Adventures in China

Poverty is a relative term.

In America, my family is very well off. And, so, I have always been very well off. It wasn't that we could have anything we wanted, but that there wasn't ever a need for something. Even with, what I thought, was a relatively grounded idea of what was necessary to be comfortable, I was astounded at how little people in China needed to feel comfortable. It really just goes to prove that all things are relative.

There was a family that lived in a shack just outside my school. The vast majority of the space was a counter to sell candy and cokes to the kids. The actual family lived in a space behind the store that was probably 20 square meters. They seemed very happy with the set up.

Most of the people who lived around my school were peasants. Most of them did not own the land they worked and owed the government a certain amount of produce for the privilege of working the land. The plots a family would work (by hand) were incredibly small. Most grew corn and winter wheat with a few vegetables along the edges. If they had enough people in the family, they would raise an animal for slaughter, too, by walking it on unfarmed land to eat the weeds. This mostly involved leading the animals up and down slopes too steep to farm, since every inch of available flat land was used, even within the cities.

All Chinese farming was done by hand, though some machines would roam the countryside on a for-hire basis. The picture below is of some farmers drying their wheat on the road. After cutting the wheat by hand, they would purposefully pile the wheat in the middle of the road so that cars would drive over it and separate the wheat from the stalk. They would then sweep the wheat into baskets and toss it repeatedly in the air to separate the actual berries from their casings.

My closest associations were with the professional middle class. They tended to own small but comfortable and well kept apartment homes. The family was considered well off if the oldest members of the family had their own homes to live in. The picture below is a teach and her grandmother, who lived alone. While the grandmother was considered well off for having her own place, you can see how sparse it is. She lived incredibly cheaply and simply. Her family would have done most anything she asked of them, but she had enough (and a TV) and she didn't want anything more. The vast majority of the Chinese people I met felt they were doing well enough if they had enough to eat plus some meat, one or two outfits to wear per season, a good pair of shoes, and a TV.

Being in China really made me more aware of the little things that I have. I have more than two sets of cloths for every season. I can afford to heat my home in the winter. I have a very nice internet connection. I even have an entertainment budget. China doesn't have much of an entertainment industry, yet. There are a few bars and dance clubs. There are a few movie theaters . . . but not nearly to the density that we have them here. Many people own VCD players and will rent movies at home. There really isn't much of a concept of an entertainment budget either because people can't afford it, or they aren't used to it. Most people spend their time within their family or hanging out on the street, socializing. Of course, there is always gambling over a game of chess or mahjong . . .