I was recently browsing a collection of Adrian Fisk's portraits of ordinary Chinese people holding up placards expressing their thoughts. The photo of LUO ZhengChui caught my attention. She is a 30 year-old farmer in Yunnan Province. Her message (with couple of wrong Chinese characters) roughly translates to: After watching television, I have many ideas, but no way of … [Read more...] about No way to realize my ideas
Fan Gang
One Billion People on the Move
About a year ago, I wrote, "“Father’s Prairie, Mother’s River” – the feelings of one billion people on the move." I estimated China in few decades will have moved about one billion people from the country side into cities. Yes, that's one billion people! This is a stressful but necessary transformation as China continues to industrialize. Below is that same video I used in … [Read more...] about One Billion People on the Move
Beijing University Professor Fan Gang: Rising labor cost in China not a worry
It's Labor Day in the U.S.! There has been a lot of sensationalism in the West regarding rising labor costs in China (i.e. Foxconn, Honda, etc.). Just to keep things in perspective, we are talking about instances of factory workers making something like $100 a month to making $150 a month in the richer coastal cities. While it is a whopping 50% jump, that $50/month is easily … [Read more...] about Beijing University Professor Fan Gang: Rising labor cost in China not a worry