Associate producer John Alexander was based in Chongqing, China, during production of Koppel on Discovery: The People’s Republic of Capitalism. During his time there, he e-mailed friends and family with thoughts and observations about what it’s like to live in and report on modern China.
SUBJECT: A CHINA IDEA
June 28, 2007
Hey everyone,
I've been giving a lot of thought to China -- but more about a framework that might unite multiple narratives than about specific story ideas.
We're all obviously really jazzed about China, but how to crack that massive nut? What I really hear us talking about is a journey -- one that tries to make sense of a place that's presently changing so much and, as such, is pretty darn inscrutable.
My idea is to use the lifeblood of China, the Yangtze River, as both a metaphor and a path to guide our journey. Consider these facts:
- The Yangtze is Asia's longest river and the third longest in the world.
- More than 60 percent of China's population lives in the interior, where the average per-capita income is just 40 percent of that in the coastal regions. China's leaders are acutely aware that to ensure the country's continued growth and stable development, income disparities between regions will have to be closed.
- The Yangtze has been a conduit for trade and travel for thousands of years. Today it is the world's second most heavily traveled river, after the Mississippi; 80 percent of the iron ore, 72 percent of the crude oil, and 83 percent of the coal delivered to manufacturing enterprises along the Yangtze is carried by barge.
- Buddhism spread into China along the Yangtze.
- More than 80 percent of China's waterborne traffic moves on the Yangtze. Development of the Yangtze is a cornerstone of China's long-term plans to spur economic development in the country's interior so that inland cities and provinces can share the coastal region's trade-driven prosperity.
- Recent research suggests that the original Chinese people had lived in the Yangtze valley.
- China is investing about $20 billion for waterway development along the Yangtze, according to an economic plan covering 2006-2010.
- It’s generally divided into three parts. First, and busiest, is the Yangtze River Delta, which incorporates the area from Shanghai to Nanjing. The second, central segment covers the distance from Wuhu to Wuhan, about 800 miles from Shanghai. The third segment includes Chongqing and the river's upper reaches.
But there's a lot more to it than that. I just read a book called "The River at the Center of the World" by Simon Winchester (should add that I'd been mulling this idea for a while before reading this ... and was first bummed to have further proof that there are few original ideas left in this world). I think it'll give you a better sense of why a journey down the Yangtze could prove to be a worthy metaphor and a compelling narrative path.
Below I've thrown some more mud at the wall. What I think is so cool about the Yangtze is that it touches on so many stories we're already interested in, like:
* Chinese development, in general;
* megacities -- see Chongqing, for example;
* water and resource management;
* environmental issues; and
* sex in China.
Thanks for reading,
John
