Weber State College Comment, January 1986, page 6 Prof takes goodwill to China story and photos by Dr. Dix W. Cloward edited by Pam Bassett didn’t know there’ were that many people in the whole world. I stood in one place on a small street and counted on- ly the bicycle riders that passed by. The count for 30 seconds was 49. That's an average of almost 6,000 bicyclists per hour — one billion- Editor's note: Dr. Dix director of WSC'’s logistics program, November, 1985 from tour of China. He was the U.S. People to bassador Program. Cloward, management returned in a three-week one of 16 in People Am- Cloward is a member of the International Society of Logistics Engineers and was chosen as one of three educators in- cluded on this trip. The group visited five cities in China. Following are exerpts from the journal kept by Dr. Cloward during his trip. peopled China. There were masses of each. I guess this is for appropriate crop rotation and to minimize the leaching of the soil. Conspicuous by its abscence was the complete lack of capital equipment. Manpower, mule power and oxen power is the way of these agrarian people. The Chinese have a very definite environmental problem. The air appears smoggy people most of the time, so I don't everywhere. How our driver kept from know how the pictures will turn out. killing a couple of dozen I'll never know. I found the safest place to walk was in the road. It’s the walking and bicycle paths that are dangerous. I was nearly hit three or four times by bicyclists as I tried to cross the path. Dirty crowded shacks and shops are prevalent everywhere one looks. Little old ladies washing clothes in a pan at the curb, people carrying live chickens, ducks, and pigeons and hucksters selling beans, bananas, cloth, sandals, napkins, paintings — yes, everything imagineable — were common sights on It wasn’t unusual to see old chairs, baskets, poles, rocks and other debris stacked on the roofs of their houses — probably having been there many years. Many structures had grain growing out of the tile and dirt roofs. It seemed strange to see cars and busses with extremely dirty windows and just enough area cleaned so the driver could see. The Chinese evidently play a lot of chess or some similar game and do so in a squat position rather than sitting down. They squat to rest, to visit and to smoke. They have no brand names on soaps, toothpastes, etc., probably because of the government controlled economy. I’m convinced that most Chinese men smoke and drink gallons of beer. I observed that some older women were crippled because of binding their feet when they were young. Chinese every street. This may be a socialist country, but the market system is thriving everywhere one looks. Through reading Chinese “propaganda” and my own observations, I’m beginning to get a real feel for the functions and policies of a Socialist na- tion. The control of the people seems to be: keep them ignorant and feed them only information that shows them that the economy is making great progress. I have to agree that it is, when one looks at percentage rate changes. For example, in 1978, — — children seldom cry, wear pants with | the back-end cut out for toilet conve- | nience and dress extremely well. Three million bikes criss-cross paths — and roads. High rise apartment houses | there were on- were being erected in all parts of the ci- — ly 8,600 television sets owned by the peasants who live and work in the rural agricultural areas. In 1982, there were 90,000 sets. It looks like great strides are being made. However, when you realize that 800 million peasants must share those 90,000 T.V. ty with bamboo scaffolding around everyone. The bus drivers are absolutely incredible. They drive very aggressively and yet drive defensively at all times. When they decide to make a U-turn, they just do so, at any place and at any © time. Autos and busses from both directions stop and people and bicycles scatter. The turn is made and all proceed again as if there had been no interruption. We travelled through miles and miles of farmland with rice and cotton appearing to be their major crops. Hundreds of workers with grub-like hoes were digging, cutting, stacking sets, one achieves a much clearer picture of the standard of living of these extremely poor people. The food in China is very regional; different in each province. We find that the farther south we go, the better the food is. In Fuzhou, the food tastes more like the Chinese food served back home. At a hotel in downtown Fuzhou, our Chinese hosts treated us to a 12-course meal. Some of the things I ate were: sea urchins, anemoni, black mushrooms, sinews from a cows ankle, fish — with lots of bones, squid, octopus, pork with green peppers, eel, shark lips, lotus blossom seeds, sea fungus and | | and moving different farm products. who knows what else. We had our first experience with the use of chopsticks. It took some doing, I'm convinced the whole country of China is built on steps. We went up and down steps everywhere we went. We began the day by going to a great” walled structure called the Zhonghua Gate. It was an old military fortress built during the Ming Dynasty in the 1400's. It was also a part of a great wall One of the first things I noticed was the many brick walls. Often the bricks were stacked and not connected with mortar. Many of the buildings were also of brick construction. I guess that is because there is little lumber left in this country that supports a quarter of Fish farms were everywhere and small lean-to shacks could be seen serving as living quarters for many. Geese were swimming in many of | the ponds and little old Chinese men, with long bamboo poles were trying their luck at catching a fish for a_ the population of the world. Chinese supper. but I finally got the hang of it. I learned that was built around the whole city of to eat a custard-like food with chopsticks and that’s some trick! Nanjing. I’m wondering if the people of I have concluded why the large number of somewhat artistic walls are in various stages of construction — they hide the poverty and squallor of a very underdeveloped and backward society and give the visitor an erroneous impression of the progress being made. I’m convinced that the bus route was planned specifically to provide a view of the massive construction projects taking place. We observed water buffalo with long horns pulling the closest thing to mechanization, a plow, in preparation for another planting season. Acres and acres of land were divided into tiny As we drove out into the rural area observed practically every ed exceptionally well on the state own- for the day were paranoid as they seemed to have built walls around everything. breakfast. Each of us really savor that meal for it’s the only food that Our next visit was over on the north side of the city where we climbed more We again had eggs and toast resembles our good western food. Entering one of the Institute’s [an educational institution visited by the group] cafeteria’s we observed maybe 50 or 60 students sitting at tables eating a bow] of rice with some kind of greens mixed in. In contrast, we were served an 18 course meal. It’s impossible to describe the kinds and mount of food, but they just kept bringing it. I did steps to view the beautiful Yangtze River Bridge. It’s a huge two-and-onehalf mile structure over a river that looks much like our own Mississippi River. The bridge was built completely by the Chinese people with no outside help. The U.S., Great Britain and other countires said it couldn't be done because of the extreme water currents. recognize the chicken because its head was still on. Every meal is virtually the But with 5,000 workers and a lot of fortitude they completed the task. They are very proud of this ac- same (and eaten with chopsticks). complishment. we available square foot of land being cultivated and prepared for the new planting season. Other than the rice fields, the land was divided into small parcels, maybe 30 to 40 foot squares, with a different vegetable planted in plots where many different kinds of vegetables were being grown. Many of these plots of land were merely 6-8 feet wide and fifteen to twenty feet long. I concluded that these were the “land rewards” given to those who performed and controlled property. The vegetables grown on these plots could be sold on the market to help support a meager living. I feel so sorry for these people and certainly appreciate our great way of | life and the standard of living we en- |