My Three weeks in Beijing

By Jin Yan

 

15 December 2002

My three weeks in my hometown Beijing this past September 2002 was like fireworks in a dark sky: short but beautiful. Everything is changing so fast in the booming Chinese economy.

 

I always wanted to ask the people who criticized China so badly to go there and to talk to the Chinese people to figure out what they are really thinking. I say to those people: Do not always use the data a western country uses to measure China, and do not use words you get from the articles others write to support your argument.  Some people say China will become explosive in the near future because of the big disparity in wealth, because of corruption and pollution.

 

I did talk to different people and used my own eyes to feel whether there is any hint of disaster. I learned that people like their current lives in China. They do have complaints, but if you ask them to compare their lives now to ten years or even five years ago, you will see the satisfaction on their faces. The change from a planned economy to a market economy makes a lot of people nervous, but most of them already figured that they have to keep up the speed of change of society in order to earn money to support their families. People hate the ones who got rich by not paying their taxes, and hate the ones who used their relationships with the people in the Chinese government to accumulate wealth.

 

But Chinese people are much more tolerant than the outside world thinks. They have the feeling that if they work hard, they can still earn their part of the pie; rather than get nothing for their efforts, as was the case twenty years ago during the PRC’s so-called “average allocation” system. One funny thing about Chinese people is that they can indeed bear corruption if the guy who is corrupt is a talented person and can make things happen. Maybe because Chinese people have been so heavily influenced by Confucius and by the Cultural Revolution, nobody likes to use violence to solve problems.

 

When I talk to people in China from different classes I can really feel their excitement and the heat in their blood. People now have started to pay attention to their health. The top selling book in the year 2002 so far is the one titled, How to Have a Healthy Life; not How to Earn More Money, as most would think. Thousands of people choose to climb mountains in the countryside of Beijing rather than play MaJiang. Even Chinese people over fifty years old have started to learn English for the Olympic games to be held in Beijing in 2008.

 

Another change in China that made me feel very happy was the improved environment. I could even see wild ducks and Canadian geese in the countryside. It was not difficult ten years ago to imagine people shooting such birds to have some delicious food for dinner. Now people often go to restaurants to eat. Years ago, I would not have been able to imagine that I would have to wait 20 to 30 minutes in order to get a table in a restaurant.

 

I have to say my observations are prejudiced since I came from Beijing and I love the city with all my heart. But I had the chance to go to Shanghai and surrounding districts during this last China visit. I could feel the freshness and newness of everything everyday in Shanghai.

 

I don’t have the same feeling when I am in the States, try as I may. Perhaps you see I did not mention the people in the Chinese countryside. They are not the ones who have a happy life every day. But I believe China’s development is not a one-shot deal. China needs time: it is a work in progress. If you believe the government can build Shanghai in ten years, believe me when I tell you we will have more Shanghai’s in the western provinces of China in nearly the same amount of time in the future.

 

Jin Yan is Director of Market Research for Silk Road Advisors. He can be reached at jinyan@silkrc.com.