March 23 (Easter Sunday) - Our Welcome to China

The day started with an extensive buffet including a choice of over 30 options. The buffet included eggs, sausage and dry cereal as well as a variety of Chinese entrees. The main option for milk was usually soy milk, which took some getting used to. After venturing through the interesting combination of Chinese and American options for breakfast, we boarded the bus and headed for the Nanjing Road shopping district.

Once on the bus, each traveler was provided with a complimentary bottle of water to get a start on the day.

En route to Nanjing Road our guide shared a number of miscellaneous facts about Chinese life and culture:

• There are basically three classes in China -
• Blue collar is the equivalent of $4000/yr income and below
• White collar is $8000-12,000/yr and
• Gold collar is $13,000+/yr.
• In the major cities each family is allowed only one child, otherwise the parents are fined an amount equal to two or three years salary for exceeding the limit. Those who wish to circumvent the process will often immigrate someplace like Hong Kong and have an additional child and then move back to Beijing or Shanghai with the additional child. Our guide expressed a concern that many of the youth growing up in modern China do not have the social skills, ability or negotiate or compromise, or family-based support system that a child who grows up with brothers and sisters has. He indicated that he felt this may be a potential problem that could surface in unforeseen ways China's future.
• In Shanghai and some of the other big cities, the auto is a luxury. If you wish to purchase an auto, you must pay $5000 to buy a lifetime license plate in order to have the opportunity to enter a raffle to buy a car. The license numbers are drawn in random order and the numbers drawn may then purchase a car which costs the equivalent of about $30,000-which is three times the average salary per year.
• Because of the heavy traffic, elevated highways have been built in the cities to help expedite travel. Only cars with Shanghai license plates are allowed to travel the elevated highways in Shanghai. It takes a prohibitively long time to get around on the non-elevated roads.
• Most of the cars on the road are rather new as in the big cities the cars are kept for about five years and then crushed and recycled or shipped to the rural areas for re-sale and use.
• Before 1994, only 10% of HS grads were allowed to attend the university. During that time full tuition was paid. Now most can attend the university but they must pay tuition themselves.
• It is very hard to find a job. It was our observation that because of the large number of people and the competition for opportunities in China one of the unspoken rules is that in order to get ahead, one must conform. This is a pretty vivid contrast to the United States, where "thinking outside the box" is encouraged as a way of demonstrating initiative and ingenuity.

The traffic wasn't too bad as it was a Sunday, but I was surprised to see that traffic in China does not give right-of-way to ambulances. I really felt bad for the people I witnessed in the back of the emergency vehicles--the family members accompanying the patients often had a look of tired resignation.

As we traveled to Nanjing Road we noticed that many of the Chinese still live in old traditional homes that look virtually inhabitable. The poverty is pervasive, but the economy in China is booming. These old homes are being torn down and replaced with Hi-rise apartments at an unbelievable pace. However, our guide shared with us his concern that the workmanship in these hi-rise apartments is not solid and that they will begin to break down rather quickly. His great concern is that the replacement cost for these hi-rises will come due in a fairly short cycle.

Apartments in these hi-rises cost about $2200 per square meter and renters must also pay for part of the common areas of the apartments. So, an apartment of 1400 square meters in not a true dimension of 1400 square meters as you are also paying for a percentage of the lobby, etc. The cost of an apartment is equal to about 20 years of income and remains the property of the government. You simply purchase the right to use the apartment during your lifetime. The most expensive places to live in China outside of Hong Kong are: Shanghai, Beijing, Guang Jo and Tibet.

When we arrived at Nanjing Road, we discovered several blocks of upscale shops. Although, since it was Sunday, many of the shops were closed. American brands were very much in evidence and we saw Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonald's, Pizza Hut and Starbucks as well as massive signs for Coca-Cola, etc.. Our experience was that American brands tended to be more expensive, even if the items were manufactured in China.

We didn't do much shopping, just sight-seeing. As we walked down the street, numerous Chinese nationals wanted to have pictures taken with our African-American students. Apparently, African-Americans are not frequently seen in China and have a sort of "celebrity" status. As we walked our group was approached by numerous pan-handlers and shoe shiners. They would literally grab you and start to shine your shoes even without permission. Our students found it rather hard in the beginning to deny these aggressive merchants, but they soon learned their first Chinese word, "bu," which means "no."

We also visited a silk factory and many purchased beautiful clothing and cloth as well as robes, neck ties and comforters. We were very surprised to discover that the silk is unwound from the cocoons with the aid of water in one long continuous strand before it is woven into clothing. It is one of the main industries in China and is very popular in Shanghai because the climate is so warm and muggy for much of the year. Cotton bedding left in a closet for any length of time will mildew quickly and most of the hi-rise buildings could be seen to have clothes lines on each balcony to air out the bedding and clothing to keep it from mildewing.

The students rehearsed throughout the afternoon with the conductor, Rollo Dilworth while many of the adults went on a sight-seeing tour. One of the big surprises of the tour for adults was to discover that the small Chinese children frequently do not wear diapers. They have the seat cut out of their pants and when they must relieve themselves, they simply squat in the street or on the side walk.

The evening included a beautiful welcome dinner at the hotel where each choir sang for one another. The students gave an impressive first showing that evening with the Moses Hogan arrangement of "The Battle of Jericho." The dinner included roasted chicken, which was roasted whole and butchered. One of the students found an intact roasted chicken head which he soon befriended, shared with friends, and took back to his hotel room.


Videos:
Nanjing Road
Nanjing Road Ceremonial Dragon and Musicians
Nanjing Road Pizza Hut
Silk Factory Demonstration