The Chinese miracle

I was entering my room at the very stylish and modern Wyndham Bund East Hotel in Shanghai last July, when I got the surprise of my life.

I'd traveled much of the day from Zhengzhou in Henan, my Chinese 'hometown'. I was going to Shanghai to meet with several other educational professionals and many students of my free online English classes that I give on WeChat. The day was long. It was hot in Shanghai. I got confused on the subway and my “airport to hotel trip” took me about twice as long as it should have.

Finally, I arrived at the hotel on Ningguo Road and walked in.

There were several other guests in line at the front desk. They checked me in quickly. I got my room security card (key) and headed to the elevators. I arrived on the 17th floor and as the elevator opened, I was welcomed by a large expansive atrium with a Steinway concert grand piano in the center, beautiful sculptures and lovely greenery everywhere.

I opened the door to my room and as soon as I dropped the security card into the master control slot, the lights came on and the drapes opened to the most amazing view I've ever seen. It was completely lit up in vivid colors, even at that late hour, and stunningly gorgeous. This room needed no pictures hanging on its walls. My floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall windows framed the most gorgeous image I'd ever seen.

I was enchantingly mesmerized. The troubles of the day, the exhaustion and the hunger suddenly became trivial and melted away.

The next morning, I got up early and started my morning walk. I was determined to see more of this amazing structure that stretched across the Huangpu River. I picked up a brochure about the bridge in the hotel lobby and learned that it is the fourth-longest cable-stayed bridge in the world. It was built at a cost of nearly a half-billion (today's) dollars. More than 100,000 cars a day traverse this amazing edifice of imagination and engineering genius. It is an 8.3-km-long (5.15 miles) bridge. It was completed in September 1993 and opened to traffic the next month.

The Chinese characters inscription on the bridge was handwritten by none other than Deng Xiaoping himself. Awesome! I was standing in the footprints of history.

I soon saw a monument that was inscribed in Chinese and English that told about the construction and opening of the bridge. What I learned was that Deng Xiaoping was the first person to cross the bridge on foot. When he reached the other side, he delivers a speech in which he famously stated, “If we (Chinese) can do this, we can do anything.”

It was this same man who had fought for and successfully accomplished China's opening-up just 15 years earlier (1978).

That opening-up has now miraculously accomplished more in the past 40 years than what any country or civilization has accomplished in history. As Premier Li Keqiang recently pointed out to journalists during his visit to Canada, China's leaders have worked diligently in lifting 800 million people out of poverty in the past three decades. This year alone, at least another 13-18 million will be lifted out of poverty.

The third-richest man in US and the “god of the stock market”, Warren Buffett, in an interview last week, called China's growth, a “total economic miracle.” He further said, “They (Chinese) are as smart as we are; they work as hard as we are (do). Their growth from their economic base will exceed ours (US) percentage-wise. They are destined for a fine economic future as they continue to unleash the potential of their people.”

Buffett knows the “miracle” of China's growth after having invested $230 million in Chinese battery and automaker BYD just nine years ago. Today, his investment is worth nearly $2 billion.

Most people in Western countries, such as my home country, the US, do not know about the miracle of China's economy since its opening-up. No country in human history has performed such an amazing feat as China. Deng Xiaoping opened the door and the spirit of the Chinese people surged ahead, fulfilling their vision for what China has become today.

Having lived in China for the past seven years, I am amazed at the quality of life here. Beautiful parks. Superb roadways. Internet and Wi-Fi nearly everywhere you go. Educational opportunities that are likewise unprecedented. Businesses thriving. Top rate schools and facilities. Major advancements in addressing environmental problems and discovering cutting-edge solutions. Virtually crime-free streets, 24 hours a day. Children who respect their parents and teachers. Citizens, united together to make China an ideal place for raising a child and a family. Shopping malls that would rival the world's most prestigious. Civil services and utilities that are safe, efficient and dependable. Internet retail giants that deliver goods safely, securely and efficiently within only a few days of ordering. People who are working in harmony together to bring about the Chinese dream for themselves, others and especially the children.

I tell my Western friends and readers, “You don't know China. You THINK you know it, but, you don't.” I want to tell them all, just about my simple experience of living here and teaching English to thousands of brilliant Chinese children.

“Zhong” means “middle”. “Zhong guo” as China is so famously known, means “middle kingdom.” However, I have to say that it is “'the Miracle Kingdom.” What I've seen and what I've experienced has prompted me to want to live here as long as I can.

The author is a foreign teacher at Zhengzhou No.19 Middle School.