SHANGHAI & CHINESE URBAN REALITIES

CHINA THEN & NOW

KITCHEN IN A SHANGHAI

WORKERS' COMPLEX, 1981

Reporting by James T. Areddy in the Wall Street Journal today: "Despite China's explosion of new housing over the past decade, an estimated one third of China's 225 million urban households are without kitchens and plumbing, says Rosealea Yao of GK Dragonomics Research." One third of China's URBAN households. The story is here; the accompanying slide show is here.

TIPTOEING TOWARDS... THE 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY

COMING SOON 

THE 90TH ANNIVERSARY 

OF THE 

CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY 

THE SHANGHAI 

CHILDREN'S PALACE 

PUTS ON A SHOW, JUNE 1981 

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was officially founded on July 1, 1921, and the People's Republic of China (PRC), of which the CCP is unapologetically the ruling party, is in the middle of a long celebration of the ninetieth anniversary. 

With the above photograph from my first trip to China, in 1981, for comparison, I was rather amused -- or bemused -- to find this photograph of the current celebrations in the New York Times. 

A photograph of the interior of the site of the First Congress of the CCP, the founding Congress, can be found here. 

A photograph of the most recent Congress, the Seventeenth, in action, can be found here. 

CHINA AS A SEA POWER: AND THIRTY YEARS AGO III

CHINA 

AS A 

SEA POWER 

III 

SHANGHAI, 1981 

1st in series, here 

2nd, with discussion, here 

"HERE BE GIANTS" 

CHINA AS A SEA POWER: AND THIRTY YEARS AGO

CHINA 

AS A 

SEA POWER 

SHANGHAI, 1981 

Thirty years later China appears to be bent on becoming a significant maritime power and not to be shy about letting its ambitions be known. The PLA (People's Liberation Army) Navy is rapidly modernizing and conducting exercises that certainly have gotten its neighbors' notice  (some have said that the South China Sea should be re-named lest China takes the name too seriously as several countries in the area compete for its suspected natural resources). 

A related Shanghai photograph from 1981 here 

Recent photographs of a Chinese navy destroyer and a submarine rescue ship, courtesy of the Japanese Defense Ministry, here 

More details, from the BBC, concerning China and the "maritime arms race," here 

"HERE BE GIANTS" 

SHANGHAI SHIPPING, THIRTY YEARS AGO: CHINA THEN & NOW

SHANGHAI 

SHIPPING 

1981 

For a discussion of China as a rising maritime power, see here  

JIANG ZEMIN BECOMES PRESIDENT OF CHINA, March 27, 1993

JIANG ZEMIN 

BECOMES 

PRESIDENT OF CHINA 

March 27, 1993 

JIANG ZEMIN 

CONDUCTS A PRESS CONFERENCE 

IN THE GREAT HALL OF THE PEOPLE, 

BEIJING, 

IN NOVEMBER 2002, 

NEAR THE END OF HIS PRESIDENCY 

Jiang Zemin was brought in from Shanghai in 1989 after the Tiananmen crackdown by Deng Xiaoping, China's "paramount leader." He was, according to Deng's plan, succeeded by Hu Jintao, first as Party General Secretary, and then as president. If the next succession goes as scheduled, Hu will be replaced as General Secretary in the fall of 2012, and then as president two years from now, in March 2013. The leader-in-waiting is Xi Jinping. 

Especially considering what happened under Mao Zedong, if this succession comes to pass, it will, for better or worse, be impressive. 

"HU JINTAO HELPS JIANG ZEMIN OFF THE STAGE," here 

"POWER HUG": JIANG ZEMIN & BORIS YELTSIN, here 

HOT DURABLES FUEL CHINESE WARMING TRENDS FEAR

HOT DURABLES FUEL CHINESE

WARMING TRENDS FEAR

EARLY DAYS

REFRIGERATORS AND WASHING MACHINES

ON DISPLAY AT THE #1 DEPARTMENT STORE

IN SHANGHAI, CHINA, IN 1981

Where once upon a time, the great Chinese public

aspired to Three Rounds and One Sound (a

bicycle, a sewing machine, a watch, and a radio),

with reforms three decades ago came the new four

desiderata: washing machine, refrigerator, TV, and

camera.

Now, in the interest of promoting "harmony," the

current regime in Beijing has been subsidizing rural

purchases of refrigerators, washing machines, and

other "modern amenities," and pumping construction

money into the economy generally. Critics have

urged China to focus more on domestic demand, and

less on imports.

But, shock! all of this means energy consumption goes up, and so does China's contribution to global warming.

HERE BE GIANTS

"A REVOLUTION IS NOT A DINNER PARTY," BUT A PARTY CONGRESS MAY BE A TEA PARTY

"A REVOLUTION 

IS NOT A DINNER PARTY" 

(said Chairman Mao) 

BUT A PARTY CONGRESS 

MAY BE A TEA PARTY 

July 1, 1921, is celebrated as the founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its First Congress was held in Shanghai, and the photograph above shows the presentation of the site in 1981. 

ACUPUNCTURE IN THE NEWS

ACUPUNCTURE 

IN THE NEWS 

ACUPUNCTURE IN ITS HOMELAND

CHINA (SHANGHAI) 1981

The headline in The Times of London 

captured the essence of the story: 

"Acupuncture stimulates release of 

natural painkillers, researchers say" 

In a study using mice (the results published in Nature Neuroscience), performing acupuncture was said to have "appeared to increase levels of a natural compound called adenosine, known to have anti-inflammatory properties and to help regulate sleep and ease pain." 

"...the team performed acupuncture treatments on mice that had discomfort in one paw." 

THE TWO-HUNDREDTH POST

POST # 200 

BALLET EXERCISES 

CHILDREN'S PALACE 

SHANGHAI, CHINA, 1981 

A GLIMPSE OF SHANGHAI'S PAST AS SHANGHAI WORLD EXPO 2010 OPENS

A GLIMPSE OF

SHANGHAI'S PAST AS

SHANGHAI WORLD EXPO 2010

OPENS

May 1, 2010

SHANGHAI RIVER SUNSET

June 1981

Some Shanghai Preservation Efforts here

THE U.S. & CHINA ON THE EVE OF HU JINTAO'S VISIT, AND CHINA IN THE EARLY DAYS OF "OPENING UP"

THE U.S. & CHINA

ON THE EVE OF

HU JINTAO'S VISIT

THE SHANGHAI BUND

IN THE EARLY DAYS OF

CHINA'S OPENING --

ALMOST THREE DECADES AGO

"Central bank governor Zhou Xiaoquan said Beijing

still followed three-decade-old policy guidance

'to keep a low profile' on foreign affairs."

"Setbacks lead China

to tone down anti-US rhetoric,"

says the AP headline.

CHINA THEN AND NOW: SHANGHAI CLINIC

CHINA THEN AND NOW

THEN:

A CLINIC IN A SHANGHAI WORKERS'

APARTMENT COMPLEX, 1981

One of a Series

To be published in

HERE BE GIANTS

NOW:

The Los Angeles TIMES reports that "In China, shift

to privatized healthcare brings long lines and frustration"

CHINA THEN AND NOW: COAL BRAZIER ON A SHANGHAI STREET

CHINA THEN AND NOW

WORKING ON A COAL BRAZIER

IN THE STREET

IN SHANGHAI (1981)

One of a Series

To be published in

HERE BE GIANTS

CHINA THEN & NOW: 2009 EXPORTER #1

CHINA NOW 

AS WORLD No. 1 EXPORTER 

(2009) 

CHINA THEN 

CHECKING OUT THE 

TV SETS IN THE SHANGHAI 

No. 1 DEPARTMENT STORE 

(1981)