The smiles begin!

Today is our last full day in Nanchang and our guide Mary took us to see a local village on the outskirts of the city. On the way we saw new developments going up with beautiful high rises replacing older structures. In China the government owns all of the physical land (and most buildings I believe), so you can only buy or lease space for a certain amount of time.

30% of the population of China lives in cities and the other 70% lives in villages like the one we saw today. It was just across a bridge from the city and public buses stop every half hour. It was scary to see how much things changed in that short distance. The average home was smaller than what we know as the average hotel room. I talked with Mary about the trash everywhere, and she said that when you are struggling to just meet your basic needs, you don't care about keeping things clean or pretty.

The homes run together like a long row of garages, separated from the next row by a dirt lane about 15 feet wide. With chickens, ducks, and other animals roaming the area, you had to pay attention to where you walked. Homes were definitely not air tight and we were told they keep warm in the winter by adding on layers and sometimes coal heat. The local laundromat was the pond on the edge of the village.

Mary also explained how they are tied to the town they were born in. Their benefits as Chinese citizens require them to live in their hometown. If they want to move, they forfeit some things. For example, their children are no longer eligible for the public school system and they would have to pay for private schooling, an expensive thing to do when you can hardly pay the rent.

It sounded like one of your only chances to move was if you scored high on your tests out of high school. If you do well, then you are able to relocate to the city your college is in, but that is it. The rich have more freedom to move simply because they can afford it and are not tied down as much by the need for benefits. This did explain for me why education is so prized here.

The majority of abandoned babies are from the rural areas, and this trip put another aspect to the issue.

After the village, we went into town to a porcelain shop. The Jiangxi province is the porcelain capitol of China as it has the supply of the natural resources needed. It sounded like the best clay is found around here.

Other than that we've been hanging out. We leave tomorrow for Guangzhou, our last leg of the trip. Packing is going to be a challenge it seems with the items we have acquired thus far.

Sarah continues to loosen up. Her smiles are coming and we can get an occassional giggle. They all take some work though. She is definitely playing more, scooting on her butt, and working to try and sit up. We're finding that she falls asleep best when you just put her in bed when she is tired. Yeah!