WHY CHINA?
China has undergone immense economic and social development over
the last 25 years. During that time it has managed to lift
300 million people out of poverty; with adjustments for population
size, the equivalent process took over 200 years in Europe.
It is now the world’s largest and fastest-growing economy and is
undergoing what some have termed a second industrial revolution …
after all, building construction in Shanghai is so quick that new
maps of the city have to be printed every two weeks! Did you
know that since being awarded the Olympics, China has built enough
new roads to go round the world four times?
During the 1980s, China dismantled collective
farming and again allowed and even encouraged private
enterprise. It is now attracting record amounts of foreign
investment and is itself investing billions of dollars
overseas. As one of the world’s largest exporters, China
produces 50% of the world’s computers, 80% of the world’s
photocopiers, 60% of our mobile phones and 40% of the world’s
microwave ovens. In addition to that, 50% of the world’s
clothes and footwear are made in China.
Social development in China has been no less marked.
Economic development has encouraged mass migration to the cities,
whose skylines are dominated by skyscrapers and whose shops are
filled with Western brands. There are now an estimated 90
million Internet users in China, which makes Chinese speakers the
largest group of electronically active people on the
planet.
What do you think
of when you think of China?
Find out more about Fellows' own impressions
The 2009 China fellows arrived safe and sound in Beijing
on 23rd July, ready for the experience of a
lifetime.
"Some of us went for a wander and I found Beijing very
overwhelming. I've never been to such a different place
before..."
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"So, Tian’an Men Square. We were dropped off at the far end,
and walked by the seat of the Chinese legislature, the Monument to
the People’s Heroes and Mao’s mausoleum; however, the real focal
point was the Gate of Heavenly Peace..."
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"MARK ATE A SCORPION TODAY!!!"
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"Lunch was interesting but filling enough; we may have had
donkey but we weren’t told what each dish was..."
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"It really made us think about how closed China has been
from the rest of the world..." read
more