Heather's Reviews > Street of Eternal Happiness: Big City Dreams Along a Shanghai Road

There were some interesting stories and examples in this book about modern day China, particularly Shanghai since the time of the World's Fair in 2010. I actually had a chance to visit Shanghai and the World's Fair that year and so found many of the examples and discussion of China since then quite interesting. Rob Schmitz has lived there for a while and reports on China's economy. It was interesting to me the many aspects of Chinese culture that affect the economy - obviously politics, government leaders, as well as tradition, education, history, religion, etc.

Here are a few interesting quotes from the book:

"The system had turned out exactly as CK's father had explained it to him as a boy: it was there to restrain and control you, rather than to enable you to learn and grow. But as his father got older, he began to realize the importance of money, and the stability that the system provided (p. 18)."

"'The city...makes life more beautiful,' I said out loud, translating the phrase to no one in particular, struggling to salvage the remnants of a language I hadn't spoken in years. The slogan was the official theme of the world's fair. Its English equivalent was simpler: 'Better City. Better Life.' Shanghai was being showcased as the model Chinese city, and China's government was moving forward with an ambitious urbanization campaign, working hard to convince hundreds of millions of rural Chinese that a city life was a better one (p. 23)."

"'That's the big difference between your country and mine,' said Old Kang, nodding. 'We have laws here, but none of them are enforced. Nobody has rights here. It doesn't matter how developed China is--the system is what's important. If they don't change the system, economic development is useless. The government only seems to care about progress in science and technology or the economy, not in its overall system (p. 37).'"

"The Chinese have a name for the warm bustle of a street corner like this: renao, literally 'hot and noisy.' And for urban Chinese, life is an eternal quest for more hot and noisy. I had grown up surrounded by the opposite of renao. Few places were colder and quieter than rural Minnesota. But after living in China for years, even I had come to seek places that were hot and noisy (p. 42)."

"Much of China may be on the move, but the country's household registration system--known as hukou--ties Chinese families to their hometowns. If you ever want to hear a Chinese farmer curse, rant, and complain, utter 'Hukou.' After nearly a decade living here, I had yet to meet any rural Chinese who were happy with the system (p. 54)."

"Memorizing textbooks was the natural outcome of an education system that culminated with a single college entrance exam known as the gaokao. In a culture that emphasized connections to get ahead, the gakao was the great equalizer: anyone, no matter his or her background, could, if they studied hard enough, do well on the test and take control of their family's destiny. Because of its ability to transform the fate of an entire bloodline, though, the gaokao has meant that Chinese students spend much of their time studying for and taking tests (p. 59)."

"'Sometimes I wonder if there will ever be a day when I start to live for myself.' It's a question often pondered by Chinese mothers, and the answer is almost always: no. Tradition requires them to take care of their husbands, their parents, their children, and their grandchildren. Living for yourself is considered selfish (p. 62)."

"By 2010, house churches were becoming popular in Shanghai, especially among the city's young office workers whose careers, education, and upbringing often left them feeling spiritually empty and morally adrift. At a house church, they could seek faith among a small group of peers, forgoing large state-sanctioned churches where sermons had to be preapproved by a Party official (p 74)."

"'Mao instigated people to fight against each other. He launched one campaign after another, and anyone who had the know-how to come up with a better way to govern was killed (p. 80).'"

"After years of living and traveling throughout the country, I had met only a handful of Chinese who truly, deep down, believed in the Party. It was foolish to have faith in a government that, time and time again since the beginning of its rule, had proven it wasn't trustworthy. The Party's principles--broadcast in flowery catchphrases--might sound nice, but after so many years of authoritarian rule, the Chinese had become pragmatists. Inside of a political system that provided little real benefit, you were left only to rely on your family and, ultimately, yourself. The new government under Xi Jinping seemed to understand this lack of faith. Xi had become China's ruler in early 2013. In the first speech of his presidency, he told his countrymen they should strive to realize 'the Chinese dream.' Its meaning was yet to be clearly defined. 'The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is a dream of the whole nation, as well as of every individual,' he said (p. 107)."

"'They're all spoiled. Their parents probably give them five thousand yuan a month. Our jobs pay around three thousand a month. We're not interested in them and they're not interested in us (p. 135).'"

"Every time I feel something is wrong in my life, that means the real me is telling myself that it's time to take one more step to improve myself (p. 144).'"

"True individualism was hard to find in much of China, but...in the country's wealthiest cities things were changing fast...It wasn't Chinese culture that was holding back true individuality and rebellion. It was lack of money and opportunity (p. 149)."

"Weiqi told me that growing up in his quiet lane off the Street of Eternal Happiness was like being brought up in a village. Your entire life unfolded within two blocks where everyone knew everything about your family. He was eight years old when he first left this nest. It was 1994 and Shanghai's first subway line had just opened. A station had appeared just a block away. For Weiqi, a single word summed up his memory of that first ride, 'People. I had never seen that many people before in one small space (p. 176).'"

"Money wasn't the only reason the Party looked favorably on Buddhism's revival. The country was in the grips of a moral crisis. Just a few decades ago, China was an agricultural society where people relied on the help of their community. The economic boom spurred 250 million of them to migrate to the cities. Suddenly, few people knew their neighbors, and trust was in short supply. Videos of incidents capturing pedestrians ignoring others who were having medical emergencies routinely went viral on China's Internet, and a national discussion about morality and social responsibility followed. Tens of millions of Chinese were turning to Christianity to rediscover these values. But Buddhism had two millennia of history in China, and Party leaders were more comfortable promoting it as a safe way--when not mixed with ethnic or political concerns as in Tibet--to restore an ethical value system. Doing so would help fulfill one of the Party's top priorities to keep itself in power: greater social stability (p. 261)."

"'Chinese society has been through a lot of revolution and trauma that has destroyed our traditional culture. Many of us have completely forgotten about the essential characteristics of being Chinese, but they're reflected in our everyday habits and in our daily lives. When we discover the origins of these characteristics, we can better understand ourselves (p. 262).'"

"'The more I learn about China's economy, the less I feel I really know. A big part of the economy is off the books, so it's impossible to know what's really going on. All I can go on is the anecdotal evidence I see from my reporting trips (p. 291).'"

"'Once a government shows respect for personal property, then it gives itself a chance to build wealthy, powerful groups of people who won't fear for their safety. After a period of time, these groups will become relatively reasonable and they'll learn to compromise with each other in terms of setting up the new rules for a better country (p. 292).'"