I am here in China as a member of a reality tour/delegation sponsored by Global Exchange. We will be spending a few days in Shanghai and Guangzhou before going on to Hong Kong to protest at the World Trade Organization Ministerial December 13-18.

Global Exchange has contracted with WildChina, a travel agency based in Beijing, to arrange meetings with several non-governmental organizations (NGO's) and professors, and they will provide tour guides and interpretation.

It is important for us to pay attention to corporate-driven globalization, as US workers are losing their jobs, family farmers are being pushed off the land, and our laws protecting the environment are being weakened. "If we do not try to understand the larger historical forces moving the world today, we accede to them" - David Loy, The Great Awakening.

I am interested in making people more aware of the significance of WTO issues, and China as a new emerging global superpower. Each day when I am in China December 5 -19, I will be sending back e-mail reports of my experiences, impressions, and the latest in this round of trade negotiations.

Day 2 from Shanghai

Our Global Exchange delegation is comprised of a small group of five folks: Chris is a curriculum designer from Tacoma, Washington and has lived in Cuba for five years. Wanda is a budding activist from Northern New Mexico, who protested against the war in Washington DC, and the experience totally has changed her. Darlene is a young person from El Paso, Texas, a director of religious formation for her Catholic parrish, and her parents lost their jobs because of globalization. Valerie is our group leader, and she is co-ordinator of Global Exchange's anti-sweat shop campaign. And myself, here to see the new China after my first visit in 1987 and to protest at the Hong Kong WTO Ministerial next week.

Our tour guides are Claire and Merri. Claire is a young beautiful woman with Beijing-based WildChina Travel Agency, originally from Wuhan, Hubei Province. She told of a harrowing experience she had hiking in the Three Gorges area of the Yangtze River. She wanted to see it before it became inundated by a huge dam project that will displace millions of people. Merri is our local Shanghai guide, born in Shanghai. During the Cultural Revolution, a period of turmoil and chaos from 1966 to 1976, she was like most people in China uprooted and lived in North of China. They both said they enjoyed working as tour guides, having a lot of freedom and not being tied down at a desk job. Our tour vehicle is a top of the line Toyota bus that can seat 25 people.

We started out the day by going to visit Roots and Shoots, an international non-governmental organization (NGO), supported by the Jane Goodall Institute They gave an inspiring presentation on the concrete projects that kids from kindergarden to college-age were doing to make the world a better place by caring for the environment, for animals, and for other people. The concept of "recycling" is new in China. There is no culture of conservation. Older generations did not have to worry about recycling because everything was used in former times. By reaching the kids and educating them on the importance of recycling in taking care of the environment, they in turn educate their parents and grandparents. And these kids will someday be in leadership positions and will be able to influence governmental policy. Some of their projects include: programs to recycle printer cartridges and phone books, going to small rural villages in Anhui Province to help alleviate poverty, and improving animal habitat at the zoo.

Then our tour guide took us to a popular authentic (opposed to catering to tourists) restaurant for a delicious lunch. Meals in China are always feasts and Shanghai cuisine is one of my favorites. They have the greatest dumplings. After lunch, we went to the Shanghai Urban Planning Center, one of many ultra modern buildings in this dynamic, sprawling metropolis of more than 20 million people. The architecture is spectacular and very avant-garde.

I am astounded by the tremendous changes and growth here since my visit in 1987. Shanghai was originally one of five treaty ports opened to foreign colonial powers in the 19th century, a gateway for Western influence to the rest of China. It sometimes is called the "Paris of Asia," and probably larger than New York City and its boroughs. They have a visionary plan to make Shanghai an international hub for trade by 2020, and be a model for other major Chinese cites in ensuring a safe natural environment, a highly efficient economy and a harmonious social structure. Our urban planners should go to Shanghai and take notes. There was a gigantic three-dimensional model of the city that was amazing, and you could get an overview of the entire city. A virtual reality show, 360 degrees around you, took you on a mind-blowing trip showing the future Shanghai, with its planning for new infrastructure and restoration. I am totally impressed with the technological prowess that is evident everywhere -- in their computer graphics, their new subway system and their new magnetic suspension trains. As aside fact -- China is turning out four times the engineering graduates than the US.

Next on our itinerary was the Shanghai Museum, where we got a taste of traditional Chinese traditional culture -- ancient bronze vessels, Neolithic pottery, hand-crafted furniture, and carved jade. There was a wonderful exhibit of indigenous peoples crafts and traditional garments. Claire told us there are 56 ethnic groups in China -- the Han people comprising 90% of them and the other 10% in the more remote areas of the country.

After leaving the museum, we took a short walk along the Bund where the great foreign commercial houses and banks built their imposing office buildings in the first half of the 20th century, along the Whangpoo River. It is a museum of architecture of various architectural styles -- including French, German and British. They are juxtaposed with the shiny, glitzse new high-rises of Pudong, on the other side of the river, which will be the new global financial center and the direction of new growth in Shanghai. Ten years ago Pudong was farmland.

Then we had dinner with a Fudan University professor of economics. He gave a lecture on the role of NGOs in China, and how they should be promoted to fill the gap between the government and the market economy. Especially, in the case of the environment, because of the environment degradation created by development run amok has left a trail of air pollution and toxic wastes poisoning the water. New environmental NGOs are springing up to deal with these problems the central government and the owners of factories have neglected. After the lecture, we were able to ask questions and had an open and lively discussion about the Chinese economy and China in general.

Since we've been here, we've seen that China is as capitalistic and entrepreneurial as we are in the US. Given that China is nominally controlled by the Communist Party, Chris asked the professor was "what happened to communism in China?" And the professor replied with a famous saying by Deng Xiaoping: "It doesn't matter whether a cat is black or white, as long as it catches the mouse." The Chinese are very pragmatic, and they have evolved their own way to economic development. In contrast to the collapse of the Soviet Union, where Russia went directly from a socialist economy to a market economy overnight and the ensuing chaos, China has taken a more gradual way. The professor told us that the central government has given provincial and local leaders more authority to open up to a market economy, a more decentralized approach.

I expressed my concerns over global warming, of how the automotive industry is still making gas-guzzling SUV's, and how in Japan, Toyota and Honda are making hybrids. Soon China also will be able make their own cars. In 1987, you saw few cars and hordes of bicycles. Now, Shanghai has traffic congestion and freeways to rival our own, but you see that bicycles are still a primary way to get around. What will happen to the planet if and when people in China have the same percentage of car ownership as we do? I asked the professor if there was any movement in the direction of making hybrid vehicles and sustainable energy sources. He replied that he didn't think that there was any concerted effort toward this direction.

I told him that workers in the US are seeing China as a threat to their jobs, as factories are being moved to China. Like most proponents of globalization, he said that "there will be winners and losers" in the process, but in the long run consumers would benefit from lower prices and market will make companies more efficient. Workers all over the world are being pitted against each other on "the race to the bottom." I said I hoped we could find a win-win solution so that there would be no losers.

Day 3 from Shanghai

A young lively woman, named Jean, from Suzhou joins our delegation this morning. She will be our guide today as we all hop into our Toyota bus and head out of Shanghai. Suzhou is about 60 miles west of Shanghai. At 8 am, traffic is heavy going out of the city to the new six-lane freeway east. In the past few years, China has been building new infrastructure to accommodate their goal of being an international hub of trade by 2020 -- freeways to the interior to transport goods, a deep-water port that can load and unload hundreds of ships, bridges to cross waterways, and a modern giant international airport.

On the freeway, we look out the window and see row upon row of newly built residential high-rise apartments all along the way to Suzhou. I wonder who occupies all these buildings. In 1987, I remember on the trip from Shanghai to Guangzhou, fields of farm land all along the railway. But on our drive today we see only patches of farmland. After an hour's drive, we arrive at Suzhou. Most of the buildings along the way our new and there is a lot of new construction going on. We drive past car dealships -- Ford, Toyota, GM, Nissan, Cadillac. Fast food outlets are everywhere, especially McDonald's and KFC. On the street level of tall buildings, there are small store-front businesses selling a diverse assortment of things -- food, auto and construction supplies, restaurants, and beauty parlours. We pass by a theme amusement park.

Marco Polo called Suzhou, the "Venice of the Orient". The ancient and moated city is famed for its gardens and silks and beautiful women. The town is built on a network of interlocking canals whose waters feed the series of renowned classical gardens. Our first stop is one of four famous gardens in Suzhou with a history of over 800 years. We stroll leisurely through the garden, with other tourists, on winding footpaths, a pond in the center, and gardens within gardens, and grotesque rock forms the delegation spends an hour in the garden's store buying souvenirs and gift, having tea and cappuccinos.

We have lunch at a local restaurant with a sign recommending it by Lonely Planet. We have three different kind of dumplings and assorted dishes, all delicious. I will probably gain 20 pounds on this trip eating feast after feast. After lunch, we drive to a silk factory open to tourists. We learn each stage of how silk is produced from the moths laying eggs on mulberry leaves. Within a month, the eggs hatch and fat silk worms grow up to 3 or 4 inches. Jean tells us to go ahead and pet the silk worms. Claire tells us she had silk worms pets as a child. Eventually the silk worms form small plump blimp-shaped cocoons, which are sort through for quality by hand and processed into raw silk on big machines. We learn the silk is made into stuffing for bulletproof flak jackets and quilts as well as fabric.

Next we visit a garment factory in a big five-story building. We are met by the plant manager, who takes us on a tour of the factory. On each floor are workshops full of young people at sewing machines assembling garments and cutting material into finished suits, jackets, and pants. The plant manager tell us most of the production is shipped all over the world, but mostly to Japan. Valerie, whose job is to direct Global Exchange's anti-sweat shop campaign, surveys the efficient operation. Conditions in the plant seem to clean and well ventilated. The plant manager is open to questions. He tells us the young people working are from all over China, usually from the impoverish countryside. They work 8 to 10-hour days six day a week and get a two-week paid vacation to return home to visit their families. There is a lot of turnover and they received health benefits only after five years. They make an average of USD $200 a month, most of which they sent home to support their poor families in the village. They have free room and board, living in company dormitories and eating in the company cafeteria. Valerie observed that there much be a lot of pressure on the young people to do fast quality work, and that's why there are no older people.

This information we learn explains a lot of things about China and globalization to me. The people that live in the buildings we saw along the freeway are probably factory workers and their families, and there must be thousands of factories that are shipping low-cost goods bound for Wal-Mart and all over the world. The goods are made with an endless supply of cheap labor from the impoverished rural areas. The migrant workers flock to the east coast to work in these factories in Shanghai, Guangzhou in the south, and special industrial regions, such as Shenzhen, open to foreign investment. China has become the workplace for the consumer market of the developed countries. They are currently making automobiles for their domestic market, and soon for the overseas market. China will also be making computers, airplanes, and heavy industrial goods. Its easy to see why China is dominating force in the global economy.

On my flight to Shanghai, I sat next to a man from Denver and was a salesman for a company that makes parts for tractors. He told me that his company moved their production overseas, and now has two or three plants in China and two in India. One day a farmer in the US called him complaining that he saw a made-in China sticker on his tractor. The farmer wanted to support American-made tractors. The salesman told him nothing is made in America anymore.

Day 4 from Shanghai

This morning we visited the YMCA in Shanghai. We met with its director, who gave us a talk on the projects they are working on. With all the new construction going on and factories here, migrant workers from rural farms are flocking to Shanghai for work. They and their families are often in need of services. Often their kids lack education and the YMCA has a project to help them. Another is to bring about more awareness of HIV/AID. He felt it was important to develop confidence in youth, so that they will be more socially responsible.

Next we spend a hour in Shanghai's Old Town and is now a thriving shopping mall, featuring traditional Chinese crafts and goods. I stop and buy a gift for my grandson and have a café mocha at the Starbuck's. Vendors sell fish food for people to feed the carp in the large pond surrounding the Yuyuan Garden Teahouse that I had visited in 1987. I take photos of kids throwing the food to the fish. The Christmas spirit is everywhere, Santa Claus and Christmas trees. It appears Christianity has survived and is thriving in Shanghai.

After lunch, we drive over to Pudong, across the Whangpu River that meanders through the heart of the city, 15 years ago Pudong was farmland, now towering skyscrapers have sprouted up everywhere, and a new international airport is being developed. We take a high-speed elevator up the 1,536-foot tall Pearl Tower. Much like Seattle's Space Needle, it a landmark symbol of this unbelievable mega metropolis. We are treated to a bird's eye view of Shanghai, both old and new, spanning as far as the eye can see. One has to see it to believe what going on here -- the tremendous growth and development that has happened practically overnight. From this perspective, Chris and I ponder over China, with its 1.3 billion population (one fifth of the folks on this planet), as a dominant world player in the global economy and what it bodes for the world. Chris has many questions. What is the source of the investment funds for this booming development here? What agreements are made for loans and what is the cost to China? How much of taxes to the government goes back to the people for education, social and medical services? And how much to private business? It appears there is a growing middle class able to buy all the consumer products in the stores and many obviously own cars. I remark that globalization is so complex that it's hard for an ordinary person to wrap their brain around it. You need to be a lawyer, able to interpret and understand the arcane trade rules of the WTO.

Afterwards, we move on to the Shanghai Historical Museum, with life-size wax figures in many different dioramas telling the story of Shanghai -- of its growth from a small fishing village on China's central eastern coast, to large port city, to the occupation of foreign powers, and to China's independent. Many of the dioramas depict the poor native Chinese living in hovels during the foreign occupation juxtaposed with the opulent mansions in the French and British quarters of the city. You can see in Merri, our tour guide, how proud she is of the new modern Shanghai, and the new emerging China having risen up and thrown off its shackles. They seem to be going ahead no stopping them. But many are realizing the growth has come at a great price to the environment. China has eight of the world's 10 most polluted cities, and asthma and other respiratory diseases are rife. The recent toxic spill that is endangering the drinking water of Harbin in the north is an example of the pollution to their water.

We have dinner in a private room at a luxurious hotel restaurant. It's way over the top, ostentatious with gold everything. The staff people are all costumed elegantly. I go to the bathroom, and there is an attendant who opens the door for me. When I finish and wash my hands, he immediately has paper towels for me, and opens the door for me when I leave. The food is supposed to be artistic creations, but to me a bit gaudy if I can use the word. There was a green and white rice pudding on a plate in the form of yin and yang. Wanda says the folks at the travel agency made the reservations for us here must a stereotypical views of Americans and what they like. I actually felt very uncomfortable there.

Joining us for dinner is a lawyer with a NGO, Grassroots Community, which got a grant from the Microsoft Foundation. They are running a program to teach underprivileged people learn computer skills. They help workers in legal suits against their employers and provide consultation on the environment. I asked him how he felt about China's entry into the WTO. He replied he had strong reservations about it because if China lets the yuan fluctuate (now the yuan is pegged with the US dollars allowing Chinese exports to be cheaper) there could be a great deal of instability. He said China is a new member of the WTO and doesn't have enough experience yet to have confidence that things will work out well for them. Also on the issue of intellectual property rights, if China signs on most of the profits will go to transnational corporations and they will lose some of their sovereignty.

Day 5 from Shanghai

This morning we visited the YMCA in Shanghai. We met with its director, who gave us a talk on the projects they are working on. With all the new construction going on and factories here, migrant workers from rural farms are flocking to Shanghai for work. They and their families are often in need of services. Often their kids lack education and the YMCA has a project to help them. Another is to bring about more awareness of HIV/AID. He felt it was important to develop confidence in youth, so that they will be more socially responsible.

Next we spend a hour in Shanghai's Old Town and is now a thriving shopping mall, featuring traditional Chinese crafts and goods. I stop and buy a gift for my grandson and have a café mocha at the Starbuck's. Vendors sell fish food for people to feed the carp in the large pond surrounding the Yuyuan Garden Teahouse that I had visited in 1987. I take photos of kids throwing the food to the fish. The Christmas spirit is everywhere, Santa Claus and Christmas trees. It appears Christianity has survived and is thriving in Shanghai.

After lunch, we drive over to Pudong, across the Whangpu River that meanders through the heart of the city, 15 years ago Pudong was farmland, now towering skyscrapers have sprouted up everywhere, and a new international airport is being developed. We take a high-speed elevator up the 1,536-foot tall Pearl Tower. Much like Seattle's Space Needle, it a landmark symbol of this unbelievable mega metropolis. We are treated to a bird's eye view of Shanghai, both old and new, spanning as far as the eye can see. One has to see it to believe what going on here -- the tremendous growth and development that has happened practically overnight. From this perspective, Chris and I ponder over China, with its 1.3 billion population (one fifth of the folks on this planet), as a dominant world player in the global economy and what it bodes for the world. Chris has many questions. What is the source of the investment funds for this booming development here? What agreements are made for loans and what is the cost to China? How much of taxes to the government goes back to the people for education, social and medical services? And how much to private business? It appears there is a growing middle class able to buy all the consumer products in the stores and many obviously own cars. I remark that globalization is so complex that it's hard for an ordinary person to wrap their brain around it. You need to be a lawyer, able to interpret and understand the arcane trade rules of the WTO.

Afterwards, we move on to the Shanghai Historical Museum, with life-size wax figures in many different dioramas telling the story of Shanghai -- of its growth from a small fishing village on China's central eastern coast, to large port city, to the occupation of foreign powers, and to China's independent. Many of the dioramas depict the poor native Chinese living in hovels during the foreign occupation juxtaposed with the opulent mansions in the French and British quarters of the city. You can see in Merri, our tour guide, how proud she is of the new modern Shanghai, and the new emerging China having risen up and thrown off its shackles. They seem to be going ahead no stopping them. But many are realizing the growth has come at a great price to the environment. China has eight of the world's 10 most polluted cities, and asthma and other respiratory diseases are rife. The recent toxic spill that is endangering the drinking water of Harbin in the north is an example of the pollution to their water.

We have dinner in a private room at a luxurious hotel restaurant. It's way over the top, ostentatious with gold everything. The staff people are all costumed elegantly. I go to the bathroom, and there is an attendant who opens the door for me. When I finish and wash my hands, he immediately has paper towels for me, and opens the door for me when I leave. The food is supposed to be artistic creations, but to me a bit gaudy if I can use the word. There was a green and white rice pudding on a plate in the form of yin and yang. Wanda says the folks at the travel agency made the reservations for us here must a stereotypical views of Americans and what they like. I actually felt very uncomfortable there.

Joining for dinner is a lawyer with a NGO, Grassroots Community, which got a grant from the Microsoft Foundation. They are running a program to teach underprivileged people learn computer skills. They help workers in legal suits against their employers and provide consultation on the environment. I asked him how he felt about China's entry into the WTO. He replied he had strong reservations about it because if China lets the yuan fluctuate (now the yuan is pegged with the US dollars allowing Chinese exports to be cheaper) there could be a great deal of instability. He said China is a new member of the WTO and doesn't have enough experience yet to have confidence that things will work out well for them. Also on the issue of intellectual property rights, if China signs on most of the profits will go to transnational corporations and they will lose some of their sovereignty.

Day 6 from Guangzhou

I received an email last night about the massacre of several protesters at a fishing village in Guangdong Province. This is very disturbing and alerts us to the fact that there could be violence at the Hong Kong WTO Ministerial. We decide to stay together while we are there near the protests and away from the main action.

"The level of the violence this week had been unusual, but protests are becoming common. By the central government's own account of the unrest in China, 3.6 million people took part in 74,000 "mass incidents" last year, an increase of more than 20% on 2003. As in Dongzhou, most of these demonstrations were about property and pollution."(Guardian UK) How long will the Communist Party be able to keep the lid on the unrest? This, unfortunately, may be the only way democracy will come to China.

We took a two-hour flight to Guangzhou this morning. Guangzhou is the capital of Guangdong Province in South China. At one point in history it was the only port open to foreigners in China. Many of the Chinese who first came to the US were Cantonese. (Canton was the European name for Guangzhou) In a way it was a kind of homecoming for me. My father was born and raised in a small village, only two hours by car from Guangzhou. And my mother came from Foshan, a city next to Guangzhou. Hong Kong is only a short way away by rail. In 1987, I visited an aunt in the family village, but she has since pass away, and I have no close relatives in the village anymore.

Cantonese is spoken here in the south. Claire, our WildChina tour guide who comes from Hunan Province in central China, speaks "putonghua" (Mandarin -- China's official language) and says she cannot understand Cantonese. But most Cantonese speak "putonghua". But all Chinese have the same written language, and often communicate by writing the Chinese characters. Hearing Cantonese spoken here brings me back to my childhood. Its musical quality is so familiar to me hearing it spoken at home growing up, although I never learned to speak it.

Guangzhou is a large city with a population of 10 million people, It has a completely different feel to it than Shanghai. Whereas Shanghai is cosmopolitan, Guangzhou is provincial. Whereas Shanghai is new and glitzy, Guangzhou is dingy. Shanghai has a temperate climate, whereas Guangzhou is tropical.

After checking in at our hotel, we go to the Xi Guan Old House built in the Qing dynasty. It is a grand mansion and we get an inside view of the household of a wealthy Chinese family, with its altar to the exalted ancestors and traditional furniture.

Later our delegation meets with three young women representatives from Lighthouse Plan, an NGO that is comprised of volunteers who go out to the poor rural areas to educate youth out of the goodness of the hearts. They try to convince kids to continue their education to broaden their perspectives, and they speak to the parents to allow their children to go to school. The volunteers are mostly college students, who volunteer during their school breaks to build a bridge between the cities and the rural areas, closing the increasing economic and cultural gap between them.

We tell them we are going to Hong Kong to protest the WTO, and we have a debate on globalization. Darlene tells them that she has personal experience with the effects of globalization after NAFTA. Both her mother and father worked in a garment factory in El Paso, Texas and earned decent wages. The factory moved to Mexico, and her parents lost their jobs. Later the factory moved to China for even lower labor costs.

From Virginia, the co-director of Lighthouse Plan, we hear the Chinese side of the globalization. When a foreign manufacturer, such as Proctor & Gamble, starts a factory in China, they are able to bring cheaper soap and cosmetics for consumers on the market. Chinese workers are paid more in these foreign-owned factories, and the foreign investment benefits the development of the country. Valerie, Global Exchange's anti-sweat shop campaign coordinator, replies, using the example of Wal-Mart, that these foreign factories may put smaller factories out of business. But that makes for more efficiency in the marketplace, counters Virginia. Although there are state-sponsored unions, workers are not able to form their own unions to negotiate for higher wages and benefits.

They ask for advice on how they might improve their work. Chris suggests that they set goals for each project and try to evaluate their success, keep it simple and not do more projects than they can handle - quality not quantity. We suggest they link up with Roots and Shoots, the NGO we met in Shanghai, to build solidarity between them. Wanda tells them how inspiring their work is, using only volunteers. We part with exchanging gifts and the promise to continue the debate. Our meetings with NGO's here in China have been very heartwarming, allowing us to have person-to-person contact and to share our mutual desire for peace in the world.