A large red sign across from the newly constructed hospital reads BEING LAZY IS A DISGRACE, BEING SELF-RELIANT LEADS TO STRENGTH (好吃懒惰不光彩, 自力更生才出彩). It’s one of the many political slogans that are part of the government’s poverty-alleviation policy, and eerily reminiscent of several American values: Don’t be lazy. Pull yourself up by the bootstraps. Hustle hard. Underneath the large red sign is a woman at a desolate fruit stand rearranging the oranges in her crate over and over. Hustle has come to Sanqiao.
