By James W. Hunt Jr.
Special to the Reporter

Say it loud and clear: China is here. Amid all the hype and justified concern for human rights, environmental and public health, product integrity, and China's widely touted global economic impact, the People's Republic's train is on the move.

When an invitation arrived in October 2007 to visit China with Boston's Leadership Exchange's "City to City" delegation, I saw an opportunity to further explore China and its emerging place in our global economy.

Upon arrival at Beijing Airport, the impact of the masses of people and construction was overwhelming. Signs in English prominently promoted software companies and high-end retail stores and hundreds of placard- bearing limo drivers awaited their fares, with name signs like O'Malley and Chin. As we wound our way along one of the Six Ring Roads around Beijing, now home to over 20 million people, I reflected on this burgeoning society that is barreling down two tracks of communism and capitalism while attempting to blend into one. You became acutely aware of its economy at work: the human street sweepers, merchants peddling their wares, and the hotel staff ready to assist or simply push the elevator button. Having a handmade suit or dress measured and designed overnight is not unusual.

Exploring Beijing included a trip to Tiananmen Square, Mao Zedong's tomb, and the Forbidden City. Other stops included climbing a steep portion of the Great Wall of China that afforded an incredible view (and a certificate of accomplishment for those who made it!), a visit to the future 2008 Olympic site that is magnificent, and its signature stadium called the "Birds Nest." A visit to Tsinghau University, the sister university of our own University of Massachusetts where Governor Patrick recently visited, gave us first-hand knowledge of how high-tech organizations integrate business with education by co-locating in organized science parks.

Highlights in Shanghai, my favorite city, included a shopping trip to the silk market and an orientation session on the planning process officials are using to shape the future of this river city with over 17 million people. The high-tech scale model of the Shanghai plan, the largest and most intricate model I have ever seen, is housed in the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall. The eastern bank of the Huangpu River, called the Po Dong, farmland just 20 years ago, now houses luxury office towers and apartments with spectacular views of the river including the 100-story Oriental Pearl Television Tower. Shanghai's core city is on the western river front called the Bund, an Indian word that means waterfront. Walking one early morning, my wife Jean and I encountered hundreds of men and women engaged in traditional dancing and practicing their routines in front of a film crew. Others were flying elaborate bird kites, shadow boxing with swords and ceremonial poles, or practicing different forms of "Tai Chi." Many were in uniform. It reminded me a lot of an early summer morning hike around Castle Island in South Boston!

Another highlight was a visit to the Primary School of Shanghai, No.1 Normal School - The Happy School. Minister Chen, Education Minister for the Jing 'An District, and his staff are working with Harvard University to implement an online teacher-training project. College is now free for those studying to become teachers. Chen has 45 schools, 40,000 students from kindergarten to high school and 4,100 teachers, or a 10-1 pupil-to- teacher ratio. Compulsory education is now set nationally at nine years. Questions to the minister and his staff revealed the need to be careful about interpreting the meaning of words in another culture. I asked about illegal workers' children and children who have no ID cards. Ming, an interpreter, answered the first part of the question by saying that special schools are set up for migrant worker children, but when I persisted in asking about "undocumented" children such as the "second hidden child," the answers were confusing. The one-child policy is still in effect in China, with penalties for failure to comply including increased taxation, or loss of job or ID card. We noted that a grandparent usually accompanied a child at play or in the marketplace, possibly because of both the one-child rule and the traditional family structure and culture. The trip to this school was a "trip" in itself: 1,600 children, 141 teachers, community tutors, and multi-media everywhere. English is studied beginning in the first grade, and all are expected to study and play a musical instrument. One guide indicated that although the school is free, parents are asked to make voluntary donations. The government only budgets so much to the school district, and then individual schools must raise the rest privately. All the kids have an English name in addition to their given Chinese name. Hot meals are served to the children daily on a campus that is immaculate and quiet and overall is most impressive.

I also visited the company offices of EMC that occupy three floors in a twenty-three-story tower. They have outgrown their space four times in the past two years and are planning to expand again. EMC recruits 50 percent of its new employees from Tsinghau University. In their last hiring phase, they received 13,000 inquiries for positions, invited 3,000 to take a formal exam, interviewed 300 and made 77 offers with an 85 percent acceptance rate. A tour around the offices found employees very relaxed and in a company effort to promote creativity, they are treated to complimentary soft drinks, billiards, and air hockey. They are primarily males, again with English names in addition to their traditional Chinese ones. Our hosts explained that workers need to speak English to converse with the West so the company sponsors "English Only" Fridays to encourage English skills on its staff. Our EMC host is a so-called "sea turtle," meaning a Chinese National who has been schooled in the United States and who has returned to China to practice the profession. Although Chinese schools are graduating a disproportionate number of engineers each year, they still revere American education. The host/guest experience is both cultural and respectful: meet, connect, greet, eye contact, and exchange business cards.

The use of drugs, Eastern therapies, and various other techniques are included in the definition of health care. Our guide Ming explained the obvious disparities in oral health. "The Chinese way is usually people wait to go to the dentist until they can't stand the pain anymore." Her teeth, by the way, are perfect. Ming and another official guide explained the policy of shared responsibility; you pay a little for both insurance and for services. The second guide told us he spent 37 days in the hospital recently for an equivalent cost of about $4,000. Many in our group noticed that the smog is constant; eyes became irritated and dry. Some local people wear masks to block the dust. An official informed us that gas-operated motorcycles are now banned; he owns an electric one.

After traveling by bus three hours south of Shanghai, our visit to the ancient city of Wuzhen reminded me of the ads for Plimoth Plantation, with one big exception: people actually live and work here. The stone bridges and lanes and winding canals gave us a flavor of how the big rivers, Yangtze and Yellow, feed the Grand Canal that connects to local canals that support villages like Wuzhen. The visit provided a notable contrast between the huge cities and the villages of the peasant Chinese. I captured a picture of a local woman heading down through her kitchen trap door to wash clothes in the canal and hang them out to dry. She returned to her flat and then proceeded to watch her 52-inch HD TV. Hanging the wash outside to dry is universal in the big cities and villages. New buildings have lots of laundry hung everywhere. The guides noted that "laundry is becoming China's national flag!"

The Zhejiang XiZi Hotel was our headquarters destination in Hangzhou. It sits on the shore of the man-made West Lake, and was Mao's summer retreat. It still has a military air about it with armed Chinese soldiers still stationed there. Magnolia trees adorn the shoreline and naturally provide nutrition for the silkworms that are collected for silk making.

Dinner with Hangzhou Mayor Cai Qi, who has a Ph.D. in Economics, and his Foreign Minister, Shigen Du, was fascinating. Hangzhou Health Minister Teng also attended, providing me with the opportunity for a one-on-one dialogue about the challenges of the health system. I chose a Kennedy print of the Boston Public Garden to present to the mayor, symbolic of the green commitment that both of our cities have made. Mayor Cai spent the entire evening with the group and spoke eloquently about his interest in encouraging the Sister-City relationship with Boston. The time in Hangzhou gave us a contrasting perspective, with a warmer climate and a more manageable size, only 3.5 million people.

China is a train that has left the station with great challenges and opportunities. In reflecting on this amazing trip, my questions are these: Where is the China train going? Do we hook our car to their train? Or do we treat China as a collaborative partner, putting a second engine on their track or hooking theirs to ours?