Editor's note:

Ray's observations of what's been recently going on in China reminded him of a trip that he and his wife took there in 1988—a time when the country was far behind the West as far as technology and material goods were concerned.

But he felt that its people's traditions of placing family, community and neighbors' welfare before those of individuals, and planning long term for the future would bode well for them.

"It is why they seem to have no problem with wearing masks, sheltering indoors, and public demonstrations (even ones like in Hong Kong) continue without much property destruction or looting," Ray said. "We, on the other hand, stress the individual as being supreme to the point where liberty and license get confused.

Here's Ray's story:

Observations in China - 1988

During the summer of 1988, my wife and I were offered the opportunity to go to mainland China as students from Sierra College. The trip was arduous in many respects. The crowded, non-stop flight from San Francisco to Shanghai took 16 hours. We stayed mostly in student dormitories without hot water, and with bland and repetitious food—but with ample supplies of roaches and rats.

Our travel in China was mostly in buses and trains with better accommodations than the Chinese enjoyed, We visited dozens of cities, as well as known and obscure sites. The experience was exhilarating as we visited sites dating from 4,000 years ago.

Capitalism was just starting to re-emerge, China is now the second largest economy in the world.

Shanghai had only three privately owned automobiles in a city of 12 million people. Almost all of the motorized vehicles were government owned, large rototillers, or bicycles adapted to pull carts. They now have six-lane-wide traffic jams.

Industry was crude, with no worker safety protections. Toddlers played next to their mother's machines in some factories. Commune farms abounded and we saw them using human waste, gathered from residency buildings, for fertilizer.

Farmers were finally being allowed to sell their above-quota production in closed streets for open markets that measured one block in each direction. Since refrigeration was virtually non-existent, people shopped each day for the perishables they would need that day.

One farmer arrived with fish frozen in block of cloudy ice. Another brought a cart of green peppers on his bicycle-drawn device and promptly dumped his produce in the street and sat next to it on the curb with a hand-held balance waiting to weigh whatever produce the customer chose.

A farmer came with a pig trussed on his cart which he promptly killed and butchered, including cleaning out the intestines and vital organs, and displayed them for sale. The customers pointed out want they wanted to purchase and negotiated a price. The merchandise was chopped out of the ice, cut from the meat or chosen from the street surface, weighed and payment was made.

Since we were staying at language colleges, many people came to speak to us so that they could practice their English and presumably learn American idioms. It was obvious from what they said that they were thinking long term towards the future. They did not seem to care whether their political leaders were professed communists, they wanted a better life than previous generations.

What was most striking was the different cultural base from which they thought and acted. They were long-range planners with great respect for science, learning, elders and children. At the time, city dwellers were only allowed one child, today there is a shortage of women of marriageable age.

~ Raymond Leo Blain