Rediscovery

Wuhu City Rising

I am but one person here in China, here in a small, middle tier city of one of the poorest provinces in China. Yet even then, I see things happening that are unrivaled in my experience. China is bursting at the seams in revolutionary transformation, especially when it comes to urban development. There are several statistics floating around out there about how China will experience one of the largest urban migrations in the history of the world in the next 10 years. Shanghai and Nanjing are cities that grow in such great leaps that it makes New York look like its shrinking.

Even Wuhu, despite its modest Chinese population of a little under half a million people, prides itself in carrying some of the next big names in Chinese industry. Wuhu has named itself THE key trade city between the metropolises of Wuhan and Nanjing on the Yangze River. National companies like Chery Automotive and Conch Concrete are held in high esteem not only in Anhui but all of China. People say Wuhu is the most up and coming city in Anhui after Hefei, Anhui’s capital. I’ve heard it described as “Anhui’s New City of Hope” and “Mini Shanghai on the Yangzi.” Too much hype if you ask me. Wuhu certainly isn’t all that. Nonetheless, I cannot agree more that this place has it’s own special charm. Interestingly enough, when speaking with my students, many do not care for Wuhu. They say it lacks culture and that it is too small (despite the fact that many of them are from villages much smaller). It would seem that for many, nothing less than the power of Beijing, the glory of Shanghai, or the sophistication of Shenzhen or Nanjing will do.

After taking a walk around Wuhu's Mirror Lakes in central downtown, I stumbled upon a huge plot of land that will be set aside for a gigantic modern housing complex similar to those in Shanghai and Beijing. It will be its own mini community complete with stores, restaurants, and so on (Sound like Kentlands or Naperville to anyone?). I was a bit startled to see it, but there was no doubt: The great Chinese housing boom has come to Wuhu. In the following week, I began to pay more and more attention to my surroundings. There are actually several high rate housing facilities in the works all over the city, many of them just now beginning to build their foundations. Billboards advertising their arrival can be found every two or three blocks. A few offices for eager buyers are already open. From uptown I can already see the bare concrete skeletons of new high rises, the makings of a new skyline. Downtown, a “New Era Business Street” stands awkwardly side by side with with older generations of residential housing. A new Wal Mart Shopping Center is being constructed by small storefront businesses across the street. Down the central street of the city, construction on bases for an upper deck highway are being constructed causing new and exciting traffic patterns. Indeed, Wuhu is a small town city with that big urban dream. It is currently, like much of China, a perfect example of an ‘already but not yet’ mentality. Somehow it all exists together seamlessly.

So it would seem that I am not the only one in transition here.. .

In my Newspaper and Magazine reading class, we’ve been doing a unit about reading politics and economics. My students are keenly aware of what is coming and going. They wrote me short papers about where they think the Chinese economy will be in 20 years. Much of it was simply a regurgitation of what they have been taught (the Asian education system is king of rote memorization), but within many I could see wondrous glimpses of real personalities and thoughts seeking to engage the changing world they live in. This rapidly changing city, province, country is the big context from which my students see their world. Long gone is the China of old. These days, while the generations of past quietly enjoy a life of tai chi in the morning and chess and conversations in the afternoon at the park, the new youth live, study, and entertain new dreams under new lights and skyscrapers.

Check out the following link to learn a little bit about what "The New Yorker" thinks of Wuhu...

-Car Town: http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/050926fa_fact2

I am driven through the Wuhu Economic Development Zone (where Chery Automotive is located) on the north side of town every Tuesday and Wednesday on my way to the North Campus to teach Freshmen Conversation. Tre, one of my fellow foreign teachers here, even had to teach a month long English course to Chery factory employees. Looks like the ANU English Department wants to be a part of the movement.

posted by Unknown @ 11:44 PM