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Google Analytics tells me that nearly 10% of the visitors to the site are from Shanghai. Forgive the spelling please — the only Chinese I know is phoenetic. I am so glad to meet you all even if it is only online. Tsieh tsieh for coming!

I had the pleasure of visiting Shanghai last spring — it was my last business trip before I started teaching. What a city! The commercial vibe I got on the street and in the merchants’ shops was the strongest of any place I have visited. I took a wonderful tour of a dumpling factory while I was there. The women making the dumplings were very fast with their hands. Also impressive was a silk factory where I got to see coccoons being unraveled into silk and then stretched into filling for coverlets and duvets. I even got to work on the line with them a little bit. The ladies there laughed at my technique but I got the job done.

Another thing that impressed me about Shanghai was the sheer size of the city — as far as I could see, there were buildings and more development. Yet at street level it was a pleasure getting around. And all of the people made me feel very welcome in Shanghai. The people from Shanghai I met on that trip, and the people I met through my former company have been wonderful people.

During this trip, I thought about the bargain offered to the Chinese people in the last 20 or so years — economic freedom is OK, political and intellectual freedom not yet. I think the central government has bought itself 30-50 years or so with this strategy. At some point, there will be a large enough middle class with strong opinions that the political monopoly of the Communist party will have to give way to a more open system of government. I suppose this could come from any constituent of the society that has both power and opinions outside the official party platform, but an emergent, opinionated middle class seems the most likely catalyst. That will come in time.
I hope by writing this that I haven’t ruined my chances of keeping in communication with Shanghai people. But I think it’s important to be honest about one’s point of view. I have deep respect for the efforts of the Chinese people to build a better life for themselves and their children. And the government is doing what governments do: trying to preserve their power and influence. I only wish political and intellectual freedoms were as recognized as the economic and commercial ones are now.

Category : Current Affairs, Stuff, Travel