Far from Home, and Yet...

In late May, I dipped a toe into the raging torrent of 21st century China by visiting Shenzhen near Hong Kong. The experience was electrifying in a literal sort of way. I came away dazed and amazed. Parts of the trip made absolutely no sense to my traditional Western mind, yet there remained a strong sense of familiarity. Of the many things I saw, of the many people I met, the theme I inferred was a burgeoning consumer society in hyperdrive. Most Americans, I would venture, don't have the slightest clue of the power behind Chinese economics and their society's dynamics.

The neon lights made my head swim. Giant towers of glass and steel dominate the sky. Raw skeletons of girders and cranes pepper the pave-scape both in the city and on the fringes. They portend a near-future of much the same. The Mix, one of several high-end shopping centers, featured a Cadillac dealer's wares. I saw a $450 pair of casual loafers there, a bargain compared to the shop's more formal shoes. The Calvin Klein franchise displayed headless mannequins in suggestive -- no, nearly explicit -- poses. They were well-dressed, though. Almost invariably, people I met, businessmen and young professionals, had arrived from somewhere else in the country. Shenzhen is where the money is, and each came for their piece of capitalist pie.

I shared my amazement with a youthful, American-educated, finance professional in Hong Kong. "Shenzhen?" he asked. "That place used to be a dump!" Indeed, it did. According to wikipedia.org, "Shenzhen's novel and modern cityscape is the result of the vibrant economy made possible by rapid foreign investment since the late 1970s, when it was but a small fishing village. Since then, foreign nationals have invested more than US$30 billion for building factories and forming joint ventures. It is now reputedly one of the fastest growing cities in the world." That much I can believe. Twelve million people is a number my local contacts dropped frequently, but how could they know? I think at any given time, 12 million cars jam the wide boulevards and highways.

Instead of riding in one of those cars, I was most comfortable wandering on foot, camera in hand, usually in the steamy afternoon or evening. On foot, I could scratch beneath the glitzy veneer and catch fleeting glimpses of the struggling classes. The crowded, battered ghettos are shielded from view along the avenues by thick foliage and flowers. Armies of broom-swinging elders clean the main sidewalks and tend the greenery. Blue-uniformed children dashing to and from school charmed me with smiles and waves. At night, young boys would approach on foot. "Hello!" they would say, and then hand over a card with a sexy woman's photo and a phone number. "You want good time with her?" In the next moment, a begging woman with a baby in tow would ask for a handout. They would pester me until I rounded the corner or crossed the street into someone else's turf.

In the end, I suppose Shenzhen and its residents are real success stories; that is, if you measure success by how similar they are to us.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Shenzhen