As we waited to take off on our China Eastern Airline’s flight from Beijing to Xian, the flight attendant noticed our lack of reading material and very kindly supplied us with an English language edition of The Global Times, China’s version of the NYT’s International Herald. Just beneath the magazine title on the front page was the tag line “Discover China, Discover the World.” Another prominent text box next to the title announced, “Discuss China, Discuss the World.”

On this side of the globe, there is no question what country is the center of the universe, and it isn’t the United States. In the pages of the Global Times we learned that “Chinese investors are attracted by the large US markets, but China still has advantages in overall costs as well as innovation capability.” That “the present-day China is no longer a mere listener to the US” as “China and the US are now on an equal footing,” and that “future US development is inseparable from China.” We also discovered that due to the “irresponsible educational behavior” of the Chancellor of UCSD (John’s and my alma mater), who invited the “exiled” Dalai Lama to give a commencement address, that our degrees from UCSD might not be recognized in China. From the Chinese perspective, “the history education the American students receive remains outdated and full of imperial perspectives,” and that failure should have repercussions. Fortunately, we’re not looking for jobs in China.

This is a nation on the go and full of attitude.

China old and new.

Anyone who watched the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing knows that China has invested a tremendous amount in infrastructure. In real life, the magnitude of that investment takes your breath away. Not one, but multiple new skyscraper skylines, forests of 32 story apartment buildings, high speed rail lines, efficient subways, and concentric rings of multi-lane, limited access freeways. Gone are most of the rickety bikes and smelly motorcycles. In their place are cars; BMW’s, Porches, SUV’s, Lexus’s, Town Cars and big Toyotas. Every bit as big and gas-guzzling as in the US. What remains in the now well separated bike lanes are every conceivable form of electric bike and scooter and many, many point-to-point, RFID chip tagged, cell phone enabled rental bikes. I tried to do a sound recording of the bike lane traffic but couldn’t; it was a silent parade.

Forests of high rises.

Spanking new shopping streets with high end stores.

We did stop to wonder about the quality of the construction and what the high-rise apartments and towering buildings would look like 30 years from now. Would they degrade into what exists in most Soviet cities or in the Chicago or New York Projects, or would they be well maintained and gentrify nicely? It also wasn’t clear that all the buildings were occupied. We heard reports that the government was erecting new cities “in advance of demand” to keep people employed.

Unfinished buildings and (despite what it looks like) an electric delivery cart.

Cities and highways seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

China is a good place to go to have one’s global perspective adjusted. On the one hand, you realize that United States is only one of a growing number of vital, energetic, creative places to be. As American’s abroad we were about as interesting to the Chinese as a doormat. On the other hand, one only has to experience the intense, multi-level security at airports and public spaces, the strict passport control for people leaving the country, the security guards in every subway car and every bus and the level of internet censorship to appreciate that we still do enjoy our freedoms.

No westerners anywhere in sight.

Security to cross the street in Tiananmen Square.

The Chinese obviously can build things that last.

Signing off from the People’s Republic. Anne on Xian’s ancient wall.

We are off to the Gobi Desert and the horseback riding portion of our trip.