Hi Nort,

You note the strong wind blowing from the East and how that will affect our culture, a reverse cultural imperialism. I must say that I was indeed blown away when I returned to China after twenty years and saw the enormous changes that have occurred there since I was last there. Shanghai is almost unrecognizable, all built up with elevated highways crisscrossing the city and its signature skyscrapers. It was not only Shanghai, but every city I visited--Nanjing, Jinan and Chifeng--was the same. It has been an incredible building boom, fueled by export earnings and cheap migrant labor. The scale takes your breath away. There is a vibrant, innocent spirit is in the air which reminds me of our country in the fifties. I can't see any holding the Chinese back. They are the engines of history at this moment. They are the story of this century!

Tad