From the beginning of my interest in economics, I have heard about how China as a country has made it into world economics with as unconventional menthods as is known to the world and stands to day with a population of 1.4 billion and a GDP of about 8 trillion.
The culture and heritage of this 2000 years (and more) old civilization has sure fascinated the world and brought lakhs of tourists to view the forbidden city and divulge the stories behind the great wall that they have only heard of in folklore!
My initial impressions of China were one of wonder and mystery - I was introduced to a deeper understanding of this country through the books - "a letter from Peking; Imperial woman and pavilion of women all written by Pearl S Buck - great books which reflected the rich culture of the country even as communism wrecked through the consciousness of every chinese citizen. The factor which keeps me still with awe is the patriotism of every chinese - their firm belief that country comes before everything - family, love or God! What is even more impressive is the fact that it comes very effortlessly to them - they do not have to be reminded of their freedom struggles, their great culture and heritage or their great achievements in world history, for their patriotism to surge - its as natural to them as their breath itself and reflects in every activity of theirs - with an increased quotient of environmental consciousness and social welfare.
The only glitch that every chinese indiviual regret to quite an extent is their illiteracy in English - and they do respect and stand in awe of those who can speak the language. Their respect and deference for those from the west is easily explained by this factor alone.
Another interesting fact is that the Chinese (However grudgingly) do feel the need for freedom at times and admire India for this very reason - the complete freedom enjoyed by every Indian is terms of expression and everyday living is alien to them who wouldnt even dream of doing an ctivity which might be outside the rule book.
Which is probably the reason why the Chinese may not be great at innovation and discovery but are indeed the benchmarks in producing a product already introduced to them in greater scale and lower cost - an expertise which has come on handy in their endeavour to rule the world markets!
When I landed in Beijing on 8th July, I was indeed expectingto be faced with a great culture and good food. What I was not expecting was to be hit my high rise buildings matched or surpassing those from the famed land of skyscrapers (NY) or any other place I have heard of - The matchless infratsructure in this country and its economic centres makes one breathless only to be furthered by the markets which can be best named as bargain centres.
The variety of goods which are named after the best known brands in the world sold at dirt cheap prices make China a shoppers haven - especially if you know the local language and can percolate your way through the shopkeeper's defences.
The trick is to learn the local language - Mandarin - as quickly as possible - it will indeed pave your way through the shops, restaraunts, malls, and into the hearts of the friendly Chinese common man who is only too shy to venture a sentence in English.
It is indeed hard to believe that a country ruled in communism can function with a smooth capitalist economy - Polls say that a larger number of Chinese citizens believe that their country is going in the right direction as compared to Americans or Indians which are the world's biggest democracies! It is probably because of the fact that the Chinese government can make complex decisions quickly and implement them effectively without having to bother about coalition governments, people strikes or losing elections. These are leaders who have come into power having risen from grassroots through peasant rebellions which have felt the injustice of their imperialist predecessors and therfore have a huge respect for the abilities of an average Chinese common man and direct their economic policies towards uplifting the affected ends of the society.
While many critical hostorians and economists continue to foresee China's economic downfall due to its lack of democracy - I personally see no reason why a system which has worked so well for so long and a system which is backed by the support of its people should fail in the short term or in the long term - Iam a self proclaimed admirer of the country and sure do look forward to its realizing its true potential - which happens to be the reason behind the existence of every individual or every country!
