The Poverty behind the Neon Lights

Recently China just surpassed Japan as the world's second largest economy, behind United States. There are more millionaires in China than the entire population of Canada. But behind all the neon lights of progress, 468 million people still lives on below the $2 per day poverty line (PPP). PPP refers to people whose income is less than the $2 per day set by the World Bank.

The persistent level of poverty is especially evident in remote rural areas of China. Urban incomes are now more than three times higher than rural incomes. The income gap is also very wide between eatern and western China. Recent disasters in the western regions are not helping with the matter. Sichuan earthquake, Yushu earthquake, Gansu landslide and Guizhou flood have left many homeless.

Another alarming poverty trend is children, especially girls, are more likely to be poor than the elderly. According to China Real Time report: Overall, poverty rates for male and female adults and the elderly population is very close – between 12% and 13%. But poverty rates are higher among children under 16 years old: 16% of boys and 17% of girls are poor. Girls are also more at risk than boys of becoming poor.

Sichuan Province (四川)

Sichuan (capital city - Chengdu), sometimes referred to as Szechuan, is located in the south central part of China. This province best known for its spicy food and panda bears, was struck by a 8M earthquake just two years ago. This devastating natural disaster killed at least 68,000 people including alarming number of children due to what was believed shoddy school constructions. The resilient Sichuan and its people have been trying to rebuild and it is still an amazing place to visit (and to eat, my favourite!!).

Sichuan is gifted with lush mountains and exquisite waters, and abounds in historical and cultural resources. Here are a few major scenic spots and historical sites:

1. Mount Emei, (峨眉山) - Situated in the southwest of the Sichuan Basin, and with a temperate climate, Emei is luxiously green all the year round full of rare and precious animals and plants. From the foot of the mountain to its summit, the Peak of Ten Thousand Buddhas, 3133 metres above sea level, the trail totals some 60 kilometres in length. It is endowed with unique changeable weather and marvelous natural beauty. Scenic spots and historic sites are found all over the places.
2. Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries (四川大熊猫栖息地) - the sanctuaries is the home to 30% of the world's highly endangered pandas. It is the largest remaining contiguous habitat of giant pandas in the world. It is also the most important site for captive breeding of the species. The sanctuaries are home to other globally endangered animals such as the red panda, snow leopard and clouded leopard. They are among the botanically richest sites of any region in the world, outside the tropical rain forests, with between 5,000 and 6,000 species of flora in over 1,000 genera. Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries was listed as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 2006. You can also hold a real living panda for approximately $100 USD.

3. Jiuzhaigou (九寨沟) - The national park is situated in Nanping county, Sichuan Province, and encompasses an area of 720 square kilometers. Dotted with lakes and pools of various sizes filled with crystal clear waters, the valley is a fairy land gifted by nature. The virgin forests, rare flowers and grasses is home to golden monkeys, white geese, pandas and other rare and precious animals. Parts of the hit movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was filmed here.

4. Leshan Gaint Buddha (乐山大佛) - is the largest stone Buddha statue in the world. The giant buddha is carved out of the cliff face located at the juncture of Minjiang river and Dadu river. Legend has it that a monk named Hai Tong from the Tang Dynasty often saw boats capsize in the turbulent rivers, and desiring to protect the passing boats, he vowed to build a Maitreya Buddha. The Buddha was carved during the period of 713 to 803, lasting 90 years.

The buddha is 71 meters in height. Its head is 14.7 meters high, 10 meters wide, and has 1,021 hair coils. The Buddha's eye is 3 meters wide, ears measuring 7 meters, nose 5.6 meters long, and the shoulders are 28 meters wide.

China in the Past Decade

Beginning of the millennium, the image of China to the western world was still farmland and rural people. Now it's the world's second largest economy. In 1999, the per capita income of Chinese urban dwellers was $700 USD - by 2009 that climbed to $2,774.88 USD. It is almost 2010. It seems appropriate to look back China in the past decade.

2001 - China became one of the last major trading nations to join that organization. This event fundamentally redefine China's relations with other countries, especially with the United States, its most significant export market, not to mention its neighbors in the Asian region.

2002 - Entrepreneurs allowed to join the Communist Party. According to old communist ideology, private state owners are considered capitalist pigs and not for the good of the common people. It was the first time in the 81 year history of the party that private entrepreneurs have been selected as provincial congress delegates.

2003 - China became the third nation to independently launch an astronaut into Earth orbit atop its own Long March 2F rocket. The astronaut Yang Liwei who is 5 feet, 6 inches tall came from a family of teachers was being held up to China's population of 1.3 billion as an instant hero.
China also went through a major political change, Hu Jintao replaces Jiang Zemin as president of China.

2004 - The total volume of China's imports and exports exceeded 1 trillion US dollars, making China the world's third largest trading nation after USA and Germany. At the same time, Shanghai overtook Rotterdam as the No 1 port in terms of cargo throughput, handling 382 million metric tons during this year.

2005 - China became the world's fourth-largest economy. It had squeaked by Britain by the tiniest of margins to become the world's fourth-largest economy, according to the World Bank. China produced $2.263825 trillion USD in output in 2005. That was just $94 million USD, or 0.004 percent, more than Britain. The Chinese government also stopped pegging the currency to the U.S. dollar.

2006 - To keep up with 1.3 billion people's energy demand and continue economical expansion within China, the Three Gorges Dam and railway to Tibet were completed. By the end of the year, China's foreign exchange reserves reach $1 trillion, becoming world's largest.

2007 - China surpassed Germany as world's third-largest economy. Its economy expanded by 13 percent to $3.38 trillion. That compared with Germany's 2007 GDP of $3.32 trillion. China was now behind only the United States and Japan. At the same time, the country topped the world with 210 million Internet users.

2008 - This is the year China offically came out to the world. It hosted the Olympics for the first time in a very spetacular matter. With Russia's help China stages its first-ever spacewalk later in the year. However, the year was also very bittersweet. Only 3 months before the Olympics, an 8M deadly earthquake in Sichuan left nearly 90,000 dead or missing. The country also became the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

2009 - China became the world’s second largest economy, passing Japan, which has held this distinction for decades. China’s 2008 GDP was $4.6 trillion and Japan’s was $4.9 trillion. The 2009 numbers are likely to be $4.75 trillion for China and $4.6 trillion for Japan. It will be several decades before China’s GDP can match that of the US. America’s gross domestic product will be over $14 trillion this year. China will gain on that number quickly if US economic output stays below 2% or 3% and China continues to expand at 10% or better.
China's communist party also turned 60 year old this year. 300,000 participants and 60 floats to highlight the country's achievements in various sectors of the society, economy and even military power.