Perspectives on China
29 Nov 2009 Leave a Comment
in Traveling Tags: blogs, capitalism, New China
November was nearly over here in the heartland of China. The days alternated between short manic bursts of sunny, blue skies and longer periods of sunless, chilly days full of drizzle and melancholy. It was weather most conducive to studying Mandarin, writing for my own site, and reading other people’s blogs. One of my favorite China blogs was Matt Schiavenza’s A China Journal. The Kunming-based blogger brought my attention to the Folger Shakespeare Library’s podcast on Perspectives on China in which two correspondants and an author discuss their “boots-on-ground” perspective on the rise of New China in an informal panel. The moderator asked them to describe their first impressions, especially ones that immediately overturned any preconceived notions.
As for my 2 fen: I had no clue what I was getting into when I first stepped into the blast furnace of a summer day in southern China. I knew little more than that I was going into a part of the country known only for its honorable mention on Chinese takeout menus across America. Only after doing some homework did I realize that it too was Mao’s home province. It was my second day incountry when my employer drove us from the coastal megacity of Gaungzhou to Chenzhou, a “small” city farther inland in Hunan province.
