Ni hao jiaren he pengyou!
(That means, “Hello family and friends”)

I hope this note finds you well.

Living in China has complicated my perspective on international development. It casts a different light on my experiences in Chile and my idealistic Berkeley education. I started thinking about this when I read that microfinance inventor Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize.

I heard Yunus speak at a conference in Chile, which I attended as part of my internship with Acción Emprendedora. Acción Emprendedora helps entrepreneurs from middle and lower-middle-class backgrounds build small businesses through classes, one-on-one tutoring with university students, and guidance on applying for bank loans. By facilitating the creation of handmade wooden toys, dried fruit shops, and costume workshops, Acción Emprendedora catalyzes capitalist development in Chile from the bottom up. Through my interviews and surveys, I came to believe that this is the best way to build a better world.

The other day, I came across a New York Times editorial which made me question this belief. John Tierney argues that Wal-Mart has been more important than microfinance in reducing global poverty. In Chile or Berkeley, I would have discounted it quickly, singing the praises of Acción Emprendedora.

But here, I think that Wal-Mart (and other companies that produce things in China for export) has made a huge difference in raising of living. Jiaxing is one of the richest cities in China’s richest province. Its name means “Esteemed Prosperity.”

Yesterday the sky was blue (a rare event in a place where 80% of the energy comes from coal) so I walked all around town taking pictures.

Most of my pictures were of ladies shocked at my minimal Chinese…

… and funny Chinglish signs.

But there is one shot I just can’t get out of my head.

An emaciated homeless man bathing in a city park fountain. His backside scraped and bloody. A police officer scolding him.

I’ve attached it, and I think it’s worth more than a thousand words. Before export-oriented production, there were probably so many more men like him, starving and filthy. Now, China has more cell phones than there are people in the United States. Jiaxing’s Wal-Mart (or val-a-ma as the locals pronounce it) opened a few months ago. The mall it anchors also has a Starbucks, a Dairy Queen, a KFC, and a McDonalds. I went there once. It sure looks like any mall in the Bible Belt. My boss was so proud when it opened that she rushed there the first day, only to find it too crowded to go inside.

People are obsessed with money. Everyone asks me how much money I make, from taxi drivers to hole-in-the-wall waitresses. When I plug in my iPod and speakers to play music for my class, I hear echoing whispers of “Duo shao qian?” (How much money?) Migrant workers from the countryside work ridiculous hours (10pm Saturday, 7am Sunday, etc) on construction.

Though my Berkeley side hates Wal-Mart, I do believe that it has brought many Chinese out of extreme poverty. I still idolize Mohammad Yunus. But now I see that there is no one-size-fits-all way to make this world a better place.

I want to know what you think about this. Please write back.

Love,
Leslie