I've been listening to the Morning Report all week, and imagine my surprise when Technorati tells me you linked to my blog! Meet the Gaos is great, and I look forward to the next week of reports. My heart goes out to Kai and his lost fuqidian (lit. "family run shop", or in this case "greasy spoon"). It's probably impossible, but it'd be a great story if Kai tracked down his noodle shop's former owners. Thanks for reading, it's been great listening!
Posted by: davesgonechina at January 12, 2006 9:47 PM

HEHE,You are right ,kids in China just do these things:calling their parents to carry their bags;be carried to school.... Shanghai is one of the biggest cities in China. In fact what you have seen is only a small part of China. If you would like to see some place which is penniless,you may see the reality of most Chinese life.
Posted by: defeat at January 12, 2006 10:02 PM

Yeah, maybe it's true that kids in China ask their parents for a lot including carrying their book bags. But if you realize how heavey those bags can get (going to school is a completely different task in China compare to here in the stats), how far most of the kids have to just walk to the schools, and how long they have to work really hard in school during the day, you may understand it a little better. Yes, there are still many "penniless" places in the country, but people should really understand how much the country has improved in the past decades and how much better people's lives are. It's sad and very dangerous sometimes people just simply compare "today's china" to "today's western world". The country has a very long catch-up to go. Failing to understand the country's history, you will always only see a "poor and bad" China for a very long time to come.
Posted by: Leo at January 13, 2006 2:34 PM