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Two tales of 1 city: Economic miracle and spiritual struggle
By Wang Yong |
July 13, 2010, Tuesday
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ON my day trip to Suzhou on Saturday, I saw a city of two tales that more or less mirrors the "economic miracle" and "spiritual struggle" in many other places.
A high-speed train whisked me from Shanghai to Suzhou in 25 minutes on Saturday morning. The new railway station in Suzhou was still under construction, but an endless stream of passengers, especially migrant workers who abandoned their farmland to grab a job in the city, already made the grand new station appear somewhat run down.
My wife and I elbowed our way out of the crowd and jogged all the way to the downtown area, only to be drowned in another sea of migrants - mostly factory workers - who spent their weekend roaming aimlessly among whatever shops promoted sales.
They laughed and shrieked at cheap jokes as they idled along Guan Qian Jie, an ancient street now dominated by similar shopping malls common in Western shopping centers. A charming, ancient Taoist temple on Guan Qian Jie, supposed to be a place of spiritual repose, was drowned in loudspeaker noises that are part of any roadside sales campaign with Chinese characteristics.
On Guan Qian Jie, you see how some of China's economic "miracles" work: move tens of millions of farmers to a city to take manufacturing jobs and then use their wages to buy, buy, buy. They swell the city, consume the city and "consummate" their life in materialism that destroys the very spirit of the city.
Just one street away from Guan Qian Jie lies one of the oldest streets of Suzhou - Pingjiang Road that runs along a quiet river.
No ugly structures like Wall-Mart on this silent street. No boys and girls who have lost their farmland souls in their newfound but misguided pleasures of urbanization.
They're not here not because they cannot afford it. Rather, they're not interested. They don't bother to come because they don't know what's great about Suzhou. It's not their fault. They're told to shop until they drop.
Consumption - conspicuous consumption in particular - is a hallmark of this generation of newly urbanized people. They might not know that the idea of rampant consumerism as salvation in our day can be traced back to the West. But they have embraced it as the most natural thing in the world. Consuming is like breathing.
My wife and I happened upon a guqin teahouse on Pingjiang Road. We did not order tea, but just sat there listening to the music of the guqin, an instrument in the zither family that is 3,000 years old. With the consent of the owner, we ourselves plucked some strings and made soothing music in the teahouse. No one charged us a penny for our pleasure in listening and playing.
Some might say that people acquire a taste for and appreciate music because they no longer must struggle - like young migrants - for basics, such as food and shelter.
Wrong. Just notice what those young migrants eat and wear - they are already overfed and overdressed and yet they struggle for more °?°?- another costly handbag or a fashionable skirt.
On Guan Qian Jie, you see a city marred by so many look-alike structures, loud and tacky, that match the taste of tasteless shoppers who are told they can consume their way out of any economic hardship.
Professor Raghuram Rajan couldn't be more correct in saying in today's opinion article that the benefits of growing consumption and loosening real estate credit in the US were "immediate," though misguided, and "paying the inevitable bill could be postponed into the future."
The "inevitable bill" also applies to China. A disquieting news report yesterday said that China's economic planners, who had vowed to freeze some real estate lending, have decided instead to loosen credit for those wishing to purchase a third residence.
These are not the big developers or speculators - but precisely those individuals who wish to flaunt their wealth. Yes, more people buying third homes could stimulate economic growth, but growth is a double-edged sword and can be corrosive.
A high-speed train whisked me from Shanghai to Suzhou in 25 minutes on Saturday morning. The new railway station in Suzhou was still under construction, but an endless stream of passengers, especially migrant workers who abandoned their farmland to grab a job in the city, already made the grand new station appear somewhat run down.
My wife and I elbowed our way out of the crowd and jogged all the way to the downtown area, only to be drowned in another sea of migrants - mostly factory workers - who spent their weekend roaming aimlessly among whatever shops promoted sales.
They laughed and shrieked at cheap jokes as they idled along Guan Qian Jie, an ancient street now dominated by similar shopping malls common in Western shopping centers. A charming, ancient Taoist temple on Guan Qian Jie, supposed to be a place of spiritual repose, was drowned in loudspeaker noises that are part of any roadside sales campaign with Chinese characteristics.
On Guan Qian Jie, you see how some of China's economic "miracles" work: move tens of millions of farmers to a city to take manufacturing jobs and then use their wages to buy, buy, buy. They swell the city, consume the city and "consummate" their life in materialism that destroys the very spirit of the city.
Just one street away from Guan Qian Jie lies one of the oldest streets of Suzhou - Pingjiang Road that runs along a quiet river.
No ugly structures like Wall-Mart on this silent street. No boys and girls who have lost their farmland souls in their newfound but misguided pleasures of urbanization.
They're not here not because they cannot afford it. Rather, they're not interested. They don't bother to come because they don't know what's great about Suzhou. It's not their fault. They're told to shop until they drop.
Consumption - conspicuous consumption in particular - is a hallmark of this generation of newly urbanized people. They might not know that the idea of rampant consumerism as salvation in our day can be traced back to the West. But they have embraced it as the most natural thing in the world. Consuming is like breathing.
My wife and I happened upon a guqin teahouse on Pingjiang Road. We did not order tea, but just sat there listening to the music of the guqin, an instrument in the zither family that is 3,000 years old. With the consent of the owner, we ourselves plucked some strings and made soothing music in the teahouse. No one charged us a penny for our pleasure in listening and playing.
Some might say that people acquire a taste for and appreciate music because they no longer must struggle - like young migrants - for basics, such as food and shelter.
Wrong. Just notice what those young migrants eat and wear - they are already overfed and overdressed and yet they struggle for more °?°?- another costly handbag or a fashionable skirt.
On Guan Qian Jie, you see a city marred by so many look-alike structures, loud and tacky, that match the taste of tasteless shoppers who are told they can consume their way out of any economic hardship.
Professor Raghuram Rajan couldn't be more correct in saying in today's opinion article that the benefits of growing consumption and loosening real estate credit in the US were "immediate," though misguided, and "paying the inevitable bill could be postponed into the future."
The "inevitable bill" also applies to China. A disquieting news report yesterday said that China's economic planners, who had vowed to freeze some real estate lending, have decided instead to loosen credit for those wishing to purchase a third residence.
These are not the big developers or speculators - but precisely those individuals who wish to flaunt their wealth. Yes, more people buying third homes could stimulate economic growth, but growth is a double-edged sword and can be corrosive.
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