expanding in size as well as transforming in composition. Common
to the eight cities that I have visited (large cities of Shanghai, Beijing
and Nanjing; medium cities of Zhengzhou, Shengyang and Shenzhen; small
cities of Qufu and Benxi), 1) more farmlands are being developed for new
industrial, commercial, residential and recreational uses, 2) bigger and
better highways, bridges, and tunnels are being built to link suburbs and
city centers, 3) more one story old houses in large blocks are being
demolished for high-rise shopping centers, hotels, office buildings, new
national and international airports, and expanding or new railways and bus
stations. Yet, because of the increasing yield per acre on the farm and/or
the development of more farmland in the rural area, the supply of basic
food crops and vegetables to consumers in the city is still adequate and
has not been affected significantly by the demising size of farmland
surrounding these cities.
Transportation
In the 1970s, commercial airlines and private cars were practically
non-existent. Taxicabs were very few. Trains, buses and bicycles were
primary vehicles of public transportation. Trains, pulled by coal-burning
locomotives, were slow and dirty, and were often filled with illegal
peddlers selling food, drinks and cigarettes. In 1986 and 1991, I saw
expanded railroad network, and more diesel locomotives in use. Few
airlines were flying regularly. Private car was still scarce, and majority
of vehicles on road were taxicabs. More highways were being widened and
paved with asphalt. More upgraded highways linking major cities were being
built. In 2001, airlines are the main transportation between different
regions of China, most of railways were electrified and trains run at top
speed of 60 or more miles per hour. Many railroads are laid in double
tracks, making possible for regular express trains. Taxicabs are
available at many street corners. Private cars are present in large
quantities. The only bad news is that bicycles and pedestrians are in
danger of car traffic, and in many instances, they are
forbidden in the
center lanes of city streets.
Subways
In 1979, China just started its first section of subway in
Beijing. I know because I was invited by my relatives to be first few passengers to ride
on it. Right now, big cities like Beijing and Shanghai are equipped with
low-cost, clean, safe and expanding Subway/Surface Railway Networks.
Subway or surface stations are relatively new, spacious, and quite
artistic. The cost of riding is very low compared to taxicabs, and
train-schedules are usually on time about one in every 5 minutes, and the
passengers are plentiful. Crossing town in large cities can be made in
about 30 minutes instead of an hour or more by taxicab and/or car weaving
through traffic. Looking at the huge crowd of people waiting at the
subway station, especially during the peak hours, makes me wonder how
people in these cities get around before the opening of subway.
Market Places
You heard about all those shopping malls in the U.S. Well, China has a
lot of them in many cities. Many of these malls are made up of buildings
of over 8-stories or more. This is necessary to meet the needs of 1.3
billion people in China, and over 10 million people in most of major
cities, including 16 million people in Shanghai. Large shopping centers
and/or malls, are usually found in downtown, and smaller ones are located
in suburbs and residential areas. Particularly interesting, many subway
stations are linked or turned into a market place. It is not uncommon
that multi-story shopping mall with a hundred stores, foreign and domestic.
In fact, you will see commercial stands even in the
tunnel-walkways and at the stairs of the subway station itself. You can always find McDonald's
hamburger or Kentucky Fried Chicken, much bigger than those in the U.S.,
and are crowded most of times.
Shopping
Although business is good with a lot of shoppers, yet customer service is
still inadequate and needs more improvement. Some of the don't-care
attitudes from store clerks are the left-over mentality from the era where
government guaranteed the salary without any regard to customers. Many
stores, although no longer guaranteed by the State, are still State-Owned
or -Managed-Enterprises. Hence, the management style, though improved
from previous years, still has the idea that stores are there to serve the
State, not Customers. Having said all that, I must add that businesses,
run by entrepreneurs, are doing their best to attract and cater to
customers, especially at numerous roadside stands, souvenir shops, small
eating places and electronic stores. In fact, buyers should be
beware so as not to be lured into purchasing wrong merchandises, or things you don't
really need or want, and you must know how to bargain especially on hotel
costs (30-70 % discounts are available). So, market economy of supply and
demand is alive and well in China. You just have to know where to find
them and how to deal with them.
Book Stores
In cities, you can always find many bookstores, sometimes concentrated in
certain areas of the city. There are small, medium and large bookstores.
Regardless of the size, from one-room to a multi-story building, there are
almost always crowded with potential buyers, especially young people, from
teens to the 20 and 30 something. The kind of books that sell and attract most attention are history, geography, foreign language, Chinese culture,
especially ancient ones, and philosophy of all kinds including, of course,
the Communist ideology. I have been in several of these bookstores in
several cities. People in these bookstores are literally told to leave
when it is the closing time. It suddenly occurred to me that how few
bookstores are in American shopping malls, how many American bookstores
are stocked with serious books other than novels and recreational/travel
types, and most importantly how many Americans are found on average in
American bookstores? I couldn't help but wonder that what kind of long
term effect the lack of general interest on kind of books and bookstores
in the U.S., may bring to the America's future? On the other hand, the
Widespread public and/or school libraries in the U.S., are major cities
that brings people to the books. In this sense, the future
generation of the U.S., are well provided. It is perhaps up to the parents, teachers,
and social elite to encourage, entice, and literally push young people of
America into these public and/or school libraries
Tours
In 1979, the word "Tour" has no meaning to ordinary people in China, and
is applicable only to foreigners on their vacations in China. With rising
family income comes the ever-increasing tours for domestic customers. In
2001, it is the government policy to encourage people to go on tour and to
spend their money so as to stimulate the growth of national economy
(sounds familiar?). In fact, the official policy declares 7-day holidays
to celebrate Chinese New Year, International Labor Day (May 1), and
National Day (October 1) to help people planning long-holiday vacations.
Numerous scenic and recreational parks, old and new, are being vigorously
developed all over China for touring purposes. I happened to be in China
for the International Labor Day holiday. Most of airlines, trains and
tour-buses are sold out 5-7 days in advance before May 1. Returning
tickets are also sold out either before May 1 or 3 in year 2001. Even if
you reach your destination, hotels of all sizes are likely to be fully
booked in advance. Restaurants, recreational parks and even museums are
crowed with people during the holidays.
Living Conditions
I have many relatives, all ordinary people, in China, including my four
aging sisters (75-89 years old). Sadly, my 89-years old sister passed
away on February 13, 2001 before my arrival in Shanghai on March 23,
2001. I have ten nephews and nieces in their 30s to 50s. Their children
are attending schools from elementary to college. I have had the
opportunity to stay in their houses on all trips except the
1996 tour-group, and have been able to observe their living conditions at first
hand. All my sisters had suffered greatly during the Great Cultural
Revolution (1966-76) in China. In my first trip to China in 1979, I
remember well about living conditions of my sisters and their family: one
small room, no private telephone, no in-door water supply, no indoor
cooking facilities, no indoor toilets (not even primitive ones),
and of course, no home entertainment of any kind. The only thing they had was an
old radio, a watch or clock, bicycles and some books. My nephews and
nieces suffered along with their parents while they were young.
In my 1986 and 1991 trips to China, I saw major changes in living conditions of my
relatives. They had two or three small rooms, indoor water supplies,
regular size black/white televisions, indoor gas stoves for cooking, and
most of all, indoor toilet facilities. In 1991, they also had wash
machines for clothing. small refrigerators and high fidelity sound
systems for playing recordings of all kinds. In my last trip in March-May 2001, my
nephews and nieces are now heads of household, and they have 3-6 medium
size rooms in a modern high-rise apartments (mostly 6 or 7 stories in
suburbs, modern gas ranges, wash machines, large refrigerators, several
color televisions (some of them have 29 in. viewing screens), full bath
rooms with flushing toilets, stereo musical systems, regular telephone
plus more than one mobile phones per family (mostly made by Motorola),
personal computers sometimes with email and website services and few of
them even have their own private cars. Oh yes, playing stock market is
very much part of their lives.
A Personal Observation
Many of my nephews and nieces are now part of the middle-class in China. A
class in no small measure is created by the economic reform policy of the
late Chinese President, Mr. Deng Xiaoping, beginning in the late 1970s.
This middle class is now the future of China. Their feelings nationally
and inter-nationally will have a lot to do with the coming world
events in the 21st century.
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Dr. Tzy C. Peng is a retired aerospace scientist since 1992. He has been contributing articles to Chinese American Forum (CAF) since 1985. He has been a voluntary CAF officers and primary donor since 1992. He is the current Chairman of the CAF Board and the managing editor since the CAF publishing operation has been relocated from Washington, D.C. to St. Louis, and later St. Charles County, MO since 1997.
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