Off to the Middle Kingdom
Leaving today for China, seemingly the most talked about country of our age...apart from Iraq, Israel/Palestine, North Korea..how the list seems to grow daily!
Food for Thought: Is it just me or is China just booming these days? Lately, we're hearing all about the country's "Great Leap Forward" into the competitive global marketplace...aka, capitalism. As China begins to open up more and more to the West as it prepares for the 2008 Olympics, the controversial 3 Gorges Dam and a massive migration of rural farmers to the urban (imagine the implications of this!), there is an aspect of China that is still so elusive and mysterious to me. Amongst all the scaffolding, cranes and bustling urban development projects, I've noticed how China seems to always be in dialogue with something so much greater and deeper than its heavily discussed GNP...or latest economic trends. Unlike most cultures, what the Chinese have, is the oldest continuous civilization of all time!
That just amazes me. I mean, damn, China has wrestled (argue ably better than anyone) with the best and worst of dynasties, emperors, wars and more recently, communism...and the country still survives, possibly even stronger. The Republic of China is now amidst a sort of Industrial Revolution, fueling for another great social structure, another great era. I was not able to experience America's industrial revolution, so I'm pretty stoked to witness this incredible dynamism, first hand, in Beijing and Shanghai.
Let's see what kind of design comes out of it too...!
Peace
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