Senior Sam Sherraden, an international affairs major and former Hatchet photo editor, spent the summer studying abroad in Beijing, China and will spend the fall semester further north in Harbin, China. Twice a month, he will share his experiences and observations from the Far East as one of GW's many expats.
Before China "opened" itself to international trade, foreigners could only shop in one place in Beijing: The Friendship Store. It was once a bustling marketplace of foreign passport-holders and the only place in the country to buy imported goods. But after two-and-a-half decades of economic reform, China's cities have changed. The Friendship Store, located on the infamous Chananjie Road - the site of the student protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989 - is now a hallway void of commerce and filled with jade souvenirs. The gaudy gold-plated lettering and the empty halls inside the store are a symbol of a pastage.
Now, Chinese and foreigners flood stores like Esprit and IKEA, go ice skating in malls and keep tabs on fashion trends and technologies that, in comparison, make D.C. look more like Mobile, Ala. than the capital of the free world.
Since China joined the global marketplace in the early 80s, the changes have certainly been astonishing. But this new face of China is only part of the story. For many Chinese, life hasn't changed so drastically since the mid-80s. The vast majority, especially those in rural areas, remain as poor today as they were 20 years ago. Urban development and focus on economic growth obscures the reality that many in China still remain very poor.
I remember driving into Beijing for the first time this summer, seeing construction site after construction site, wondering how in God's name so many buildings were being built. But when I started to volunteer at a school for the children of migrant workers, the answer became very apparent. With a population of around 1.3 billion people, there is a virtually inexhaustible workforce. There are some 150 million people who have migrated from western and central provinces to China's developing coastal regions seeking employment. From the ghettos outside the city where they live, parents and their kids take buses, ride bikes and walk to their construction sites and cleaning posts. In Beijing, there are more than a million of these migrant workers.
Before China "opened" itself to international trade, foreigners could only shop in one place in Beijing: The Friendship Store. It was once a bustling marketplace of foreign passport-holders and the only place in the country to buy imported goods. But after two-and-a-half decades of economic reform, China's cities have changed. The Friendship Store, located on the infamous Chananjie Road - the site of the student protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989 - is now a hallway void of commerce and filled with jade souvenirs. The gaudy gold-plated lettering and the empty halls inside the store are a symbol of a pastage.
Now, Chinese and foreigners flood stores like Esprit and IKEA, go ice skating in malls and keep tabs on fashion trends and technologies that, in comparison, make D.C. look more like Mobile, Ala. than the capital of the free world.
Since China joined the global marketplace in the early 80s, the changes have certainly been astonishing. But this new face of China is only part of the story. For many Chinese, life hasn't changed so drastically since the mid-80s. The vast majority, especially those in rural areas, remain as poor today as they were 20 years ago. Urban development and focus on economic growth obscures the reality that many in China still remain very poor.
I remember driving into Beijing for the first time this summer, seeing construction site after construction site, wondering how in God's name so many buildings were being built. But when I started to volunteer at a school for the children of migrant workers, the answer became very apparent. With a population of around 1.3 billion people, there is a virtually inexhaustible workforce. There are some 150 million people who have migrated from western and central provinces to China's developing coastal regions seeking employment. From the ghettos outside the city where they live, parents and their kids take buses, ride bikes and walk to their construction sites and cleaning posts. In Beijing, there are more than a million of these migrant workers.
