Cat and Shanmao's blog

My first visit to China was in late October, early November of 2000 and marked a transition from living and working in Toronto, Canada to my current life in the SF Bay Area, USA . I loved the trip but had mixed feelings about my experience.

At that time of year, Beijing was chilly and fall was well under way. The changing of the seasons from fall to winter, combined with Beijing's legacy of old, but still modern, ugly buildings gave a tired feeling to the city and what I saw of the nearby countryside. At that time, a sidetrip to Xi'an was great but the haziness of the air left a somewhat oppressive feeling. Only Guilin seemed more cheerful.

This time I had fewer mixed feelings. We had an excellent trip to China. Gui planned our trip to China with time spent in Beijing visiting relatives and a tour of several cities in Yunnan. The only reminder of my previous trip was the stifling air pollution in Beijing. I hope they can clean up this mess before the 2008 Olympics, otherwise, the contrast of a supposed showcase of youth, health, and life with the horrendous smog will be extremely embarrassing. The elephant in the living room that perhaps the media will be discouraged from reporting?

In other respects, China seemed less tired and more alive. Perhaps, the difference of half a month gave more of a summery feel. Perhaps, the trip to Yunnan with its remarkably clean air and beautiful scenery (not obscured by haze) lifted my spirits. Or maybe, it was the marked improvement in retail - department stores that seem to be quite good, supermarkets to rival anything in North America, and the feeling that the situation is catching up to the 1st world.

After the trip I felt that China can really become as economically developed as the first world as long as it continues at this impressive rate. I felt a sense of excitement, that things were changing for the better, that China was happening.

Living in America for 4 years after the dot-com implosion, 9/11, the war in Iraq, a weak economic situation, and widespread concern about the restructuring of the economy, eg. software outsourcing, left me feeling that that the dynamism that is synonymous with 'America' has been absent. On the eve of the election, the country is apparently divided. The road ahead uncertain. Few see a bright future. Headlines estimate that the growth of the late 90s was a once-in-a-many-decades phenomenon that won't return.

I'm tempted to follow the promise of being in an exciting, growing place but uncertain about another relocation and concerned that I might be chasing an illusion.