Eric's Beijing Diary

Who is this man? What are his hopes? His dreams? Laobaixing. The common man. Primary beast of burden for China's exploding economy. To be sure, it's much better than before. Deng Xiaoping's economic policies lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. Still, the bulk of the weight of labor rests on the shoulders of men like this. Their faces seem to be molded with a look of perpetual weariness.

China's roaring economy has given the world the impression that Chinese people are rich. But 800 million people in this country live on a dollar a day or less. The Chinese are hard working people. Don't get me wrong--there are beggars. I see them every day. And sometimes the beggars in the cities make more money than men like this guy. Farmers in the countryside have actually been known to give up their work to go to the city and beg. But most of the people I meet in China are working. They seem to be imbued with an extraordinary sense of duty.

They work day after seemingly endless day. But once a year, they are allowed to travel to their hometowns. I caught this guy in the train station in Zhenjiang. Who knows where he was going? Perhaps headed back to the big city. During the Spring Festival season, the sale of diapers goes up. I have written before on this blog about the conditions these weary travelers have to live with as a matter of course during their annual sojourn back to their home cities. During my 20 hour ride in the cattle car from Suzhou to Beijing last October, a trip to the bathroom was a major project. You really had to plan for it. I was sitting near the end of the car. Couldn't have been more than 15 to 20 feet from the bathroom. But getting there was not easy. It took time, and then getting in was an ordeal in itself. Sorta like waiting to get into "Star Tours" at Disneyland.

Yet, somehow, these guys don't seem to mind too much. They are tired, but also resigned. But we must watch carefully to see what impact the development of this country has on the ability of people like this to better their situation. What I call the "economic virtue" of a society is a measure of the extent to which a poor person who works hard is able to improve his own situation economically. In the old days in China, if you were born poor, you stayed poor. But gradually we are hearing more and more stories of very wealthy people who started with nothing and built a fortune. It's going to be awhile, though. Statistically, "The Chinese people are very poor." is a more accurate generalization than "The Chinese people are very wealthy."