Thirty two years watching the evolution of China

Working in China introduced me to so much that could never have been gained simply as a tourist. After 1987, I really wanted to return and discover more of the country. Fortuitously an opportunity arose where my then provincial government had a relationship with Guangdong, allowing an exchange of teachers. Partly through my growing passion for China at that time, I was selected, heading towards Guangzhou for a year. Like the earlier train journey, this in even greater ways proved to be a life-changer. Teaching in China at that period was so different to anything experienced back in Scotland. I lived and worked on the campus alongside my colleagues and students. It became a fundamental year that gave me insights into the country that a short travel journey could never have provided.

The work intensity and dedication of the students I was privileged to teach also impressed me. I came to realise they were the first generation to start their studies just as the policies of ‘reform and opening up’ were taking shape. In conversations about their attitudes to study and life, there was a unanimous feeling of being a part of the country’s future. It was a passion I could feel and indeed influenced me in my approach and attitude to work during that year, and beyond.

Colleagues and students became my guides to China, to discovering a very human side to the country. Many had come from homes within small towns and countryside villages, where they had few or any of what I accepted were everyday needs back in Scotland. As I travelled more across China in the 1990s I became increasingly aware of rural hardship, and how although the countryside may look appealing and tranquil, life could nevertheless be hard compared to the more comfortable urban environments starting to develop. I recall at a southern Guangdong village near Taishan offering to lift water from a communal well and carry two buckets indoor by bamboo pole - so it was understandable that people were looking to migrate to larger cities such as Guangzhou.

Following such experiences, it has been a considerable interest to watch the efforts invested in alleviating rural poverty. Lifestyles I saw twenty years ago are increasingly disappearing. It was fascinating in 2017 to visit rural areas of Guizhou near Zunyi, where I witnessed considerable prosperity and improvement to village life. I have also encountered changes for people living in third or fourth tier cities today, as well as smaller towns.

It was partly the inspiration received from living and working in Guangzhou in the early ’90's that drove me to travel throughout China. What was seen then allows a comparison with how communities and indeed people I knew in my early days have steadily progressed.