chinaLast time I was in China in 2004, I found out that China had just implemented their first set of enforceable traffic laws. I was stunned. But now I understand that people really haven't had cars in China for that long. It's only been in the last decade that cars started to become available to a new middle class.
Here's another shocking new law: China just banned torture as a way to gain evidence. Definitely a step in the right direction! But… wow. I've made this observation before, but sometimes it is hard for me to remember that China is a developing nation. The guy who runs the food stand has a cell phone and the tailor is quitting his job and buying a luxury car. Still, the food stand worker makes less than 10 cents per item when it must cost him 9 cents to make each one. And the guy who is buying a luxury car? He isn't buying it just for fun. He's going to be a luxury driver for rich businessmen. But he'll have a car.
To borrow a phrase from my boss, Edward Lehman, the Chinese still have one foot in the rice paddy. But Beijing is bigger than (my hometown of) Seattle and China is now the fourth largest economy in the world. For me, it's exciting to be a part of a developing nation. I love China. But sometimes you still get a whiff of the sewer on the streets. Still, though it may be late by some standards, China is obviously progressing.
