This series of radio broadcasts does a fantastic job of displaying both sides of China’s rapidly developing capitalistic economy. On one side, represented most explicitly by Henry LI, the neo lounge owner, the booming economy is giving many younger motivated citizens opportunities to create wealth and prosper. While on the other side, represented by “Li Hua,” the unemployed factory worker, the abandonment of some communist policies has left many in China’s “baby-boom” generation out of work.

Henry Li says that it seems like anything is possible in the new China. He likens China’s current situation to that of San Francisco’s gold rush and he sees the opportunities that are developing as the “gold” that explorers dug for in the 1800s. Henry explains that this type of economic development can save the country, and that China “doesn’t need political ideas.”

On the other hand, “Li Hua” and many other uneducated factory workers, would like to see the more strict communist policies that at least gave everybody food and shelter. The communist party is abandoning many factories because they have become too expensive to run due to the increased competition from the capital market. The government is then turning around and selling the factories to entrepreneurs who grab the assets and lay off the workers. Because there are very few labor laws, and even less enforcement of those China does have, this scenario is becoming more and more frequent.

These two trains of thought exemplify the division within China. As China continues to grow, it must start addressing these problems and concerns that are developing over political issues. Currently, citizens talk freely about social and economic issues, but are fearful to discuss political issues. This is a dangerous precedent to set, as anger over misfortune, or lack of opportunity for many, could dislodge the fragile balance between communist ideals and capital economic policies that China’s government is attempting to maintain.

So many young people are moving to Shanghai to find work that only the old and the very young are left in the rural areas of China. The big cities like Shanghai are booming, but only 20% of the Chinese population lives in cities. The rest of the population lives in rural areas that have not changed in hundreds of years. Farmers still plow their land with wooden plows and water buffalo. The rural population is upset with the government because of high taxes and confiscation of their land. In China, most of the land belongs to the government and citizens just sub-contract their land from the government. If a company is interesting in building a factory, the government will take the land and sell it.

This radiobroadcast medley reflects the massive revolution China has undertaken, on a personal level. The segmented program focuses on the perspectives of five unique individuals living in China. Henri Li is a successful bar owner who believes in stability and slow change as China tries to join the rest of the world. Li Hua is an unemployed worker who sees the revolutionary shift as a betrayal by the communist party. His only requests are to be paid the lowly pension plan he is owned and that his daughter have better life. The 20-year-old migrant “working little sister”, Wu Dongmei, labors all day in a sweatshop to send money more then 1,000 miles away to her parents. Dongmei trusts that hard work and a lucky break will give her the edge she needs to move up. She also expresses her hopes of a better life for her younger brother. Yin Mingshan has survived the plague of a negative stigma acquired during Mao’s era, to become one of China’s leading businessmen. With admiration for the likes of Thomas Jefferson and Margaret Thatcher, Mingshan seeks to join China’s communist party, and dreams of growing his business into a joint venture with Harley Davidson. Lastly, Joan Hinton, an American nuclear physicist turned dairy farmer, supported the communist movement which she feels withstood corruption and provided free health care and education. Hinton admits the communist movement has failed this time around, and will surely re-emerge in the future.

The wide range of perspectives and direct interviews were fascinating for multiple reasons. The panorama of varying opinions and views, which all coincide under one roof, gave a broad account of China’s evolution. Furthermore, hearing the interviews directly materialized the struggles and accomplishments. The segments nudged my awareness of life in China, each account revealing a different color of the big picture.

Personally, as a woman in my 20’s, I empathized with Wu Dongmei. I can only imagine working in such conditions with little hope of pushing ahead and achieving a preferable career. Furthering her education is a seemingly non-existent dream. It is even more captivating to learn that Dongmei’s upbringing represents some 80% of the Chinese population, many of which, like Dongmei, are shifting from an agricultural life to one of cities and industries. Joan Hinton’s segment surprised me. I thought I would relate to the fellow physicist more so then I did. It is intriguing to hear the perspective of communist advocates, in particular those who have experienced and endured the hardships of the communist era.

In this piece of RadioBroadcast, Starbucks chariman Howard Schultz shared his experiences of growing the business in China. He mentioned that one of the major challenges of doing business in China is that there are no “For Rent” signs to be seen, so business people really need to establish very strong relationship with government officials in order to build or open up stores and create distribution channels. In addition, to open up large stores in China, heavy investment would need to be there ahead of the growth. So, we will probably need to observe how easy or difficult it would be to obtain some store space.

Howard Schultz also mentioned that over 80% of customers in China have the coffee in the stores and stay very long to enjoy the environment. Since some Chinese people like to drink “tea” and “yum cha (喝茶)”, I wonder that in the future if Starbucks would gain some of those folks as their customers. In its efforts to gain customers, I bet they have some localization of the choices in the menu.