This is a picture of my Chinese friend's family.

With the exception of the two foreigners, this picture depicts the demographics of the population in contemporary China: old, female and the very young. Men of working age are present, but in the experience I had they were always working. My friend's father only came home from work when it rained (he did road construction). The young adults are either migrants working in the cities who send money back home or studying at a university like my friend.

This has been a trend for many years, even going back to the Maoist years, but especially since China initiated economic reforms beginning in the late 1970s. I believe many of these individuals who leave the countryside for the city deal with challenges many in the developed world do not know. Among those challenges, for instance, many of them will have to deal or already are dealing with aging parents and grandparents. As a result of the one child policy, many of them will be taxed emotionally and financially.

My friend is no exception to this. Not only is she a college student, but she has the added responsibility of helping her mother manage the land they farm. In addition, her grandfather (on the right in the above picture) is over 80 years old and appeared to be in faltering health. During our visits, he would often mix up the nationalities of me and the other foreign student. The day before we left, he was refusing to eat and a very tearful confrontation took place behind doors between them. Afterwards, when she came out of his bedroom she wiped her face and said nothing. As an American, who is used to the notion that sharing your emotions and complaints is a good thing, this was new to me. Her silence in the face of all this seemed powerful.

The Heat Is On

Wuhan is famous for being one of the hottest cities in China. The winter and the short spring we had made us question whether or not Wuhan truly lived up to it's reputation. This is no longer true. Since I have returned from the countryside on Thursday night, we have had 90+ degree weather with high humidity everyday. It feels like July in Michigan at its hottest. It's only May and I can only imagine what the future will bring.

The weather has made Wuhan a little more lively especially at night when it cools down, a little. The street vendors are now doing good business out there. Chinese men everywhere walk around with no shirts or roll them up to their chests. The women now wear a little less as well. There are people everywhere outside drinking beer, playing cards or mahjong. The smells around the city now range from the putrid to the appetizing. And, I can see that as the heat continues to build, the number of arguments in public will only increase. This makes China all the more appealing to me.

Expect a series of posts about my recent travel experiences over the course of the next week.