Dear family and friends,
China will not fit into a letter. Even condensed, it is too large, too sprawling, too complex to be spread out and examined, then described in one piece of correspondence. I won't try.
The story of China's political future is probably best told in a New York Times style essay; all I will say here is that next week we visit the hometown of China's president Hu Jintao, and meet with kids at the school he attended as a child before being hosted by city officials at a formal dinner.
The story of China's explosive economic growth can be described by The Economist magazine; let me say simply that skyscrapers go up faster here than surely anyplace else in the world. Near to East China Normal University where we have our classes is an eight story shopping mall that was not here 5 years ago, and the skyline of downtown Shanghai has changed dramatically in that time as well.
The story of how old China's religious and social values and assumptions have and have not survived the turbulence of the Mao regime, and how modern China is forging for itself a high-tech, open, yet not quite western identity is a story well told by The Atlantic. At "English Corner" last Sunday afternoon in Peoples' Square, downtown Shanghai, a crowd was fascinated to hear from Carol and me that I taught religion; also I was told with a smile that I look like Karl Marx, and Marx is not welcome in China anymore!
But the story of Shanghai's bicycles -- ohh, the bicyles -- is, I think, best told in children's book style.
There are new bikes and old bikes,
tall bikes and short bikes,
rattley bikes and quiet bikes,
there are even bikes that fold in half.
There are motor bikes that roar and growl, delivery bikes that ring their bells,
and silent electric bikes
that sneak up on you from behind.
There are bikes on the streeets,
there are bikes on the sidewalks,
if you eat outside,
there are even bikes in your cafe!
Hundreds of bikes, thousands of bikes,
maybe a million bikes or more.
There are bikes everywhere.
There are bikes with baskets up in front,
bikes with baskets in the back,
bikes with home-made boxes built right in
to carry tools and food and toys.
There are bikes with three wheels, too,
so really they are trikes.
They carry lots and lots of stuff.
Sometimes the stuff is bigger than the bike.
There are garbage bikes, and lumber bikes,
Pizza delivery bikes and fried rice delivery bikes,
carboard recyling bikes and bikes that need to be recycled.
Some bikes hold just one person at a time
some hold two,
and if you stand and look enough
you'll see bikes with three and four!
Dangerous! Don't do that at home.
There are bikes streaming down the street in twos,
and threes, and fives, and sixty eights.
They ride in front of cars and buses,
right beside the grumbling trucks,
they zip and slip between the walkers
getting where the go
far quicker than the cars
still stuck in traffic at the lights.
If you like bikes,
Shanghai is cool!
China will not fit into a letter. Even condensed, it is too large, too sprawling, too complex to be spread out and examined, then described in one piece of correspondence. I won't try.
The story of China's political future is probably best told in a New York Times style essay; all I will say here is that next week we visit the hometown of China's president Hu Jintao, and meet with kids at the school he attended as a child before being hosted by city officials at a formal dinner.
The story of China's explosive economic growth can be described by The Economist magazine; let me say simply that skyscrapers go up faster here than surely anyplace else in the world. Near to East China Normal University where we have our classes is an eight story shopping mall that was not here 5 years ago, and the skyline of downtown Shanghai has changed dramatically in that time as well.
The story of how old China's religious and social values and assumptions have and have not survived the turbulence of the Mao regime, and how modern China is forging for itself a high-tech, open, yet not quite western identity is a story well told by The Atlantic. At "English Corner" last Sunday afternoon in Peoples' Square, downtown Shanghai, a crowd was fascinated to hear from Carol and me that I taught religion; also I was told with a smile that I look like Karl Marx, and Marx is not welcome in China anymore!
But the story of Shanghai's bicycles -- ohh, the bicyles -- is, I think, best told in children's book style.
There are new bikes and old bikes,
tall bikes and short bikes,
rattley bikes and quiet bikes,
there are even bikes that fold in half.
There are motor bikes that roar and growl, delivery bikes that ring their bells,
and silent electric bikes
that sneak up on you from behind.
There are bikes on the streeets,
there are bikes on the sidewalks,
if you eat outside,
there are even bikes in your cafe!
Hundreds of bikes, thousands of bikes,
maybe a million bikes or more.
There are bikes everywhere.
There are bikes with baskets up in front,
bikes with baskets in the back,
bikes with home-made boxes built right in
to carry tools and food and toys.
There are bikes with three wheels, too,
so really they are trikes.
They carry lots and lots of stuff.
Sometimes the stuff is bigger than the bike.
There are garbage bikes, and lumber bikes,
Pizza delivery bikes and fried rice delivery bikes,
carboard recyling bikes and bikes that need to be recycled.
Some bikes hold just one person at a time
some hold two,
and if you stand and look enough
you'll see bikes with three and four!
Dangerous! Don't do that at home.
There are bikes streaming down the street in twos,
and threes, and fives, and sixty eights.
They ride in front of cars and buses,
right beside the grumbling trucks,
they zip and slip between the walkers
getting where the go
far quicker than the cars
still stuck in traffic at the lights.
If you like bikes,
Shanghai is cool!