Reflections of China Tour

For 16 days a group of 49 “big nosed” Australians inspected life in China. I was surprised by their friendly and apparently open attitude. We arrived at the beginning of their big week-long holiday (1-7^th October) and we soaked up the festive atmosphere in Tiananmen Square, gardens, lakes and temples. 

Chinese history is rich, it goes back thousands of years. They are very progressive and have done some incredible feats.  You might think of the Wall of China - but there are many more like it. Twenty five years ago they say there were no freeways and few roads in China, now they are going up everywhere and so too are the skyscrapers that increasingly fill the sky. The smog also crowds in on the rapidly growing cities. With 1.3 billion people and a quarter of them being better off than we are - it is a land of contrasts. But there is much wealth there. 

They have poor peasant farmers who own an acre of land for their wheat and corn - in northern China. Southern Chinese farmers own less land and grow mostly rice. The good news for our wheat is that Chinese farmers do struggle to make enough money from growing wheat and vegetables can be more profitable. Also farm-land is being turned into land for houses.  So it is not likely that they will exceed their 95 million tonnes that they currently produce. Increased wealth means more noodles and beer. So we should not see the competitive production increases from China that we will soon see from eastern European. 

Almost all Chinese are becoming more wealthy every year.  With >9% growth per quarter for the last 9 quarters - you can see why they are optimistic. Unemployment at <3% and cities being built almost overnight. Cranes work through the night - every night! They have five massive projects on the go at the moment. The train line through to Europe in the highlands, a large gas pipeline project, three large irrigation and transport water channels and the three gorges dam - the worlds largest (can’t recall the 5^th project). 

China once was the superpower of the world. You get the feeling that with their recent embrace of modern technology that they will be it again - even in my lifetime. Their wealth will not come from silk or clay jars though - it will come from mass production of technical items.  Everything that is made in the west is being copied there and at a third the price and at an increasing levels of quality.

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